Idris Sardi to hold concert before hanging up his violin

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's most prominent violinist Idris Sardi will hang up his violin forever after his last performance at Sahid Jaya Hotel on Aug. 9, a concert aimed at marking his 40 year career and the 49th anniversary of the country's Independence Day.

The concert, organized by Kompas daily, will feature selected repertoire from Idris' 180 compositions which were created for film music illustrations.

"Therefore, the repertoire will consist of various kinds of music, from rock, to kroncong and dangdut, because these represent my career development," Idris told a press conference held here on Tuesday.

"And, because some of them were specially made to illustrate film scenes, Sentot (prominent dancer) with his dance group will interpret the music into dances to make them expressive," Idris added.

He said the two-hour concert, supported by not less than 99 artists, will be also participated in by well-known singers such as Indonesia's dangdut king Rhoma Irama and singer Andi Meriem Mattalata, Rafika Duri, Broery Pesolima and Dewi Yull.

Singer-cum-dancer Camelia Malik will present a traditional West Javanese' Jaipong dance accompanied by the orchestra during the concert.

Idris, who actually started his career as a musician more than 40 years ago, said he seriously grasped the music world only since 1954 when he was appointed as concert master of Jakarta Studio Orchestra. He will is leaving the performance business because of what he calls a lack of professionalism among Indonesian orchestral musicians.

"I am responsible for everything I give to the public, but now I cannot stay calm any longer. Our musicians lack discipline and professionalism," he said, "Some of them even consider rehearsals unimportant. I feel there is something missing, although technically it is all right to hold performances without prior rehearsals."

He declined to say what he is going to do after quitting the performance business. However, his actress wife Marini, who accompanied him during the press meeting, said that Idris will not totally leave music the world.

Meanwhile, August Parengkuan of Kompas said that the concert is aimed at giving homage to Idris' dedication to the Indonesian music and to his achievements.

"Last year, we did the same thing for Titiek Puspa (an all round artist). Recently we also gave a long-life achievement award to Satyanegara Hoerip who has dedicated his life to literature," August said, adding that the criteria for Kompas' award includes honesty, hard work and that the artist has dedicated about five decades to his chosen field.

"Therefore, we do not yet know to whom we will give this honorary award next year," August said. (als)