Malaysia's Lee mesmerizes Indonesian audiences

Malaysia's Lee mesmerizes Indonesian audiences

By Emilie Sueur

JAKARTA (JP): The Royal Netherlands Embassy welcomed the
Malaysian pianist Dennis Lee Wednesday evening. Organized by the
British Council and the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of
Music, the recital was the first salvo of three days of
performances in Indonesia.

Lee was played Thursday at the French Cultural Center in
Bandung and yesterday at the Heritage Executive Club in Surabaya.

The recital had some pedagogical aspects to it as Lee always
stopped to describe the pieces he would play.

The information was really welcome however as his choices were
quite unusual.

He did not opt for simplicity. His program included unusual
sonatas from Ludwig van Beethoven and Etudes from the foremost
Polish composer of the early 20th century, Karol Szymanowski.

He started the recital with the astonishing sonata in G Major,
opus 31/1 by Beethoven. Those who are used to the strength of
Beethoven's music, would be surprised by this light piece, dyed
with humorous connotations.

The 50-year-old pianist found the perfect childlike spirit
required to play this cheerful sonata.

From then on the recital was dominated by an atmosphere of
evocation.

After the two Szymanowski's Etudes laced with passionate
romanticism, Lee interpreted in a remarkable way two pieces by
the French composer Claude Debussy.

The composer had been inspired to write Pagodes (Pagodas),
from a series titled Estampes, after meeting Asian composers at
an international exhibition held in Paris at the beginning of
this century.

Lee, who lives in London despite his Malaysian origins,
clearly felt comfortable in this mix of western and oriental
influences.

The second Debussy piece, Reflets dans l'eau (Reflections in
the water), could be the perfect illustration of Paul Dukas
sentence about the French composer, "One must seek the poetry in
his work".

Reflets dans l'eau is completely impregnated with the
impressionist influence of the period. Lee offered the audience,
thanks to his exquisite interpretation and phrasing, a sumptuous
walk through Claude Monet's Giverny garden.

But this nice wandering was interrupted in the most impolite
way when a mobile phone rang.

But Lee, thanks to remarkable concentration, managed to smooth
the surface of the disrupted water so that the reflections would
not become completely blurred.

Lee then turned away from his impressionist meanderings and
approached one of the greatest ever pianists, Franz Liszt. One
look at Lee's resume was enough to presume of his skills.

We had here, in musical terms, the fruits of his 44 years of
practicing, his career awards including first prize in the Royal
Overseas League Festival in London.

The sonetto 104 del Petrarca confirmed the great sensitivity
of Lee's playing. The pedaling, the accentuation and the
breathing of the music enlightened this musical translation of
the Petrarch's poem addressed to Laura, an inaccessible love.

To round the program off Lee flung himself into the Polonaise
no 2 in E major. This piece, as with most of Liszt's
compositions, requires a high level of technical competence.

Not only did he overcome all the difficulties, he even gave to
the music the brilliance of the Slav spirit it required. The
audience didn't miss it and returned all the energy given by the
pianist in warm applause.