Misleading comparisons

I would like to refer to two items in The Jakarta Post of June 10, 1994: The review of a violin recital by Mr. Gus Kairupan and a letter by Sahid Jaya's General Manager Mr. Tony E. Bruggemans. Both writings are very clear in their meaning but contain comparisons which may mislead your readers.

Mr. Kairupan review may create the impression (see the last paragraphs) that Malaysia has no good pianists in the classical repertoire. It may be true as far as availability at a certain time is concerned, but we should not forget that Melvy Tan from Malaysia is not just another accomplished pianist. Tan, based in London, has been chosen to tour Europe playing Beethoven music on the composer's own instrument.

Singaporean Yit-Kin Seow also enjoys a considerable reputation in Europe's concert halls. It is important to note that both musicians make recordings for the commercial market. They are second to none in the ASEAN region as far as reputation in the international musical world is concerned.

I hope the embassies of Malaysia and Singapore will have some articles on the two pianists printed in The Jakarta Post. The Philippines has a pianist of international renown in Cecile Licad. Some of her cassettes with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra are available in Jakarta.

Mr. Bruggemans in his zeal to promote the Twilite Orchestra made an irrelevant comparison of the orchestra with Arthur Fiedler's Boston Pops. The sound, the bite rather, of the two orchestras is worlds apart. Their repertoire too, though some program items may be the same, shows marked differences.

Most Boston Pops Orchestra members concurrently play in the Boston Symphony Orchestra (arguably the best in the genre in the U.S.) and have the vast classical repertoire at their fingertips. This shows clearly in their attack of the classical pops.

In today's Jakarta the performances of the Twilite Orchestra are very meritorious indeed, as Mr. Bruggemans avers, but with regard to impact the ensemble sounds rather like a glorified palm court orchestra to my ears.

S. HARMONO

Jakarta