OSJ's concert highlights Jakarta's birthday

By Gus Kairupan

Jakarta (JP): Jakarta is in the midst of festivities commemorating its 467th anniversary. Among the events was the concert presented by the Jakarta Symphony Orchestra (OSJ) under the direction of Yudianto Hinupurwadi on Thursday at Gedung Kesenian Jakarta.

The program featured two compositions by Mozart, the overture to Marriage of Figaro and Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, and Chopin's First Piano Concerto in E-Minor, in addition to a number of Betawi folk melodies arranged for symphony orchestra.

The highlight of the concert was Chopin's work, featuring Kuei Pin Yeo as soloist, the well-known pianist and teacher whose technique is amazing.

The two Mozart compositions were the first renditions -- the overture followed by Eine Kleine Nachtmusik -- and, bar some imprecise tuning among wind and brass instruments, the presentations were quite good, the playing rather improved from OSJ's last concert at the Patra Jaya building some time ago.

The orchestra of course has a very long way to go yet. Wind and brass have always been weak points, not just with OSJ but also with the Nusantara Chamber Orchestra (NCO), but it is the strings that deserve some commendation.

Perhaps Nachtmusik could have done with an even more reduced string section, but that comes under the heading of personal preferences, and OSJ presented a remarkably good interpretation of the all too well-known work, although there appeared to be a tendency of rushing the piece in the final movement.

Next on the program was an arrangement of Jali-Jali, a Betawi folk song. Betawi, incidentally, is the name of the indigenous people and culture of Batavia, as Jakarta was known during the colonial period. The Betawi people have a distinctly different type of artistic expression to other Indonesian groups, particularly in the performing arts.

The composer of Jali-Jali is unknown, neither did the program notes mention who arranged the song. OSJ's rendition was well received by the audience. The arrangement does have its merits, but it is not the first time the song has gone through a process of arrangement.

Encores

In light of Jakarta's anniversary it may have been deemed appropriate for the program to feature melodies referring to the city, but whichever way you look at it, Jali-Jali is not an original composition for a symphony orchestra.

As a matter of fact, the Indonesian repertoire of symphonic music mostly covers arrangements of folk or popular songs, played as encores. The song Ondel-Ondel, played as an encore that evening, was one. So far, there have been very few works of real symphonic proportions, though there certainly is no lack of raw material. One can only hope that one day more works will be commissioned.

The main opus of the evening was Chopin's piano concerto, and to describe Kuei Pin Yeo's technique as amazing is putting it rather mildly. Ms. Kuei was accompanied by the orchestra, but it is a well-recognized fact that Chopin's orchestral parts play such a minor role it could make pianists forget about the group which accompanies them.

Chopin's Andante Spianato et Grande Polonaise, though written for piano and orchestra, actually works quite well when played solo. His first piano concerto however does not fall in that category because the orchestra does have some moments, few as they may be, where it is entitled to a more prominent exposure.

With that elusive characteristic in music called rubato, which defies description by mere words, it is far from easy to create togetherness between the two elements. There must be perfect rapport between conductor and pianist which was not the case at the concert. The conductor, for his part, must be able to sense and anticipate how the soloist is about to deliver a phrase. On the other hand, the soloist has to be aware of the precious few moments that the orchestra steps forward.

Brilliance

Unevenness -- e.g. orchestra being a fraction too late -- ran through the entire rendition but was especially noticeable in the concerto's second movement. Chopin may not have given the orchestra a large role, but give and take is definitely in order.

As for the third movement, this was truly an exposure of technical brilliance. But with Chopin, brilliance cannot be displayed for brilliance's sake.

Probably the most fastidious of all composers, he did not have the facility of a Mozart who would hear the music in his head and wrote it down straight away in perfect shape, without any deletions, additions, or whatever other kind of change you can think of. Composing never came easy to Chopin who agonized over the minutest detail.

It follows, then, that every single note is of equal importance, be it in a melodic or harmonic context. The brilliance of Chopin's pieces is planned and has its precisely designated place in the overall scheme of the work. They are not mere instances for showing off, as happens with quite a number of Liszt's piano compositions. Rushing the final movement of the concerto, a rondo, did the work a disservice.

All in all though, the concert was enjoyable. OSJ still has quite a lot of obstacles to overcome, especially concerning the wind and brass sections which could do with intense practice. Conductor Yudianto too may be in need of gaining more experience through training abroad. There are, after all, a lot of other styles and types of work the orchestra will have to tackle in future.