OSJ's concert highlights Jakarta's birthday

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.