Pianist Iswargia R. Sudarno pulls off all-Schubert recital
Pianist Iswargia R. Sudarno pulls off all-Schubert recital
By Laksmi Pamuntjak-Djohan
JAKARTA (JP): It was both a bane and a blessing for Iswargia
R. Sudarno, or Lendi as he is better known to his peers, that the
Erasmus Huis was only but a quarter full the night of his solo
recital. A bane because what he represented aside from obvious
talent was courage, something that we rarely see in our classical
musicians nowadays.
Without belittling the headway that has been made in Jakarta's
chamber music scene, it takes courage to step onto the stage on
one's own, let alone to perform a relatively underappreciated
repertory.
And a blessing because the works of Romantic Austrian composer
Franz Schubert (1797-1828) are simply not intended for big halls
or big audiences.
Unlike the showy, explosive nature of Liszt's works, best
projected in a large hall, Schubert's music tends to be more
abstract and more personal.
Some of his later pieces reveal a depth of emotion that comes
to life better in the intimate setting of a small hall.
But it's obvious that not many people like or understand
Schubert, even if this year marks the second centenary of his
birth. And this is not without reason.
In the past, he was either dismissed as a mere Romantic
melodist for the Vienesse beau monde, or, worse, a lesser
Beethoven.
Most pianists chose to steer clear of his works simply because
most of his sonatas are too long.
It was only after World War II that pianists like Alfred
Brendel began to follow in Artur Schnabel's footsteps and
perceive the inordinate length as a necessary aspect in
Schubert's self-expression.
That Lendi had chosen to perform an all-Schubert recital --
especially one which started with Moments Musiceaux, D. 780, a
piece not given to strong displays of technique -- was another
form of courage.
The poor turnout was clearly the answer to this brazen
challenge.
Yet what Lendi made out of it was quite unexpected. The
Moments Musiceaux could have turned into a disaster had he not
understood Schubert the way he obviously did.
The first movement was murky and tentative as if he was still
trying to grapple with its essence.
Similarly, his tone was hammer-like, a reflexive respite for
the well-meaning but clueless interpreter.
Then again, Schubert's music never transmits much of a sense
of direction to the listeners.
Unlike Beethoven, who is focused and precise to a fault, there
is a roaming, self-questioning quality about Schubert's music
that suggests that the composer himself was never sure what he
was trying to say.
By the time Lendi reached the fourth movement, Moderato, his
tone and shading had markedly improved.
There was a degree of unevenness, but technicalities were
hardly relevant in a piece so unremarkably complex that it takes
guts to play it at all.
The real issue is to sustain the tension in those long
melodies, to lend credence to those sudden modulations, and to
ultimately balance them.
And he did all that admirably.
The fifth movement, Allegro Vivace, even saw the "old" Lendi
at play: foot-tapping, confident, passionate, a bit of the
maverick.
Lendi's conviction was sustained throughout the three
following pieces, and culminated in his rendition of the Sonata
in A minor right after the intermission.
His architectural background, ironically, provides him a
sturdy sense of structure and a sensitivity to contrasts that
give the piece the cumulative effect it deserves.
Balance
I have known Lendi since he was doing his architecture degree
in Bandung.
Even then, he was always at the piano, living and breathing it
as one would a vocation, not a sideline activity. I had always
sensed that there was a part of his personality that needed to
give, and it was piano that brought it alive.
After he graduated, I asked him, "Will you enjoy being an
architect as much as you enjoy being a pianist?"
He only smiled, his soulful eyes holding the answer. Yet I was
too young to understand that he never intended to do anything
else but play the piano.
Things started to happen to that effect. Lendi went to the
United States, and then Canada, spending more time at the piano
at the likes of the Manhattan School of Music and Johanessen
School of the Arts.
When he returned to Indonesia, he wasted no time in getting
into the swing of things.
The Chamber Music Society of the International Music
Foundation, which he currently coordinates, is arguably the most
prolific and progressive music group in Jakarta today.
What he presented to his audience that night was nothing
particularly flashy or inspired.
But he got into the heart of Schubert, showing that it's not
about grandstanding, but balance and integration.