Safe music programs lack special something

Safe music programs lack special something

By Gus Kairupan

JAKARTA (JP): Give the audience what they want to hear. That
seems to be the formula visiting musicians adhere to in
Indonesia. I well remember the days when I was sounded out by
cultural affairs officials of foreign embassies regarding what
local audiences appreciate in the way of concerts.

Those days appear to have long since passed, not, I hasten to
add, due to any of my suggestions. Me? Telling visiting musicians
what to play? Heaven forbid! Actually, however, I have
occasionally remarked that modern music so rarely gets a hearing
in this country. But that is no longer the case, as anyone who
attended cellist Reynard Rott's exciting recital at Erasmus Huis
a few months back can testify. Also, pianist Ananda Sukarlan's
recent performances that were enthusiastically received.

It seems, though, that some artists would rather stick to what
you could call "safe programs" of pieces that are quite well-
known and loved by a large number of concertgoers. This is what
took place last Saturday at the Yamaha Music Hall in a recital by
Japanese pianist Yuko Higashi, sponsored by the Yayasan Musik
Indonesia.

The program included compositions by Schumann, Chopin, Debussy
and Ravel. These are sublime masters whose names will never be
absent from programs of musical performances simply because the
world acknowledges their greatness, and recognizes that a
beautiful rendition of a Mozart concerto is as valuable as a
Rembrandt painting.

If I get to know of a pianist intending to perform Ravel's
Gaspard de la Nuit, I make sure not to miss it.

The problem with safe programs is that the compositions
performed are so familiar that one expects nothing but the best.
Every little shortcoming immediately stands out, and every wrong
note (there were quite a few) becomes an unpleasant shock.

The one presented by Higashi was, to put it lightly, super
safe to the point that the bulk of it consisted of very short
pieces, such as two waltzes by Chopin (including the one Chopin
did not call the Minute Waltz) and two mazurkas by the same
composer.

The Schumann pieces were Des Abends and Aufschwung from the
Fantastiestuecke cycle. Debussy's contribution was L'isle
joyeuse, and Ravel was represented by Pavane pour une infante
defunte and Jeux d'eau. There were also two other Chopin works,
the Barcarolle and the first Ballade in G-Minor.

These two and Ravel's Jeux d'eau were the only works with some
real muscle and are the type of works one expects in a really
substantial recital.

So would the two compositions by Schumann, but only as parts
of a unit. Schumann may probably be called the inventor of the
piano cycle. These are a series of short pieces inspired by a
central idea like Kinderszenen (Scenes of Childhood), which
speaks for itself, and Davidsbundlertaenze that has a bit of
a literary background.

Schumann's two pieces, pleasant as they are, were of little
consequence outside the Fantastiestuecke cycle to which they
belong, while two Chopin waltzes and mazurkas were not really
good material for a meaningful concert.

The recital of short pieces would have been quite at home at a
small gathering in private surroundings before an audience not
too demanding in its musical taste, rather than in a concert
hall.

As regards the performance, well, Higashi possesses a very
good technique. However, if "safe program" applies, she also
played it safe. Textbook-wise there would be little to fault, but
then textbooks do not good music make.

Where is the entertainment value if you know exactly that an
accelerando or diminuendo would be coming up long before even
getting to the spot and that in getting there, the conventional
path (the printed score, that is) would be followed. Though this
may be perfect reading, it certainly lacks inspired
interpretation.

This is not to say that Higashi did not have her own concept
of how to interpret music. However, in at least three cases
interpretation fell flat, and in the case of Chopin's C-Minor
waltz (op. 64 no. 2) her way of rendering it was quite uncalled
for.

Waltzes and mazurkas have the same time signature but
everything depends on accentuation of the beat. In the mazurka
there is an almost imperceptible pause before the strongly marked
second beat. It is something that you have to feel, and it is
small wonder that there are renowned pianists who would rather
play a 12-minute scherzo by Chopin than one of his two-minute
mazurkas.

Maybe it is because it is in the mazurkas, not the ballads,
scherzos, impromptus, what have you, that the soul of Poland
lies. Some editions of the C Minor waltz carry the directive of
the tempo giusto, i.e. in strict (waltz) tempo. This particular
waltz is a bit of a trap because its characteristics make it easy
to unwittingly turn the piece into a mazurka. Hence the strict
tempo directive to warn the player against it.

The Ravel pieces were also wanting. Why the Pavane and Jeux
d'eau were given identical tempos is a question only Higashi can
answer, and color shading -- so important in impressionist music
-- was almost non-existent. The unfortunate result was that, as
regards tone characteristics, there was little to differentiate a
piece of music about a dead princess from a composition about the
play of water.