Soloist, youth ensemble accord Bach full majesty

Soloist, youth ensemble accord Bach full majesty

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

The setting could not have been more perfect for the evening
concert.

A marriage of European and Mediterranean architectural styles
in the ballroom of Marocco House, in upmarket Menteng, beamed a
serenity and grace to match the works of J.S. Bach and other
composers of classical music.

Marocco House is where the National Youth Orchestra Indonesia
(NYOI), an ensemble of talented young people under the guidance
of private organization Indonesian Youth Music (MRI) and Japanese
violin soloist Mayu Kodera, captivated a small audience in a
concert of classical music.

It took place on Thursday evening, and was held to raise funds
for the mental rehabilitation of young Acehnese who had survived
the tsunami.

The medium-sized ballroom also imparted a sense of intimacy to
the works performed for an audience sitting under an ornamented
dome.

However, during the recital of the first piece, Bach's Trio
Sonata in G Major for two flutes and basso continuo, there was
little to indicate to the audience what a superb performance they
were about to enjoy.

In the four-movement piece, composed by Bach at the Court of
Cothen between 1717 and 1721, woodwinds and harpsichord failed to
radiate the supposed charm and the only interesting feature from
the performance was the variation on a bass line, a common
feature in baroque music.

A woman journalist who had studied classical music whispered
to me that there was nothing special about the rendition,
apparently unaware of what was going to happen next.

After a brief moment of silence, the complete ensemble of the
youth orchestra, and Kodera, appeared on stage for Violin
Concerto No. 1 in A Minor.

Considered by many as one of the supreme 18th-century
masterpieces of that genre, the piece was written by Bach between
1717 and 1723 as a secular work presented for Prince Leopold of
Anhalt-Cothen, a Calvinist who could not stand elaborate church
music.

In the allegro, the orchestral opening is recalled several
times during the movement, and again at the end.

During the main movement, marked andante, the audience savored
the main attraction of the evening concert -- the virtuosity of
soloist Kudera, which dominated the subsequent proceedings.

With an energetic background provided by the ensemble, Kodera
displayed a faultless technical command, leaving the audience
numbed in their seats.

At one point there was mournful lyricism, suitable for
nocturnal musing; at another, her thunderous pace was enough to
leave the uninitiated gasping for breath.

The boisterous allegro assai finale was met with
thunderous applause.

The next two compositions were early 20th-century classic
Brook Green Suite by Gustav Holst and Di Bawah Sinar Bulan
Purnama (Under the Moonlight), a work originally composed by R.
Maladi in keroncong style.

The reception cooled somewhat, as both were felt to be too
modern for the evening, if not for their inability to radiate the
majesty found in Bach.

Splendor returned during a rendition of Benjamin Britten's
Simple Symphony, which consisted of four movements for string
orchestra, but was, in fact, far from simple.

The first movement, Boisterous Bouree, took its cue from the
melodic contours and rhythmic cadence of English folksong, while
the material for the second, Playful Pizzicato, derived from a
1924 Scherzo for Piano and a song that dated from the same year.

In the third movement, Sentimental Saraband, violins, cellos
and basses dispelled the playfulness of the two earlier movements
with an utterly somber mood.

The three movements made way for the dramatic Frolicsome
Finale, which wrapped up the concert.

With the lights back on, the audience rose from their seats as
one and gave both ensemble and soloist a lengthy standing
ovation.

"The violin soloist deserved the most credit. However, the
ensemble also supported her very well," said my knowledgeable
neighbor.

Youth members of the ensemble were selected by MRI from
hundreds of applicants from Medan, Jakarta, Bandung and
Yogyakarta.

In preparation for the concert, all NYOI players attended a
three-day master class given by Japanese professor Ikuyo
Nakamura.

Along with Kudera, Nakamura was in the country with support
from M-Project, a Japanese organization that focuses on teaching
classical music here.