Traditional Sundanese music group enjoys popularity in Paris
Kunang Helmi-Picard, Contributor, Paris
Ida Widawati, a singer of tembang sunda, or traditional Sundanese songs, is no stranger to Parisian audiences.
Late last month, her group, Grup Seni Malati, opened the Festival de Season here at the Maison des Cultures du Monde, a forum for performing arts traditions of the world.
The opening concert was a resounding success, with fans traveling from as far away as Amsterdam to hear Ida and her group perform.
The second performance of the six-week festival was of the Balinese Topeng Shakti female dance group led by Cristina Wistari and accompanied by the female gamelan group, Mekar Ayu.
Performances from Indonesia continue to be well-attended here in France, much to the satisfaction of the Indonesian Ambassador in Paris, Adian Silalahi.
"It is very important for Indonesia that excellent cultural performances be shown here. Although these groups are relatively small, their impact is still widespread," he said after Ida's two concerts.
Cherif Khaznadar, the Egyptian-born director of the Maison des Cultures du Monde, invited Ida Widawati to perform in Paris for the sixth time. Her previous successes on five occasions since 1991 was guaranteed to draw a large audience.
Ida's talent also found voice in a very popular 1993 CD recording of her performance in the INEDIT/Maison des Cultures du Monde series.
Ida was ecstatic with the enthusiastic reception, considering the unusual fact that they had performed solely for an audience who came specifically to see them.
"Whereas in Indonesia, we only play at occasions like weddings or state banquets, in the background. It does make a difference, because I can see that people really concentrate on the quality of our performance here in Paris," she said after their first performance.
The tembang sunda genre is said to have originated from the time of the Padjadjaran Kingdom, which reigned in the area now known as West Java, in the 15th century. Now, the tembang sunda vocal and instrumental style has spread to the heart of Sundanese West Java in the mountainous region of Preanger and in the towns of Bandung, Cianjur, Garut and Sukabumi.
It is here in this region that regular tembang performances are organized, during which amateurs and professionals alike take turns singing on nostalgic times of the past or of romantic trysts, among other popular themes.
Based in Bandung, Ida Widawati is to be found at the center of an enthusiastic group of tembang sunda performers, and she is constantly encouraging younger singers and musicians to continue performing.
Soft-spoken and full of sparkling wit and humor, she says she was mainly self-taught, although she was a one-time pupil of the master tembang sunda singer Apung S. Wiratmadja. She has spent most of her performing career researching songs and traditions by herself, and has never attended an academy of vocal training.
Asked about the challenges faced in the long-term survival of this traditional form of performing arts, she answered:
"The lack of public funding to carry out research and to support young performers through scholarships. There is also the phenomenon of the gradual loss of interest in Indonesia for traditional performing arts due to, for example among the younger generation, competition with rock concerts, for which tickets can cost up to Rp 1 million a seat."
Here in Paris, Ida was accompanied by vocalists Nani Sukmawati and Ujang Supriatna, while Ajat Sudrajat played the kacapi indung, Dede Suparman the kacapi rincik and Iwan Mulyana the flute. These performers form the core of the performing group around Ida.
Ida's expressive voice ranges from the melancholic, to the romantic and to the serene. She was the laureate of the Damas Competition for tembang sunda singers successively in 1972, 1974 and 1976, which in turn helped launch her international career as an interpreter of tembang sunda.
Ida is already preparing for her next tour abroad in December this year, when the group will travel to the Netherlands.