Virtuoso pianist makes glorious return to exotic roots

Virtuoso pianist makes glorious return to exotic roots

JP/19/PIANO

Virtuoso pianist makes glorious return to exotic roots

M. Taufiqurrahman and Jim Read
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

For the evening recital, pianist Esther Budiardjo was dressed
in a simple, dark velvet gown adorned with flower-motif
embroidery; it turned out however, that her modest appearance
served merely to conceal her stunning dexterity, if not
virtuosity, at the piano.

The clutch of glowing press reviews accorded to her recordings
and live performances were proven justified when Budiardjo
produced a memorable performance on Tuesday evening at which the
audience witnessed for themselves Budihardjo's masterful command
of her instrument.

Time stood still at an almost-full Gedung Kesenian Jakarta
(GKJ) as the Jakarta-born pianist gave a rendition of Asian-
inspired compositions from Claude Debussy (1862-1918), Alexandre
Tansman (1897-1986) and Leopold Godowsky (1870-1938), as well as
standard classical fare from Polish composer Frederic Chopin
(1810-1849).

The audience was taken on a journey into new territory with
the help of images and scenarios from Budiardjo that were coded
and hidden within the music -- the approach naturally embraced by
composers from the Impressionist era.

Budiardjo chose a very suitable program for her recital, the
first in Jakarta in 18 years, especially as the first three
compositions were all heavily tinged with the mood and nuance of
traditional Indonesian music.

However, rather than merely summoning up her Indonesian roots,
the three compositions created an impression that evoked the
atmosphere of an unknown land as discovered by the three Western
composers during their sojourn in the East.

In Pagodes, the first movement of Debussy's Estampes for
example, Budiardjo's playing of minor keys recalled the diffuse
sound of traditional Javanese gamelan. Debussy's unmistakable
impressionism was imbued with pentatonic nuance -- one of
gamelan's essential features -- while repeated note patterns
provided a sensuous wash of sound.

The two other pieces in Estampes brought to mind images of
Spain (The Evening in Granada) and France (Gardens in the Rain).
The Spanish references were delivered through an alluring veil of
impressionistic brush strokes, while Budiardjo was able, very
effectively, to capture Debussy's quirkiness and essential
coquettishness throughout.

In the two compositions by Godowsky and Tansman, Budihardjo
attempted to capture, using classical expression, the feeling and
emotion that overwhelmed the two composers while they stayed at
foreign places in Java.

The sensuous fluency of pentatonic motifs was combined with
classical diatonic harmony in a way that, with great subtlety,
emphasized the quintessentially esoteric allure of the gamelan.

In Godowsky's Chattering Monkeys at the Sacred Lake of Wendit
from Selections from Java Suite, Budiardjo started by producing a
lyrical tone that evoked a dark, starry night above a placid lake
in the Java hinterland, before jumping into repetitive, playful
piano lines.

Ending the piece was a simple melody that called to mind a
traditional Javanese chant.

During the Godowsky and Tansman pieces, Budiardjo regularly
displayed her much-anticipated virtuosity. Her technical command
of the piano was marked by very clear articulation and subtle use
of the sustaining pedal, which produced exceptionally persuasive
mood music.

In Tansman's Exotique (Danse Javanaise), Budiardjo, at times,
produced brilliant tremolos and dazzling arpeggios before
reaching a dizzying, bravura crescendo at the end.

All of this was executed with breathtaking speed and
precision, as if the piano keys were glued to her fingers.

Such technical virtuosity was repeated extensively during the
performance of Chopin's Preludes Op. 28, played in its entirety.

Her technical command was again on clear display in the many
running passages in some of the faster preludes, while she fully
explored the differences in mood and tone offered by the major
and minor keys.

Budiardjo's interpretation was a kind of song cycle that moved
from the drama of soldiers being called to march, to a funereal
hymn, from pulsating whirlwind to waltzing in lush, green
meadows.

At times, her playing evoked the majestic, thick texture of
Brahms, while at others the sheer romanticism, tempestuousness
and passion of Beethoven were brought to mind.

After a warm reception from the audience, Budiardjo wrapped up
her recital with a rendition of the well-known traditional
Javanese tune, Tembang Alit, whose basic song structure was taken
and given a classical overlay.

The encore, therefore, had the most local flavor of all the
compositions performed during the one-hour-plus recital.

Speaking to The Jakarta Post in a backstage interview,
Budiardjo -- now a Canadian citizen -- said in almost self-
deprecatory tones that it was the appreciative audience that
deserved the most credit.

"They gave their undivided attention, even though it would not
have been easy to sit through a 40-minute performance of Chopin,"
she said, modestly.

-- Profile of Esther Budiardjo on Page 20