Last Saturday night, I had the privilege to attend Avip Priatna's last of the "50 Years of Blessings" concert series at the Kertanegara Recital Hall (Balai Resital Kertanegara) in Kebayoran Baru, and in my opinion, this could be one of Avip's most intimate concerts he has ever given during his tenure as the artistic director and principal conductor of the award-winning Batavia Madrigal Singers (BMS).
In my last post, I mentioned about how important for us to celebrate the music and not the man, because music, in whichever shape or form it takes, always represents the truth. To the trained ears, it takes minimal effort to discern honesty from dishonesty in the spaces between the notes--and the moment when Avip walked up to the podium and prepared the first ictus, I could immediately tell that what I was about to hear and feel was Avip's strong and honest commitment to music, which, to quote my favorite philosopher Plato, "gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything."
Even though the concert practically speaking served to celebrate Avip's 50th birthday, I believe that Avip himself did not want to be the glare of publicity, but rather wanted to the take this rare opportunity (you can only have one 50th birthday in your lifetime!) to show his deepest appreciation for his very close friends and family, who have always been by his side in times of need and of comfort. For this reason, the program not only featured the renowned BMS and Jakarta Chamber Orchestra (JCO), but also guest artists including soprano Aning Katamsi, pianists Iswargia Sudarno and Oerip Santoso, and tenors Teddy Panelewen and Farman Purnama.
The concert opened with Come Ye Sons of Art (1694), a multi-movement musical ode in honor of the birthday of Queen Mary II of England, written by the English composer Henry Purcell (1659-1695). The performance featured a duet collaboration between singers Valentina Nova and Yoanita Mulyawan in the third movement, Sound the Trumpet. JCO delivered a compact and robust performance, but somehow lacked the playful, jaunty rhythms that are often the highlight in general performances of baroque music. My professor once said, to play baroque is to dance, no matter the affect. Since then, I have not encountered a truer saying. I was rather impressed by Valentina's stage presence, who seemed to capture the spirit of the music so effortlessly, although some of her diction got lost in her solo lines. The duet was executed with sheer conviction by Valentina and Yoanita, however it lacked cohesion as both singers produced dissimilar colors and tone.
Next in the concert lineup is a rarely-performed but exceptionally beautiful work by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) titled Ch'io mi scordi di te?, a concert aria featuring soprano Aning Katamsi, Iswargia Sudarno at the piano, and JCO. I was surprised by the difficulty of the piano part, where fast passage works and huge leaps permeate the pages, and Iswargia handled it with very focused attention and determination. Aning's agile and light voice was an absolute treat, the concept of jeu perlé in piano playing is appropriate to describe her delicate approach to stringing the notes together. Unfortunately, there were times when the soloists and the orchestra seemed unraveled and not together, which disrupted the flow of the piece. Otherwise, it was a very solid performance and I enjoyed it thoroughly.
Following Mozart is a (mini) piano concerto by the famous Polish-French composer Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) titled Grande polonaise brillante, written in the style of a Polish dance similar to that of a waltz. At the piano was a senior member of the Indonesian classical music community by the name of Oerip Santoso, who incidentally a graduate of my alma mater! On Wisconsin! The Grande polonaise is a very lighthearted piece written in the youthful years of Chopin, and Oerip gave a wonderfully clear and refreshing performance that was free of technical constraints and filled with exuberance as displayed by his attention to articulation and inflections of the phrases. Hut ab!
Halfway through the concert, the audience was presented with music written by the winners of the music composition competition initiated by Avip himself. In his speech on stage, Avip said that the purpose of the competition is to encourage young Indonesian composers to go on their creative path and to contribute to the Indonesian classical repertoire. The second prize winning composition in the orchestra category is a delightful yet teasingly capricious piece titled Sia-Sia ("Futile") written by Fauzie Wiriadisastra, whereas the first prize was given to harmonically exquisite and tame tone poem titled 5 Miniatures for Cello and Orchestra, written by Alfian Emir Aditya. I admittedly preferred the former than the latter. Fauzie excelled at creating an amazingly rich and engaging soundscape by employing various compositional techniques that Alfian seemed to shy away from. Musical ideas develop organically and continuously weave in and out of the texture, the structure of the piece is intelligently thought-out as the piece slowly builds up to the long-awaited climax and follows a restrained and resolute denouement that wraps the performance on a solemn note. Alfian's piece also has its own strengths, including his treatment of beautiful and impassioned melodic lines in both the solo cello and orchestra. However, the general musical style he adopted, which blends film music with music belonging to the popular genre, slowly became stale and predictable after each movement.
We also had the chance to see fantastic performance by a bright, young Indonesian conductor who won the recently held conducting competition sponsored by the Resonanz School of Music. The conductor by the name of Ken Steven wielded his baton to a choral piece that he happened to compose himself. He maintained a remarkably strong stage presence and was able to direct the choir with gentle persuasion through his fluid body language, hand gestures, and sensitivity to music. Despite his young age, his maturity shines through. I cannot wait to see his next performance when the opportunity arises!
The concert took an intimate turn when the next few pieces were performed in dedication to Avip's benefactors, friends, and family. In his on-stage speech, he detailed his struggle as a fledgling musician who dreamed about conducting his own choir, and mentioned about how these people, with kindness and faith, have unconditionally supported him and inspired him to work even harder. JCO performed an arrangement of The Sky and the Dawn and the Sun, a folk Celtic piece featuring concertmaster Michelle Siswanto, who (clearly!) had fun on stage with her virtuosic Irish fiddling coated with pizzazz. The next two pieces are Wanita ("Women") by the late Indonesian composer Ismail Marzuki (1914-1958) featuring Valentina Nova, and Mama, a song popularized by Il Divo, featuring four tenors Teddy Panelewen, Antonius Halawa, Renno Krisna, and Pharel Silaban. Big thumbs up for Pharel, whose ringing and sweet tone became the highlight of the performance.
The concert culminated with short performances by singers Teddy Panelewen and Farman Purnama, also known as Ipul by his close circles. Teddy, a very close friend of Avip, gave a fresh and youthful rendition of Sendiri ("Alone") by Guruh Soekarnoputra (1953-) with Avip playing at the piano. Farman delivered an emotionally-charged premier performance of a work titled Pinta Hamba ("My Prayer), a result of a collaborative effort between Farman himself and Indonesian composer Fero Aldiansya. Farman's sweet tone and emotional commitment to the work made for an enjoyable experience for the audience. The next and last song in the program is Through Heaven's Eyes, a song beloved by many after the release of DreamWorks Pictures' The Prince of Egypt.
The program overall left a deep impression on me. The concert itself was an enjoyable experience, and it is clear that the players and singers on stage gave them their absolute best to end the "50 Years of Blessings" concert series with the loudest bang you can possibly imagine. I wonder... what would I do when I turn 50?
Thanks for reading and have a great start of the week!
Hazim Suhadi
EDIT (11:20 AM 1/26/2015): A few correction has been made to fit the author's style and intent.
In my last post, I mentioned about how important for us to celebrate the music and not the man, because music, in whichever shape or form it takes, always represents the truth. To the trained ears, it takes minimal effort to discern honesty from dishonesty in the spaces between the notes--and the moment when Avip walked up to the podium and prepared the first ictus, I could immediately tell that what I was about to hear and feel was Avip's strong and honest commitment to music, which, to quote my favorite philosopher Plato, "gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything."
Even though the concert practically speaking served to celebrate Avip's 50th birthday, I believe that Avip himself did not want to be the glare of publicity, but rather wanted to the take this rare opportunity (you can only have one 50th birthday in your lifetime!) to show his deepest appreciation for his very close friends and family, who have always been by his side in times of need and of comfort. For this reason, the program not only featured the renowned BMS and Jakarta Chamber Orchestra (JCO), but also guest artists including soprano Aning Katamsi, pianists Iswargia Sudarno and Oerip Santoso, and tenors Teddy Panelewen and Farman Purnama.
 |
| Avip's 50th birthday concert celebration (avippriatna.com) |
The concert opened with Come Ye Sons of Art (1694), a multi-movement musical ode in honor of the birthday of Queen Mary II of England, written by the English composer Henry Purcell (1659-1695). The performance featured a duet collaboration between singers Valentina Nova and Yoanita Mulyawan in the third movement, Sound the Trumpet. JCO delivered a compact and robust performance, but somehow lacked the playful, jaunty rhythms that are often the highlight in general performances of baroque music. My professor once said, to play baroque is to dance, no matter the affect. Since then, I have not encountered a truer saying. I was rather impressed by Valentina's stage presence, who seemed to capture the spirit of the music so effortlessly, although some of her diction got lost in her solo lines. The duet was executed with sheer conviction by Valentina and Yoanita, however it lacked cohesion as both singers produced dissimilar colors and tone.
Next in the concert lineup is a rarely-performed but exceptionally beautiful work by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) titled Ch'io mi scordi di te?, a concert aria featuring soprano Aning Katamsi, Iswargia Sudarno at the piano, and JCO. I was surprised by the difficulty of the piano part, where fast passage works and huge leaps permeate the pages, and Iswargia handled it with very focused attention and determination. Aning's agile and light voice was an absolute treat, the concept of jeu perlé in piano playing is appropriate to describe her delicate approach to stringing the notes together. Unfortunately, there were times when the soloists and the orchestra seemed unraveled and not together, which disrupted the flow of the piece. Otherwise, it was a very solid performance and I enjoyed it thoroughly.
Following Mozart is a (mini) piano concerto by the famous Polish-French composer Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) titled Grande polonaise brillante, written in the style of a Polish dance similar to that of a waltz. At the piano was a senior member of the Indonesian classical music community by the name of Oerip Santoso, who incidentally a graduate of my alma mater! On Wisconsin! The Grande polonaise is a very lighthearted piece written in the youthful years of Chopin, and Oerip gave a wonderfully clear and refreshing performance that was free of technical constraints and filled with exuberance as displayed by his attention to articulation and inflections of the phrases. Hut ab!
 |
| Oerip Santoso demonstrating in front of students (ai.fh-erfurt.de) |
Halfway through the concert, the audience was presented with music written by the winners of the music composition competition initiated by Avip himself. In his speech on stage, Avip said that the purpose of the competition is to encourage young Indonesian composers to go on their creative path and to contribute to the Indonesian classical repertoire. The second prize winning composition in the orchestra category is a delightful yet teasingly capricious piece titled Sia-Sia ("Futile") written by Fauzie Wiriadisastra, whereas the first prize was given to harmonically exquisite and tame tone poem titled 5 Miniatures for Cello and Orchestra, written by Alfian Emir Aditya. I admittedly preferred the former than the latter. Fauzie excelled at creating an amazingly rich and engaging soundscape by employing various compositional techniques that Alfian seemed to shy away from. Musical ideas develop organically and continuously weave in and out of the texture, the structure of the piece is intelligently thought-out as the piece slowly builds up to the long-awaited climax and follows a restrained and resolute denouement that wraps the performance on a solemn note. Alfian's piece also has its own strengths, including his treatment of beautiful and impassioned melodic lines in both the solo cello and orchestra. However, the general musical style he adopted, which blends film music with music belonging to the popular genre, slowly became stale and predictable after each movement.
We also had the chance to see fantastic performance by a bright, young Indonesian conductor who won the recently held conducting competition sponsored by the Resonanz School of Music. The conductor by the name of Ken Steven wielded his baton to a choral piece that he happened to compose himself. He maintained a remarkably strong stage presence and was able to direct the choir with gentle persuasion through his fluid body language, hand gestures, and sensitivity to music. Despite his young age, his maturity shines through. I cannot wait to see his next performance when the opportunity arises!
The concert took an intimate turn when the next few pieces were performed in dedication to Avip's benefactors, friends, and family. In his on-stage speech, he detailed his struggle as a fledgling musician who dreamed about conducting his own choir, and mentioned about how these people, with kindness and faith, have unconditionally supported him and inspired him to work even harder. JCO performed an arrangement of The Sky and the Dawn and the Sun, a folk Celtic piece featuring concertmaster Michelle Siswanto, who (clearly!) had fun on stage with her virtuosic Irish fiddling coated with pizzazz. The next two pieces are Wanita ("Women") by the late Indonesian composer Ismail Marzuki (1914-1958) featuring Valentina Nova, and Mama, a song popularized by Il Divo, featuring four tenors Teddy Panelewen, Antonius Halawa, Renno Krisna, and Pharel Silaban. Big thumbs up for Pharel, whose ringing and sweet tone became the highlight of the performance.
 |
| Avip and his friends on stage |
The concert culminated with short performances by singers Teddy Panelewen and Farman Purnama, also known as Ipul by his close circles. Teddy, a very close friend of Avip, gave a fresh and youthful rendition of Sendiri ("Alone") by Guruh Soekarnoputra (1953-) with Avip playing at the piano. Farman delivered an emotionally-charged premier performance of a work titled Pinta Hamba ("My Prayer), a result of a collaborative effort between Farman himself and Indonesian composer Fero Aldiansya. Farman's sweet tone and emotional commitment to the work made for an enjoyable experience for the audience. The next and last song in the program is Through Heaven's Eyes, a song beloved by many after the release of DreamWorks Pictures' The Prince of Egypt.
The program overall left a deep impression on me. The concert itself was an enjoyable experience, and it is clear that the players and singers on stage gave them their absolute best to end the "50 Years of Blessings" concert series with the loudest bang you can possibly imagine. I wonder... what would I do when I turn 50?
Thanks for reading and have a great start of the week!
Hazim Suhadi
EDIT (11:20 AM 1/26/2015): A few correction has been made to fit the author's style and intent.
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