08/11/2007
From Bali to Brahms: A lively musical rendezvous
The Jakarta Post
Features - September 08, 2007
Camelia Pasandaran, Contributor, Jakarta
Jangeran -- a fusion of East and West music traditions composed by Chris Watson -- opened the Nusantara Symphony Orchestra's (NSO) concert last Saturday at Balai Sarbini.
The concert began with Balinese music played by a small gamelan ensemble. The intensity of the music, called kakotekan in Bali , and the transposition of the main theme in Janger style, produced a rich sound. The hall had been decorated like a temple and a male Balinese dancer flitted in and out between the members of the orchestra.
Then the orchestra started to play. It sounded like a response to the Balinese music, much like the conversation between the male and female players in the Janger tradition (dance, music and drama for young people in Bali ). A trumpet solo perfectly captured the ethnic sound.
After a long conversation between the gamelan and the orchestra, they found a meeting point. On any other occasion a union between these "worlds apart" musical instruments might have caused raised eyebrows but, under the direction of NSO guest conductor Hikotaro Yazaki, the disharmony that was immediately perceivable gave way to a unique musical synthesis.
To close the complex work, the NSO offered some more Balinese arrangements. Resident conductor Edward C. Van Ness said the additional closing music and the dancer were intended to bring the audience back to the lively and vital Balinese tradition.
"Jangeran is a meeting of two different traditions. But each retains their identity and strength. If we combined Asian noodles with Italian spaghetti, the taste would be awful. So we find a way to merge the two," Van Ness said.
Following Jangeran, the orchestra played Johannes Brahms' Concerto for Violin and Cello, Op. 102 in A Minor, welcoming to the stage two Japanese soloists: violinist Atsuko Watanabe and cellist Yasuro Chomei.
Though from the romantic era, Brahms is known for his unique style, which was revolutionary in music development. This peculiarity is often ignored by musicians who play Brahms' work in the romantic style of Chopin. But the NSO stayed true to the fundamental character of Brahms' music.
In the first Allegro movement, the musicians' ability to play at a fast tempo with several shifts in melody was challenged. Restless notes chased one another; no single note lasting for long, like water streaming down a hill.
Them came the andante movement and the heroic music lightened a shade. At first, it sounded like a rest after a long climb, but this was not yet the finale.
The pace quickened for a Hungarian-style rondo that was inspired by the gypsy street music of Vienna in Brahms' time. After a journey through the rich music of Brahms, the first part of the concert was over.
As the players returned to the stage after the break and the audience quitened down, the conductor slowly raised his hands for a downbeat. Suddenly, the hall was flooded with the deep sounds of the bassoon and strings, playing Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6, Op. 74 in B Minor.
This work has a brooding tone and a slow tempo. A short trombone chorale is heard, based on an Orthodox hymn.
The second movement takes the form of an energetic dance with its unusual 5/4 time signature indicating the start of the Allegro con Grazia.
The guest conductor demonstrated great skill in invoking a range of emotional responses. No wonder that he was awarded the "Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" from the French Government in 2001.
Tchaikovsky again changed the mood with its radical leap from the second part to the Allegro molto vivace. The brass section and the strings produced brash sounds like a storm, accented by the cymbals. This would have been a fantastic finish but Tchaikovsky does not usually end predictably.
The Adagio lamentoso movement was in fact the finale of this dynamic work. The music slowed and softened, as if bringing the listener to the point of aching despair.
What a journey! From Bali , the audience was taken to the romantic era with Brahms' unique inimitable harmony and Tchaikovsky's dynamic works.
It really was a great concert. The ebbing away of the closing music left the audience silent. Then, the applause started and several "bravos" were heard as well.
Let us wait and see what the orchestra has in store for its November and December concerts.
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