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A night to remember: NSO's 'Heart and Passion' concert
< , B>Harry Nazarudin , Contributor, Jakarta | Sat, 05/31/2008 12:07 PM | Lifestyle
The Nusantara Symphony Orchestra's "Heart and Passion" concert on May 24 at Balai Sarbini, South Jakarta, was nothing short of spectacular.
The concert featured a superb orchestra performance of Beethoven's "Fifth Symphony in C Minor" and highlights from the opera Carmen by Bizet.
The orchestra piece relied on coordination and harmony among the many different players, while the opera piece focused on bringing the dramatic act alive.
Both required a skillful, yet flexible conductor who could master both the technical background of the music played and draw out the right feelings and emotions of each section of music.
Maestro Hikotaro Yazaki, the conductor that night, exceeded expectations in both performances.
Beethoven's fifth came with a well-known allegro con brio that featured a famous four-note motive. Most people know this melody from Disney cartoons of the 1960's.
The Nusantara Symphony Orchestra (NSO) showed their power right from the beginning with confident, accurate playing of the majestic first part. Maestro Yazaki conducted gracefully with his whole body. He continually demanded more power from members of the orchestra, who responded by giving their best to the performance.
As the famous four-note motive echoed in a combination of loud and soft playing, the audience was transported to World War II, where the BBC once used this majestic melody to trumpet the victory of the Allied Forces in Europe.
The NSO played consistently well throughout the second, third and fourth sections. The triumphant and exhilarating finale (and also the Scherzo) showed the NSO's brass and woodwind strength.
Throughout the symphony, Maestro Hikotaro Yazaki electrified the stage with his conducting and gesturing, creating a great performance. As the final part ended, the audience gave a long applause. But the best was still to come.
After the intermission, the orchestra prepared for Carmen. Four vocalists then came on stage: Aning Katamsi as Micaela (soprano), Sarah Sweeting as Carmen (mezzo-soprano), Ndaru Darsono as Don Jose (tenor) and Harland P. Hutabarat as Escamillo (baritone).
Sweeting appeared in a dazzling, strapless red dress and black scarf, typical of Carmen. The orchestra started with the theme song of Carmen, "The Prelude", which brought the audience immediately to the scene: Seville, Spain. A Mediterranean feeling was in the air, brought about by the galloping melody of the "The Prelude", which prepared the audience for the tragedy ahead.
Sweeting then sang "Habanera", one of the most recognizable opera melodies in the world, known for both its beauty and sensualness. It's mere sound immediately casts images of the wild and irresistible Carmen in one's mind -- still going strong from its premiere in 1875.
Sweeting used her whole body and voice in her portrayal of Carmen, the gypsy, throwing tempting smiles to the audience every now and then. The orchestra, together with Maestro Yazaki, played just as magnificently, accompanying each scene perfectly with its matching mood.
Sweeting, of course, was not alone that night. Aning performed brilliantly as usual, portraying Micaela: A naive and ignorant character, in direct contrast to Carmen. Her head scarf and green dress supported this role, along with her beautiful singing and expressions.
Aning delivered a mastery of moods, showing deep emotion in every part. This was shown especially in Act 22, where she trembled to seek Carmen in the gypsy camp -- a place of horror for a demure girl like Micaela. Aning's "puppy look" and her heart-throbbing singing won the audience's attention that night.
Harland P. Hutabarat, with his thundering baritone voice played Escamillo, Carmen's bullfighting lover. With his strong facial expressions and powerful singing, Harland portrayed the macho character to compliment the sexy Carmen. He looked with fiery eyes while singing the famous Toreador song, as if nothing could frighten him -- not even the fierce attack of a bull.
His character persisted in Act 23, when Escamillo performed a duet with Don Jose, played by Ndaru Darsono. Ndaru's character was tricky as Don Jose -- due to his crazy love for Carmen -- transformed from a handsome, obedient soldier into a mad criminal.
Although he performed well, Ndaru's expressions in portraying this transformation was a bit vague. Nevertheless, he proved to be a capable singer and did not lag behind in comparison with the other performers.
All in all, it was a world-class performance. Some of the audience members were even in tears, as Carmen threw her engagement ring back to Don Jose, who stabbed and killed her, ending their tragic love affair.
It almost felt as though the NSO had transported the audience back to Concertgebouw in Amsterdam or Wien Oper in Vienna, where they were listening to the Wiener Philharmoniker or the London Symphony Orchestra.
But this was indeed an Indonesian orchestra that did the country proud as it echoed the spirit of National Awakening Day, which was commemorated a few days prior to the concert.
