"How are you Nahla? Are you nervous?" asked Purwa Caraka. Nahla shook her head. Purwa smiled and began to play the introductory notes. Almost simultaneously, Nahla started with her violin.
They performed the Irish-style music of The Corrs. The audience was stunned. The collaboration of Purwa Caraka and the 14-year-old violinist at the Jakarta Playhouse - or Gedung Kesenian Jakarta (GKJ) - on Tuesday night' was perfectly presented.
Long applause greeted the completion of Nahla and Purwa Caraka's duet. But the performance was just beginning. The audience held its breath. Nahla was back in action.
This time she played an original song from Jakarta titled Jali-Jali. The movements of the girl added to the attraction. Some of the violin pieces she played demonstrated the passion in the performance of this student of the Purwa Caraka Music Studio (PCMS), Bintaro.
Purwa was playing the piano this time. His fingers followed the agility of Nahla's violin playing. For the umpteenth time, applause echoed around the Playhouse Jakarta.
Purwa Caraka's appearance at Jakarta Playhouse's World Music Festival IV 2009 came at the end of an exciting year of performances. Purwa in his show presented several musical explorations garnered from various places in the world.
Not just from Indonesia. He started in India, then moved on to Spain, Africa, Ireland, England, Eastern Europe and of course Indonesia. His repertoire included various musical genres - classical, pop and dangdut.
Purwa certainly didn't perform alone. In the "Music - My Personal Definition" section, he was accompanied by a core team of musicians who have been working with him for 15 years.
The festival opened with the song "Ratapan Anak Tiri" (The Lament of a Step Child). Purwa's piano performance played along nicely with the other instruments. "I do not know whether the current generation still knows that song," joked Purwa.
After the first song, Purwa presented a piece titled "Moteno Caf*" from Spain. In Indonesia, this song has been turned into a song known as "Kopi Dangdut" (Dangdut Coffee), which was popularized by Fahmi Alatas.
"This is the original song," said Purwa. The sound of a flute at the beginning added to the excitement generated by this music. Most of the150-odd people in the audience were tapping their feet as they followed the rhythm.
A drum beat gave the composition a touch of dangdut. The concert continued with the song "Mawar Merah" (Red Rose), created by Rhoma Irama. Senior singer Trie Utami took the stage in the fourth song "Dunia" (The World), an Indian arrangement that had a three-quarter beat so it quite difficult to play.
After exploring dangdut, Purwa invited the audience to travel to Europe through the song composed by Redrigo and titled "Concerto de Arangues". Purwa and his orchestra deliberately modified the song popularized by Chic Corea, with an impressive classical guitar composition at the beginning, combined with a flute and ketipung (a small drum in the gamelan) in the middle of the song.
Two songs associated with The Corrs, and Jali-Jali drew applause, and so did a piece from Eastern Europe entitled Cardas. The piano and violin duet in this song played as if they were inseparable.
Purwa closed his performance with a duet with composer and pianist Marusya Nainggolan. The Purwa Caraka Music Studio drum ensemble played Cempaka Putih (White Frangipani) and the Purwa Caraka Music Studio Choir performed.
In the last session, the owner of Purwa Caraka Music Studio came back exploring Indonesian music, both Batak and Balinese.
"The language of music is universal. Everything can be combined on one stage," said Purwa.
In between performances, Purwa again emphasized the importance of the community in supporting music that requires extraordinary talent, and not just popular music appearing on television.
"There must be people who care about this kind of music, because the talent in Indonesia is incredible," he said.
Purwa reminded the audience that the government's role was to provide more venues where similar performances could be held.
"You should not wait for me to become president," he joked, and was greeted by long applause.
