Over a decade ago, we would have never thought of having even one classical concert to celebrate the New Year in Jakarta.

But in 2009, things are different and instead of having just one New Year's concert, we had two.

Ananda Sukarlan started this tradition two years ago with the first classical concert. The second one was held last Friday at the new Bali Ballroom of Hotel Indonesia Kempinski and initiated by a young male harpist, Rama Widi.

A talented harpist who studies in Vienna, Rama, 23, returned to Jakarta and brought the entire orchestra from Vienna to accompany his solo harp concert. He seemed more ambitious then ever to give Jakarta a spectacular show.

It had been almost a year since Rama performed at Usmar Ismail Hall and this year he wanted to go beyond what he had done before. His concert featured not only his beautiful harp, but also additional performers such as a female yodel singer and Balinese dancers.

Though Rama intended that these additions would add value to his concert, somehow the outcome of last Friday's concert disagreed.

The concert opened with the famous overture from Offenbach's "Orpheus" performed by Hans-Peter Manser and his Symphonia Vienna. Rama himself only came onstage after the or-chestra performed five pieces from the concert's program.

Dressed up in a way that can only be described as a magician, Rama appeared in a white long-tail tuxedo and red bow tie. He chose a romantic piece composed by Saint Saens's "Morceau de Concert" for the harp and orchestra. The effect was far from inspiring and sent the audience to sleep.

This effect may have been caused by several factors. The program selection for the first half of the concert was not exciting. It featured a so-called yodeling soprano who came all the way from Switzerland and did a strange version of Strauss's "Fruhlingsstimmen Walzer".

She was out of tune and sang in an alto range instead of a soprano one. Blame it on Jakarta's rainy weather, but it still was an odd version of the Strauss waltz that even surprised some of the Austrian people that night. After playing Saint Saens *Lullaby', Rama added two short encore pieces before intermission.

However unsuccessful the first half of the concert was, they managed to catch our attention in the second half.

With Rama under the spotlight, they warmed up the audience by premiering a new composition called "Nyanyian Negriku" (My Country's Song), composed by Singgih Sanjaya, for the harp and orchestra.

This impressive composition adapts sounds from Sumatra to Papua and highlights some of Indonesia's famous traditional songs, and featured a collaboration with Balinese traditional gamelan musicians.

In addition, three Balinese dancers gave us a contemporary rendition of traditional dances to accompany the Balinese sections in the music.

They really performed all out for this piece. All the musicians in the orchestra (including the conductor) wore a Balinese traditional accessory. As for Rama, he came out fully dressed in Balinese traditional costume.

Overall, his performance was not poor but it wasn't that magnificent either. He was not completely focused and seemed tense, especially during his solo. I would be nervous too - as there were VIP guests in attendance such as Foreign Minister Hasan Wirajuda, Miranda Goeltom and other A-list socialites from Jakarta.

Rama performed an additional encore - an improvisation piece from the famous classic jazz song "Honey."

Surprisingly, his improvisation was amazing and really showed his great technique on the harp. Perhaps he is better off in the jazz line than playing classical music.

Symphonia Vienna then continued to perform waltzes by Strauss with Brahms's "Hungarian Dance" and Tchaikovsky's famous "Waltz of The Flower" from The Nutcracker's Suite in between.

The second half was more daring than the first. The orchestra had warmed up and they really brought out the sound in Strauss's waltz, polka and march. This is not surprising as the or-chestra comes from Vienna anyway, but nevertheless, it was quite fun to listen to Strauss being performed in this city.

Watching a classical music concert in Jakarta can be a challenge in itself. Though most of the guests were Jakarta socialites, it doesn't seem to guarantee that they will understand the etiquette of being in a formal classical concert.

Phones were ringing during the concert and some even managed to hold a conversation. Others did not follow the dress code and forgot that blue jeans remain at the mall and are not for such an event.

This is not even the worst part - imagine that you are sitting in front of several socialite ladies who arrive late and don't know when to stop chirping like birds.

I might be a puritan when it comes to classical music, but what's the point of watching a concert if you can't even listen to the music?

I can hardly wait for next year's New Year's Concert. Will Rama finally be able to stun all of us? Will the audience finally understand the concert etiquette? Only God knows.

Erza S.T is the founder and executive producer of the Indonesia Opera Society.

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