D

ian HP, one of the most prestigious songwriters in the country, teamed with poet Sitok Srengenge to compose 12 songs about love, but with a twist: It was a celebration of her birthday.

If you think that love is a tired theme, you will think again after listening to their collaborative work. Dian’s elegant choice of hundreds of piano tunes mixes well with Sitok’s words.

Semesta Cinta (Universe of Love) was launched in two intimate gigs at Teater Salihara in South Jakarta last weekend, August 6-7, 2011.

The first gig, on Aug. 6 — an invitation-only intended for media, close friends and colleagues — proved to be a good rehearsal for the big gig the next day. Dian, with her orchestral army, looked so natural. She even cracked jokes, a side of her that was often hidden behind her magical piano playing.

“You are all blanketed with fortune. You get to see me having a chitchat on stage. Or maybe you aren’t?” she asked before starting the gig, featuring tenor singer Christopher Abimanyu in a brilliant duet with pop singer Lea Simanjutak.

The duo opened the beautiful night. Surprisingly, Lea, who looked extremely beautiful in her early pregnancy, sang as well as Christopher. With her beautiful high voice, she exceeded pop music that night.

But unfortunately, the second performers, Ary Kirana and Hedi Yunus didn’t perform well. Hedi was occasionally off, while Ary wasn’t cause for complaint during her show that night.

Different characters Dian picked to sing her and Sitok’s compositions were actually a tasty selection of various influences and ingredients. The audience enjoyed a variety of performances that night.

The decision to pick Christopher Abimanyu, Gideon Hallatu, Lisa Depe or Binu Sukaman was aimed at representing classic music, which gave the songs a classy feel.

At the same time, pop music also played a significant role. Aside from Hedi Yunus, names like Rayen Pono (formerly with pop band Pasto), Agus Wisman and Uchie Nurul from Elfa’s Singers, Dea Mirella and Sita Nursanti were among the performers that night.

The singers contributed to each tune written by Dian and Sitok. Love, in their hands, showed different faces. The songs were mostly titled with words taken from nature such as “Batu” (stone), “Cahaya” (light), “Api” (fire), “Air” (water), “Kabut” (fog), “Tanah” (dirt) and a few others.

“This is a birthday gift for me,” Dian told the audience during the next break between songs.

She later admitted that Semesta Cinta was a long-awaited album for her, personally. Throughout her career, which had been running well since the 1990s, an album such as this, which features a marriage between poetry and melody, had never left her mind.

“It’s a genre called art song. This name occurs when poems are converted into songs,” she said.

Semesta Cinta is not her first art song effort. “I made the first effort back in 1995. It’s very delicious to make this kind of album, you know? I’ve been addicted to this kind of music ever since,” she said.

Prior to Binu Sukaman and Agus Wisman’s performance, Sitok Srengege was invited to the stage to read his poem, Api, which was later converted into songs that turned out to be one of the best performances of the night.

“I need to send my apology to you all. I should not jump onto the stage, but this is special because it’s at the request of Ibu Dian. Happy birthday to you,” Sitok said.

When he said that, the audience laughed. In spite of Sitok’s ultracool look, he managed to find a token of warmth by saying happy birthday to Dian in front of everyone.

Then he moved to the album, saying that Semesta Cinta was a good end result. “This album is an extension of reading poems. It’s more acceptable because it has music throughout it,” he said.

The audience that night proved to be more excited than if they were seeing a bunch of poems being read loud and clear. Cheers were everywhere.

“I should’ve spoken to you guys, but then the computer died. I don’t know what to tell you now, the notes have gone,” Dian said with sad but funny face, and the audience laughed.

Dian is a piano player who will always find herself at the back of the stage, focused on her work onstage, not the front woman who controls the show with her performance.

The best mixture of audience response and Dian’s music was probably after the entire repertoire had played. The audience demanded an encore, which of course didn’t exist in Dian’s plan. All 22 singers were gone and left Dian alone onstage.

In a textbook instance of majority rules, the audience persuaded Dian to call her legion of singers back onstage. Even Titiek Puspa, the legendary Indonesian singer who was personally invited by Dian, shouted from her front row seat, “Please play Cinta one more time for me.”

It was a good night, despite few minor hiccups on the set. Happy birthday, Dian. Thanks for creating such beautiful music.