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Concert captures art, political activism of Eros Djarot
An orchestra led by composer Erwin Gutawa presented the concert on Friday night at the Jakarta Convention Center
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Tribute: Young sinden (female Javanese singer) Woro Mustiko Siwi performs âKembang Mawarâ (Rose) while scenes from Kawin Lari (Elope) play on the backdrop. (JP/P.J. Leo)" border="0" height="333" width="500">An orchestra led by composer Erwin Gutawa presented the concert on Friday night at the Jakarta Convention Center. A display of theatrical music and stage performances, the show followed the life of a man whose conviction to art brought him to political activism.
Elfonda âOnceâ Mekel opened the concert, which started at 8:30 p.m., performing âPenghuni Malamâ (Night Dweller), followed by Marcel who sang âBisikkuâ (My Whisper), taken from the Kawin Lari (Elope) soundtrack album.
Kawin Lari, a film by Teguh Karya, earned Eros the Citra Award for Best Original Score in 1976.
When âBisikkuâ ended, the sound of keroncong (traditional Javanese rhythmic music) soon filled the ballroom as young gamelan orchestra singer Woro Mustiko Siwi emerged on the stage to sing âKembang Mawarâ (Rose), another song from the Kawin Lari album, which was originally performed by Erosâ band, Barongâs Band.
The first part of the show continued with performances from Eva Celia and Bunga Citra Lestari, singing âSemusimâ (One Season) and âBaju Pengantinâ (Wedding Dress), respectively.
The lights on the black-and-white stage were dimmed, and a light was centered on actress Christine Hakim, as she read her testimonial about Erosâ career in films, including directing Tjoet Njaâ Dhien, which Christine also starred in.
Soon after she left the stage, the hall was temporarily turned into a cinema as a screen displayed footage from Tjoet Njaâ Dhien, accompanied by the majestic sound of the movieâs original score performed by the orchestra.
Another testimonial about Eros as a director came from noted filmmaker Riri Riza who talked about his music documentary Kantata Takwa, which was based on the controversial Kantata Takwa concert that voiced resistance against Soehartoâs New Order regime in 1991.
Born in Rangkasbitung, Banten, in 1950, Eros formed the Barongâs Band in 1975 after returning from his study in Germany. He was later acclaimed for making music score for Kawin Lari and later involved in composing for many Indonesian films. Many of his songs became classics and covered by younger artists. Eros joined the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), now known as PDI-P, before forming a new political party Bung Karno National Party (PNBK) in 2002.
Two songs were played in a unique collaboration between rock band The S.I.G.I.T. and the orchestra, âMoralâ and âKembalikan Masa Depankuâ (Give Back My Future).
An orchestra led by composer Erwin Gutawa presented the concert on Friday night at the Jakarta Convention Center. A display of theatrical music and stage performances, the show followed the life of a man whose conviction to art brought him to political activism. 
Elfonda 'Once' Mekel opened the concert, which started at 8:30 p.m., performing 'Penghuni Malam' (Night Dweller), followed by Marcel who sang 'Bisikku' (My Whisper), taken from the Kawin Lari (Elope) soundtrack album.
Kawin Lari, a film by Teguh Karya, earned Eros the Citra Award for Best Original Score in 1976.
When 'Bisikku' ended, the sound of keroncong (traditional Javanese rhythmic music) soon filled the ballroom as young gamelan orchestra singer Woro Mustiko Siwi emerged on the stage to sing 'Kembang Mawar' (Rose), another song from the Kawin Lari album, which was originally performed by Eros' band, Barong's Band.
The first part of the show continued with performances from Eva Celia and Bunga Citra Lestari, singing 'Semusim' (One Season) and 'Baju Pengantin' (Wedding Dress), respectively.
The lights on the black-and-white stage were dimmed, and a light was centered on actress Christine Hakim, as she read her testimonial about Eros' career in films, including directing Tjoet Nja' Dhien, which Christine also starred in.
Soon after she left the stage, the hall was temporarily turned into a cinema as a screen displayed footage from Tjoet Nja' Dhien, accompanied by the majestic sound of the movie's original score performed by the orchestra.
Another testimonial about Eros as a director came from noted filmmaker Riri Riza who talked about his music documentary Kantata Takwa, which was based on the controversial Kantata Takwa concert that voiced resistance against Soeharto's New Order regime in 1991.
Born in Rangkasbitung, Banten, in 1950, Eros formed the Barong's Band in 1975 after returning from his study in Germany. He was later acclaimed for making music score for Kawin Lari and later involved in composing for many Indonesian films. Many of his songs became classics and covered by younger artists. Eros joined the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), now known as PDI-P, before forming a new political party Bung Karno National Party (PNBK) in 2002.
Two songs were played in a unique collaboration between rock band The S.I.G.I.T. and the orchestra, 'Moral' and 'Kembalikan Masa Depanku' (Give Back My Future).
Eros' involvement in politics was shown in the third part of the concert, featuring testimonials from political observer J. Kristiadi, human rights activist Usman Hamid, and journalist and talk show host Andy F. Noya.
Andy appeared on the screen to talk about Eros as a journalist; he set up Detik magazine in 1993, but it was shut down a year later by the Soeharto regime due to its blunt reports.
'To express his feelings about the shutdown, he turned to music again and produced the album titled Detik, but it was not commercially distributed,' Andy said.
The songs in the album were presented through a musical play that involved former rock band Cokelat's vocalist, Kikan Namara.
Iwan Fals also had the honor of singing one of Eros' politically-themed songs, 'Yang Kita Inginkan Perubahan' (What We Want is Change), where he also enriched the show with his harmonica playing. Before continuing his performance, Iwan said his next song would have a correlation with the recent string of natural disasters in the country. He then played 'Tuhan Ampuni Dosa Kami' (God Forgive Our Sins) with a great depth of emotion, in a performance that gave the audience goose bumps.
The next section of the concert turned to love as Eros' wife, Dewi Djarot, suddenly appeared on the screen, talking about Eros as a loving husband.
Pop band Alexa carried on the romantic feeling in the hall with their acoustic performance, singing ballads 'Malam Pertama' (First Night) and 'Selamat Jalan Kekasih' (Goodbye Lover), which prompted loud singing from the crowd.
The final part of the concert presented a series of songs from arguably one of the greatest albums in Indonesia's musical history, Badai Pasti Berlalu (The Storm Will Surely Pass), first released in 1977.
Glenn Fredly, Marcel, Eva and Once took turns to perform songs from the album, including 'Merepih Alam' (Fusing with Nature), 'Matahari' (Sun) and 'Serasa' (Feel).
The original singer of the album, Berlian Hutauruk, closed the concert by performing 'Ketika Cinta Kehilangan Kata' (When Love Loses Words) and 'Badai Pasti Berlalu' with her outstanding soprano voice, generating standing ovations at the end of both songs.
Presenting more than 20 classics and one new song, the whole concert, from a concept conceived by Mira Lesmana with artistic design by Jay Subiakto, succeeded in reliving the brilliant works of Eros, despite the occurrence of several microphone glitches.
'Thank you. This concert would not have been this great without you all,' Eros said at the end of the show.
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