Followers of the contemporary art scene in Jakarta are anticipating this weekend's two-show run of Gandari, a spectacular opera combining music, dance and the visual arts.

Produced by the Taut Seni Foundation and Djarum Apresiasi Budaya, Gandari tells the story of the eponymous mother of the Kurawa brothers, the antagonist in the Mahabharata epic.

The production, slated to run on Dec. 12 and 13 at Teater Jakarta in Cikini, Central Jakarta, was born of a conversation between contemporary music composer Tony Prabowo and journalist Goenawan Mohamad in December 2012.

Tony had an opera, but not a story in mind, when a talk with Goenawan led him to develop a story based on Goenawan's poem Gandari.

The composer then gathered figures from the local and international contemporary arts scene to realize the story, including Indonesian director Yudi Ahmad Tajudin, Japanese dance choreographer Akiko Kitamura as well as Dutch orchestra Asko|Schönberg and Slagwerk Den Haag (The Hague Percussion).

Other big names in the production are Amsterdam-based Belgian soloist Katrien Baerst, Indonesian choir group The Batavia Madrigal Singers, narrators Landung Simatupang and Sita Nursanti, stage manager Yasmina Zulkarnain and German lighting designer Jan Maertens.

'We just want to present something new to our art scene,' said Tony. 'I'm a musician but also a dance curator, so I'm always close to dance. That's why the musical production takes the concept of a dance opera.'

'All the performers and creative talents involved in the production share the same passion. There have been few incidents due to different cultures and we have to work on communication, but the way things have gone so far have been magical,' Wati Gandarum, Taut Seni founder, said.

'The production will not be purely commercial, as we want it to be a learning experience for contemporary arts. We will also provide 100 free seats for art students,' she said.

Tony took 16 months to complete the 264-page score, which Asko conductor Bas Wiegers, who will lead a 25-piece orchestra for the show, described as 'very complex and energetic'.

'The more we play it, it becomes less difficult. It gets more organic, more fluid.'

Slagwerk artistic director Fedor Teunisse said that the music and staging were fit for international theaters. 'The story is universal and connects people all over the globe. Moreover, sometimes people forget that lots of contemporary Western composers were influenced by gamelan music, so it's already an interest in Asian culture by itself.'

Yudi said that the character of Gandari would not be a typically ethical or moral woman or mother. 'I present Gandari as a personality with a fateful past and find resemblances in the present day.'

Soloist Baerst, who said she practiced for a month to sing the arias in Indonesian, was sorry that the opera would only be staged twice. 'I would love to be able to perform it again. The opera itself will be an amazing experience for the public.'

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For information, visit tamanismailmarzuki.co.id, rajakarcis.com or blibli.com. Tickets range from Rp 150,000 to Rp 350,000.

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