There is probably no better way to introduce you to the world of classical music, and the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO), than to attend one of their delightful Family Fun Day concerts. Before you balk at the thought, let me assure you that the experience is as exciting for adults as it is for the hyperactive kid sitting next to you in the Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS (DFP). The repertoire consists of easily accessible pieces, chosen according to a particular theme, that are designed to give the audience a little “taste test” and get them on the right track towards discovering the joys of classical music.
The most recent Family Fun Day concert, held on 21 April 2002, was especially interesting as it also featured the PETRONAS Performing Arts Group’s (PPAG) gamelan ensemble in an aptly titled performance called “East Meets West”. Performing together for the first time, these two groups wove their way through a rare collection of compositions that attempt to combine the elements of two vastly different musical genres – the Western orchestra and the Eastern gamelan.
Clad in their bright orange batik shirts and black pants, the MPO musicians dispelled the normally sober atmosphere within the DFP, replacing it with a sort of infectious good-humour that carried over to Resident Conductor, Dato’ Ooi Chean See’s friendly demeanour. She introduced each piece, providing interesting nuggets of information about the composers and their compositions. Nothing too overwhelming – just enough to pique our interest and make us listen closely to the musicians as they played.
The MPO made short work of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Festival at Baghdad- The Shipwreck from Scheherazade, a composition inspired by the fabled Tales of the Arabian Nights, where Scheherazade, one of an Arab Sultan’s many wives, succeeds in saving herself from being executed by telling him an unfinished story each night for 1001 nights. The Oriental-tinged piece proved to be an excellent choice to start off the afternoon with its excited bursts of energy (courtesy of the cymbals, triangle and timpani) and a beautiful solo violin to represent the pleas of doomed Scheherazade. It was a fast-paced piece that kept even the most boisterous children in the audience rooted to their seats.
Ooi then introduced the musicians from the Petronas Performing Arts Group and their respective instruments. Each musician treated the audience to a little demonstration of what the individual instruments sounded like before launching into the graceful Lagu Ayak-Ayak (a song reminiscent of the movements of birds in flight). It was a delightful surprise to see Ooi herself taking on the bonang although she did not look as much at ease with it as the other gamelan players.
Johari Salleh’s Kelantan Suite followed. Its Western influences brought to mind images of cowboys rustling cattle in a faraway ranch rather than scenes of farmers at work with their kerbau (water buffalo) somewhere on the East Coast. Unfortunately, the orchestra drowned out the sounds of the gamelan towards the end of the piece. Wayang Kulit featured, what else but, a live wayang kulit performance. Although it was an interesting inclusion, the wayang kulit must have been rather confusing for most of the audience as the Tok Dalang (storyteller) was speaking Bahasa Malaysia in a combination of Terengganu and Kelantanese dialects. Perhaps it would have been better if they had put in subtitles, as most people did not get the jokes being told by the characters, as they could not understand what was being said.
Members of the audience were invited to join the gamelan troupe on stage to take part in performing Carl Anton Wirth’s Javanese Dance. The four who were picked, three children and a young lady, looked like they truly enjoyed themselves as they tried to keep up with the MPO and gamelan players in this almost seamless blend of Western and Eastern melodies.
The afternoon ended with Saint-Saens’ aptly titled Orient et Occident (roughly translated to mean “East and West”), a piece inspired by the repetition of notes and phrases often found in gamelan music. A perfect way to end this educational afternoon experience, not only for the kids, but for the adults as well.
First Published: 13.05.2002 on Kakiseni