Ananda Sukarlan's Piano Recital in Jakarta

The world renowned composer & pianist Ananda Sukarlan will be back in Indonesia to perform in Jakarta and Surabaya both his own music and the music of Amir Pasaribu, Indonesian composer who died at the age of 94 earlier this year.

This concert in Jakarta will include the world premiere of his own virtuosic piano piece Rapsodia Nusantara no. 4, which will be the obligatory work during the Ananda Sukarlan Award National Piano Competition to be held in July 20-25 this year.

There will be also 2 guest stars in this concert : Victoria Audrey Sarasvathi (now 13 years) who were the youngest finalist at the Ananda Sukarlan Award 2008 and Dani Wisnu Dumadi, the Indonesian tenor who just got back from Washington D.C. who will sing several songs of Ananda Sukarlan.

The concert takes place on Sunday, April 25th 2010 at 7 p.m at the World Theatre, British International School (Bintaro sektor IX, Jakarta) Please contact Chendra Panatan at ycep@yahoo.com or 0818 891038 for further info .

The concert in Surabaya takes place on May 2nd at Cak Durasim. We will inform more to you in our next newsletter, but those who would like to know more can contact Tabitha at 081.7513.7070

CD -- Jesus Rueda : Piano Works

CD "Jesus Rueda : Piano Works" (Ananda Sukarlan, piano, released by NAXOS) now available in Indonesia. Jesus Rueda's piano works, recorded by Ananda Sukarlan and recently released by NAXOS has been a huge success.

Ananda perceptively states in the liner notes that Rueda has "successfully produced a mesmeric blending of `classical' and contemporary elements: his compositions might ask the instrument to whisper in utmost secrecy or, in Walt Whitman's words, to sound its `barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world." It has received flattering reviews, and in United States there are statements such as :

1. "The Spanish composer Jesus Rueda (b.1961) has found an impressive interpreter in the Indonesian pianist (and composer in his own right) Ananda Sukarlan. Rueda's piano music seems to be about poetry and power in equal measure, and Sukarlan provides both subtlety and muscle in his playing. It's the second Sonata 'Ketjak,' I think, which is the stand-out here. The piece was dedicated to Sukarlan in 2005, and Rueda provides a eastern flavour in Sukarlan's honour (based on Balinese Kecak dance rhythms, according to Sukarlan's excellent liner notes). Both sonatas call for significant piano technique, as does the 1999 'Mephisto', a tour-de-force which Sukarlan calls "terrifying for pianists", though he gets through the piece with aplomb. " (Dean Frey)
2. " Sukarlan, a composer in his own right, proves to be an ideal interpreter of this music... He brings a virtuosic touch to Rueda's more angular and daunting pieces, and mines the emotional possibilities of the more transparent, accessible ones. " (Dean R. Brierly)

The CD is now available in Indonesia through Chendra Panatan, at 0818 891038 or ycep@yahoo.com. :P