The first evening of Bali Classical Nights took place on Wednesday (28 December 2011) at the luxurious Bali Tugu Hotel on Canggu beach. The splendid setting was a Balinese stage complete with a Garuda and a Yamaha grand piano specially flown in from Jakarta. The roar of the surf, clicking of geckos and the occasional firework going off provided a typically Balinese counterpoint to the proceedings. The heady spirit of Bali during the 1930s, of luminaries like Walter Spies, Colin McPhee, Rudolf Bonnet, Margaret Mead, Miguel and Martha Covarrubias, was relived albeit for a couple of hours...
Opening the concert was Korean violinist Yoojin Jung and Montenegrin pianist Boris Kraljevic in Dvorak's Humoresque.
Opening the concert was Korean violinist Yoojin Jung and Montenegrin pianist Boris Kraljevic in Dvorak's Humoresque. Yoojin played a short improvised prelude to begin.
Tou Liang tried his best in the late Intermezzo
Tou Liang tried his best in the late Intermezzo in A major (Op.118 No.2) by Brahms,
in between his emcee duties.
Korean flautist Beomjae Kim performed an
Korean flautist Beomjae Kim performed an unaccompanied Fantasy by Telemann and
Caprice No.23 by Sigfried Karg-Elert,
an impressive show of sensitivity and virtuosity.
Then it was Boris's turn to go solo,
Then it was Boris's turn to go solo, with Franz Liszt's Sposalizio
from his Années de pélérinage,
inspired by Raphael's painting
"Marriage of the Virgin".
A segment of the enthusiastic audience,
A segment of the enthusiastic audience, seated on three sides of the stage.
Bali-based Russian-Armenian pianist
Accompanied by Boris,
The sound of 6-hands piano opened the second half, when Boris, Neil Franks and Tou Liang played Rachmaninov's Romance, written for the three Skalon sisters. Neil had the honour of playing the introduction, which later appears in the slow movement of the Second Piano Concerto.
A glorious exemplar of the hallowed
Bali-based Russian-Armenian pianist Ruzanna Staroverova produced a stunning display
of digital dexterity in Arno Babajanian's Poem.
Accompanied by Boris, Hong Kong soprano Nancy Yuen
sang two Chinese songs,
I Live At The Source of the Yangtze River
and The Green Pastures of July.
The sound of 6-hands piano opened the second half, when Boris, Neil Franks and Tou Liang played Rachmaninov's Romance, written for the three Skalon sisters. Neil had the honour of playing the introduction, which later appears in the slow movement of the Second Piano Concerto.
A glorious exemplar of the hallowed French flute school, Philippe Bernold played
Francis Poulenc's Flute Sonata,
all three movements, with Boris at the piano.
Neil Franks, the British gentleman who was the
Nancy completed her programme
Neil Franks, the British gentleman who was the inspiration behind Bali Classical Nights,
performed the Petrarch Sonnet No.123 by Liszt.
Nancy completed her programme with a Bellini arietta
and Verdi's Ah forse lui... Sempre libera,
Violetta's big coloratura aria from La Traviata.
To conclude the formal programme, Yoojin and Boris returned for the rousing Danse Macabre by Saint-Saens, with its diablerie enthralling the full-house audience.
An obviously chuffed Boris
To conclude the formal programme, Yoojin and Boris returned for the rousing Danse Macabre by Saint-Saens, with its diablerie enthralling the full-house audience.
An obviously chuffed Boris played a sublime encore,
Debussy's Bruyeres from Preludes Book Two.
All the performers take a final bow,
All the performers take a final bow, after an enjoyable evening of music-making.
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BALI CLASSICAL NIGHTS was generously sponsored by Marketing Villas Ltd. and the Bali-Tugu Hotel.
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