BALI CLASSICAL NIGHTS II @ Villa Ombak Laut

The second evening of Bali Classical Nights (29 December 2012) was a totally informal affair, held away from the media glare in the far more congenial environment of Villa Ombak Laut in Cemagi, the island hideaway of the Franks family. All the performers from the previous evening had returned, and after a sumptuous dinner spread topped up by delectable chocolate mousse, the music began.

Korean flautist Hyun Ju Juno Lee joined members
of the Prima Vista String Quartet
in Mozart's Flute Quartet in C major.

Then it was the turn of the host Neil Franks,
who performed the solo part of J.S.Bach's  Piano Concerto
in F minor (1st movement) with the quartet.

Four hands on one piano: Neil Franks and his teacher Boris Kraljevic  
with Dvorak's first two Slavonic Dances from the Op.72 book.

More piano music, with Tou Liang in Debussy's Clair de lune.

Korean soprano Sung Hee Park is joined by flautist Soyoung Lee
and pianist Boris Kraljevic  in Mendelssohn's On Wings of Song
with variations and Caccini's Ave Maria.  

The Prima Vista String Quartet then played Joplin's The Entertainer
and transported the audience to Vienna with Strauss'  Pizzicato Polka,
On The Beautiful Blue Danube and the Radetzky March.
If you can't make the Vienna Philharmonic's
New Year's Day Concert, Bali will do nicely!

All Bali Classical Nights end with its signature tune,
when all and sundry play Wilhelm Ganz's  
Grand Gallop de Concert, Qui Vive. 
A great way to close the old year and great the new.

BALI CLASSICAL NIGHTS I: A SOIRÉE OF CLASSICAL MUSIC / Hotel Tugu Bali

A SOIRÉE OF CLASSICAL MUSIC

HOTEL TUGU BALI

28 December 2012

Here are the photos from a magical evening of chamber music and art song at the third edition of Bali Classical Nights, the annual post-Christmas musical soirée held in the Wantilan Agung Hall of Tugu Bali Hotel on Canggu Beach. There was a more varied programme this year, with a full piano concerto and piano quintet to boot. It seems that the audience is getting more bang for their buck from the international cast of performers.

The beautifully decorated  Wantilan Agung Hall  
of Tugu Bali Hotel,
with its high ceiling  and ever-looming Garuda,
was the perfect venue for chamber music.

The evening opened with Boris Kraljevic and Neil Franks
performing the first two Slavonic Dances (Op.72)
by Antonin Dvorak. 

The Prima Vista String Quartet from Poland
was the resident ensemble of the festival.
Here  the foursome performs the first movement
from Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.

Korean flautist Hyun Joo Juno Lee joined members
of the quartet to play Mozart's Flute Quartet No.1 in D major.

Its dazzling diva time, with Korean soprano Sung Hee Park
in sparkling form in a aria from Bach's Coffee Cantata
and Adolphe Adam's Ah, dirai vous je maman.
Accompanying her was flautist Soyoung Lee. 

Neil Franks performs Bach's Piano Concerto in F minor
(BWV.1056) with the Prima Vista Quartet.

After the intermission, Boris Kraljevic was joined
by the Prima Vista Quartet
in Dvorak's Piano Quintet in A major (Op.81).
Despite being the longest work in the evening by far, it was
a very gripping performance which held the audience in a thrall.

More coloratura arias closed the evening's sumptuous fare:
Mozart's Queen of the Night's Aria (The Magic Flute) and
Offenbach's Doll Aria (Tales of Hoffmann)
from soprano Sung Hee Park.

Sadly the soirée had to come to an end.
Here's to Bali Classical Nights 2013!

BALI CLASSICAL NIGHTS / Canggu Club / Thursday 29 December 2011

The second evening of Bali Classical Nights was held at the Canggu Club, a Balinese scaled-down version of the Tanglin Club, on Thursday 29 December 2011. There was a smaller audience in a more intimate venue, but the general vibe and spirit was more pervasive and infectious. With the new year looming ahead, everybody was determined to enjoy themselves, and have a jolly good time. The choice of music seemed to reflect that joie de vivre.

The wonderful strains of Beomjae Kim's unaccompanied flute kicked off the evening, with a Telemann Fantasia and Isang Yun's fiendishly difficult Etude No.5, which provided a dramatic tour de force of technical display.

Tou Liang thinks he can perform Rachmaninov, in this case the Vocalise (transcribed by Alan Richardson), especially because he has the same hairstylist as Sviatoslav Richter.

Next, Korean violinist Yoojin Jung and Montenegrin pianist Boris Kraljevic put the polish on Beethoven's Spring Sonata Op.24 (1st movement).

Bali resident Ruzanna Staroverova played Babajanian's Poem without her shoes! At any rate, it still sounded great.

Boris then performed Chopin's Berceuse beautifully, and went on to accompany soprano Nancy Yuen in two Puccini arias, O mio babbino caro (Gianni Schicchi) and Vissi d'arte (Tosca).

After the interval, it was piano 6 hands - Grainger's Zanzibar Boat Song, inspired by a poem by Rudyard Kipling. Normally, the teacher plays the more demanding secondo part, but here Neil Franks was more than up to the challenge.

Debussy's haunting Syrinx for solo flute, played by Frenchman Philippe Bernold, gave one of the evening's most sublime moments.

Yoojin and Boris were back for Vittorio Monti's rousing Csardas, which gave the audience much to cheer about.

Neil provided a degree of gravitas in Debussy's Sarabande from Pour le piano.

The evening's main programme closed on a high with Philippe and Boris in Francois Borne's Carmen Fantasy, which began with the Entracte from Act 3 of Bizet's opera.

There's always time for one delightful encore: Wilhelm Ganz's grand gallop de concert Qui Vive, played on 6 hands piano with two flutes and one violin for good measure. Was that a world premiere or what?

All eight performers enjoy the overwhelming applause, a grand close to Bali Classical Nights 2011. Now we can't wait for Bali Classical Nights 2012!

BALI CLASSICAL NIGHTS / Bali Tugu Hotel / Wednesday 28 December 2011

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. 

Yoojin played a short improvised prelude to begin.

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 

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, 

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, 

seated on three sides of the stage.

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 

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 

played a sublime encore, 

Debussy's Bruyeres from Preludes Book Two.

All the performers take a final bow, 

after an enjoyable evening of music-making.

BALI CLASSICAL NIGHTS

If you happen to be in Bali, Indonesia just before the New Year, why not enjoy a couple of evenings of classical music with BALI CLASSICAL NIGHTS, a mini-festival featuring musical talents from all over the globe?

Featured artists are:

Soprano: NANCY YUEN (Hong Kong / Singaopore)

Violin: YOOJIN JUNG (South Korea)

Flute: BEOMJAE KIM (South Korea) & PHILIPPE BERNOLD (France)

Piano: BORIS KRALJEVIC (Montenegro / Singapore), NEIL FRANKS (UK / Singapore), CHANG TOU LIANG (Singapore), ARIANE JACOB (France) & RUZANNA STARAVEROVA (Armenia)

Dates:

Wednesday (28 December), Hotel Tugu Bali, 7 pm

Thursday (29 December), Canggu Club, 7 pm

Tickets at:

Rp 550,000 for Concert & Dinner

Rp 300,000 for Concert only.

Programmes include music by:

Dvorak, Brahms, Telemann, Karg-Elert, Liszt, Babajanian, Rachmaninov, Poulenc, Debussy, Bellini, Verdi, Francaix, Saint-Saëns, Puccini, Grainger, Monti, Ravel, Dutilleux, Duparc & Bizet.