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! 
