ENCHANTED EVENING

I had a chance to see Ananda Sukarlan's piano solo performance some time back. It was a show of human genius, hard work, and dedication -- I wonder how a person of his quality could manage to stay so humble.

The show was free of charge, and the smallish place was packed with mostly fashionable youngsters in their early 20's.

When Ananda greeted us all and said that he was gonna play contemporary music (mostly of Spanish composers, I think), my heart sank a bit. Well, perhaps I'm a country-bumpkin after all, because I expected him to play Chopin or Bach.

Still it was great witnessing a great musician performing. During break-time, none of the audience left the room. "Aren't you hungry? Wouldn't anyone grab a snack before we continue?" the friendly pianist asked.

Nobody moved, so he said "Why don't I play something different..." and began playing Chopin's Nocturne a bit. To my surprise, the audience laughed, and he laughed as well, saying "Ughh..I don't want to play that...I know you're bored with it..I'm here to play contemporary pieces after all."

My heart sank even lower.

I wanted him to play classic, romantic, or baroque music so much..and I knew some people in the audience wanted the same thing. Maybe Ananda could sense it, because he at last removed his music sheets and said "I'll play Mozart's Romansa..if you're bored with this, you could step out and get your dinner perhaps.."

So there I was, feeling thoroughly happy at last.

After the break, he was back to playing contemporary music again (arrr!). "I need Stanley to turn the book-page for me," he said, searching for this Stanley in the audience. "Stanley?? If you could give me a hand.."

My second surprise of the evening was when I saw "Stanley" climbed down from the audience seat and onto the stage. I guess I had expected him to be older, so seeing that he was still in his late teens, very good looking in his white T and faded jeans, was a kinda jaw-dropping experience.

"He was so young!!" I wanted to whisper to my friend who was there with me, "and to be able to turn the pages for Ananda, means he must be familiar with the notes, which means he must have been practising with him, which means he must be a top-level piano student, which..."

But I kept my mouth shut, and watched Stanley tapped his foot and nodded in rhythm with the music, and turned the pages for Ananda in time, for the rest of the evening.

Oh my God.

I must admit that had Stanley played classical guitar or violin, I wouldn't have been that amazed. Not that playing guitar or violin is easier than playing the piano, but piano is an instrument very close to my heart.

I know nothing about playing guitar or violin, but I have spent two-third of my life trying to learn how to play the piano well -- to no avail.

At the end of the evening, while Ananda bowed and thanked the audience, the clapping wouldn't stop, people started demanding a "bonus" performance, and I told my friend how I wished he would play classical again.

"What do you want me to play? I didn't prepare a bonus," Ananda said.

"CHOPIN!!!" I wanted to scream. But I was too shy. Then I got yet another surprise:
"CHOPIN!! CHOPINNNN!!!" screamed a very beautiful girl behind me. She was in her early 20's and dressed casually sexy: I bet she'd look even sexier when she sat on her piano playing Chopin.

"I'll play Beethoven..but I didn't practise this," Ananda said, and the audience chuckled.

Ooohh Beethoven is okay. Very okay.
I almost purred with near-orgasmic ecstasy listening to it.

But the real orgasmic experience was seeing how -- after the show ended -- the sexy girl was joined by her friends (who had been sitting at the other part of the tiny concert room) and they all chatted enthusiastically about the show. I knew that they knew what they were talking about.

It touched me to see a roomful of young classical music enthusiasts; I wondered whether in a few years' time I would be attending their concerts.