Welcome Guest   |  Login   |   Signup
JG Logo
Thu, February 9, 2012
Archive Search

Swiss Artists to Bring Italian Flair to Jakarta
Katrin Figge | October 21, 2009

Zeno Gabaglio is slated to perform in Jakarta this week. (Photo courtesy of the Italian Institute of Culture) Zeno Gabaglio is slated to perform in Jakarta this week. (Photo courtesy of the Italian Institute of Culture)
Share This Page
0
0
0
0
Share with google+ :


Post a comment
Please login to post comment

Comments

Be the first to write your opinion!

In honor of the Week of Italian Speaking Countries, from Oct. 19 to Oct. 25, the embassies of Switzerland and Italy are holding an event that merges poetry with music.

Swiss poet Vanni Bianconi and Swiss musician Zeno Gabaglio will perform together in Jakarta tonight and Friday night as part of the cultural week, which is celebrated around the world.

This is the first time Bianconi and Gabaglio have performed together, and it is also the first time either of them have visited Indonesia.

“Actually, we come from the same region in Switzerland,” Gabaglio said. “But the first time we work together is on the other side of the world, here in Jakarta.”

“It is a nice coincidence that I am in Indonesia now,” Bianconi said. “Right now, I am translating some short stories of Somerset Maugham, and some of those stories are set in Indonesia.”

He said he’d brought his translation work with him and had been trying to find the “food, drinks and places Maugham was writing about.”

On stage, Bianconi will recite his poetry and Gabaglio will accompany him on electric cello.

They will perform “I Cavalli Ridono” (“The Laughing Horses”), an Italian long poem that speaks about the history of Poland. “Poland fascinates me,” Bianconi said. “Everybody always took a piece from Poland — the Russians, the Nazis, the Catholics ... But at the same time, Poland has brought forth some of the most incredible poets of the 20th century.”

Bianconi said that he was curious about how their performance would be received.

“Nowadays, people are not so used to going to poetry readings anymore,” he said. “And the poets themselves are more used to just writing, instead of reading their work out loud.”

In addition, he said, there was a language barrier of sorts in Indonesia, since his poems are in Italian and the meter and general rhyme-scheme of European and Asian countries were also different.

“That is the good thing about working together with Zeno,” he said. “When he comes in with his music, it will hopefully all make sense to the audience. The music makes it more accessible.”

Gabaglio, who was classically trained, is known to be an eclectic performer.

“Today, there is the tendency to blend all kinds of music genres,” he said. “For the performances in Jakarta, it is important that my music is not drowning out the words that Vanni will be reading.

“Whenever he pauses, I can play more upbeat. I play an electric cello, which has a wide range of different sound possibilities. It will be a mix of classic and electronic music — you could say, almost techno.”

Can Tutumlu, third secretary of political affairs at the Swiss Embassy, said that both he and the Swiss ambassador come from the Italian part of Switzerland and had wanted to bring Bianconi and Gabaglio here to remind people of the Swiss-Italian connection.

‘I Cavalli Ridono’ (‘The Laughing Horses’)
Oct. 22, 7.30 p.m.
Italian Institute of Culture
Tel. 0812 106 5579

Oct. 23, 9 p.m.
Salihara Rooftop Theater
Tel. 021 789 1202