EVENING OF MAGICAL MUSIC
ANIGHT of musical magic best described the Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra’s (MPYO) 10th anniversary concert, as its 98 versatile musicians gave music lovers non-stop entertainment with a little help from friends.
Its friends, in fact, made all the difference during the two-hour concert titled
held at Dewan Filharmonik Petronas in KLCC, Kuala Lumpur.
They were the country’s longest running orchestra, the RTM Orchestra which was formed in 1961, pop king Datuk Jamal Abdillah, multi-talented vocal powerhouse Adibah Noor and Indonesian jazz legend Harvey Malaihollo.
Conducted by the MPYO’s Ahmad Muriz Che Rose and RTM’s Leonard Yeap, MPYO And Friends had the RTM Orchestra’s music director Datuk Mokhzani Ismail as its artistic director. He also played the piano for some of the 20 songs performed that evening.
Veteran saxophonist and 1971 winner, Razak Rahman, and 12-year-old violin prodigy Low Zi Yang were guest musicians. Razak played his clarinet on the tune that made him a star when he was 12, and the bittersweet saxophone number, composed by Jimmy Boyle, which emoted a lover’s despair. followed by composed by Alfonso Soliano who was RTM Orchestra’s pioneer director.
composed by another RTM Orchestra director Gus Steyn, paid a colourful musical tribute to the Malaysian capital city — at times it reflected the flight of sparrows and lush greenery amidst the cosmopolitan city, and at others, it brought to mind images of fish swimming in Lake Gardens.
The two orchestras then gave young fans a treat with contemporary pop number a major hit for singeractress Ayda Jebat. This song has been receiving lots of airplay but hearing it as an orchestral number was a whole new experience.
Dressed in a black baju kurung, Adibah greeted fans generously, before she belted out her melodious keroncong song from the late filmmaker Yasmin Ahmad’s
Fans clapped and cheered as soon as she finished, and one of them even said: “We love you Dibah!”
She described her following song as a hit for an American pop group, and as soon as she began its first two words “my love”, audiences automatically recognised it as The Stylistics’
Next came Low’s turn to steal the show and he did so beautifully in collaboration with Mokhzani. The duo gave audiences Datuk M Nasir’s sad yet soulful
which talked about a hopeful acceptance of pure love.
A 15-minute intermission passed very quickly and as soon as the musicians returned, they delivered the nostalgic
which sounded a lot like Bing Crosby’s
The concert’s biggest guest star subsequently came on stage and Harvey looked as suave when he sang his evergreen to loud applause. The veteran crooner wrote this song, which spoke of one’s pleading for a soulmate and his voice sounded youthful.
Harvey’s charming ways continued with his second song, a romantic number from the film
written by Jerome Kern. The song has been performed by many singers, most notably Frank Sinatra and Michael Buble.
He dedicated his second song to “all the beautiful ladies who are here tonight” and promised to be “back with more”.
The orchestras returned with
a Michel Camilo song, before skillful saxophonist Jari Jaafar delivered, Kenny G-style a posthumous song by Michael Jackson from his 2014 album
Another moment audiences waited for came when Jamal stepped on stage with a new haircut. The legend quickly delivered a medley of songs comprising the introductory the groovy yet tragic story and the MiddleEastern-flavoured
and
was delivered in a slow and moving orchestral style, in stark contrast to the “bouncy” teen pop song from most of Jamal’s recordings and concerts. A bold experiment in reinterpretation, it worked well with fans, and they gave Jamal a rousing applause.
Harvey kept his promise to be back, and delivered another of his greatest hits
This spoke of a person infatuated with his first love and he followed it with
a duet with Adibah which was originally performed with Datuk Sheila Majid in 2001.
Adibah, who jokingly described herself as a “debab” not a “diva”, showed great compatibility with Harvey and he praised her as his newest Malaysian “soul mate”. “She’s really funny!” he said.
Harvey’s final song for the evening, was accompanied by Mokhzani on the piano and Jari on the saxophone. He encouraged fans to sing this catchy number with him and for those who could not remember its lyrics, they were told to clap along.
a song about national unity and the spirit of Bangsa Malaysia, aptly closed the curtains for the evening. A magnificent composition by Mokhzani, it was first performed at DFP in the 2011
and later, at the 2013
was held for two nights, on Oct 7 and 8. Among the wellknown celebrities who came to give their support were singers Anuar Zain, Misha Omar and Salamiah Hassan, and former RTM Orchestra music director Datuk Johari Salleh.