Legends in melody

By : Faridul Anwar Farinordin

A night of P. Ramlee songs and memories, in the company of the diva of present times, Siti Nurhaliza. FARIDUL ANWAR FARINORDIN joined others for a walk down memory lane.

YOU can tell when you have a good time at a concert — the time really flies.

At the recent Konsert Istana Cinta Nostalgia Tan Sri P. Ramlee And Puan Sri Saloma by Datuk Siti Nurhaliza at Istana Budaya, Kuala Lumpur, that’s exactly what happened.

It really felt as if the show had just started — it began with the National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Eddie Marzuki giving a rousing overture of Getaran Jiwa — and then, too soon, it was already curtain call.

What happened in between, is a blur, and I mean this in a good way. It was like mass hypnotism — of the musical kind. The combination of a legendary composer like P. Ramlee and a great artiste like Siti proved to be a potent formula.
Of course, other people too saw great potential in further marketing this partnership.

At a Press conference later, Siti confirmed that the show would soon be released as a “live” concert CD album.

Back to the show, it was an unforgettable evening of songs most knew by heart. Many were from the movies we grew up with — from drama to romantic comedy, thriller to fantasy.

It must have been difficult to put the show together, considering the numerous great songs that the late composer had released.

Siti, together with the show’s artistic director Pak Ngah (Suhaimi Mohd Zain) cleverly divided the songs, according to themes and musical styles, into medley segments. For stand-alone songs, the most identifiable ones with soaring melodies were picked.

The medleys were the twist-and-shout show tunes (Bila Larut Malam, Pesta Muda Mudi, Bunyi Gitar), joget songs (Sekapur Sireh, Tari Silat Melayu and Joget Pinang Muda) and cha-cha numbers (Jikalau Abang Merindu, Jalan Bersama and Sejak Ku Bertemu Padamu).

Some of the cabaret-styled performances were backed by dancers, which at times seemed to look like too much of a crowd on stage. The very bright 1960s-inspired costumes and thick make-up and big hair set the mood.

Glamorous backup dancers aside, the songs performed whole were mostly the powerful ballads much performed even by singers of today. Except for Istana Cinta, delivered in a danceable upbeat tempo instead of the slow heart-wrenching manner as in the movie Anakku Sazali, the other songs were showcased in their original forms. They included Putus Sudah Kasih Sayang, Tunggu Sekejap, Hujan di Tengahari, Berkorban Apa Saja, Airmata di Kuala Lumpur and Di Mana Kan Ku Cari Ganti.

At a concert such as this, P. Ramlee’s incomparable artistry, with songs covering a wide gamut of topics and musical styles, was evident.

Another interesting feature of the show was the multimedia element. Although the screens in the background were used mainly for video footage playbacks, i.e. clips and stills of P. Ramlee’s movies, and old photographs and interviews with fans, they added a nice touch to the concert.

The show also deserved credit for incorporating P. Ramlee in a scene from the comedy Masam Masam Manis with Siti on stage, as Cikgu Norkiah (originally played by Sharifah Hanim in the movie). The scene, according to Siti after the show, was among her favourites of all P. Ramlee’s movies.

It would have been even more interesting to see Siti performing a “duet” with P. Ramlee, just like what the group KRU did with Getaran Jiwa. International singers have done it too.

Siti’s favourite singer, Celine Dion, once sang a “duet” with Frank Sinatra (All the Way); so has Natalie Cole with her late father, Nat King Cole (Unforgettable).

Siti’s actual duet performances, unfortunately, lacked the romantic spark and overwhelming joy that should have come with the songs.

Maybe she needed a male vocalist with a solid lower register powerful enough to carry the songs.

For her duets, she had two male singers. One was Musly Amir Mohamed Ramli for Dalam Air Ku Terbayangmu, Di Mana Suara Burung Kenari and Gelora, the male vocalist popular for his ability to imitate P. Ramlee’s speaking and singing voices. But much was inaudible.

When it was Fazli’s turn, he was struggling with the low notes (P. Ramlee was a bass-baritone), except when he was singing the solo Hujan di Tengahari, delivered in such operatic manner that it came across sounding like a patriotic number. He also seemed nervous around the songstress, making him look rather stiff.

From a total of 30 songs performed at the concert, three were delivered by Siti’s guest artistes.

Apart from Fazli and Musly, there was Saloma’s sister Mimi Loma (for Bawah Rumpun Bambu).

Comedy group Isketambola gave a hilarious parody of a scene from Nasib Si Labu Labi, where Labu and Labi visit an old man on behalf of their employer Haji Bakhil to ask for his daughter’s hand in marriage. It left the audience in stitches.

Together with Musly who played P. Ramlee (Labi), members Ghazali Shahbuddin (or S. Azli), Rahim Dalmia (Mamu) and Tamrin Ibrahim were unmistakable carbon copies of the original cast — Udo Omar, M. Zain, and Tamrin’s late father, popular comedian Ibrahim Pendek.