Mercy Iskandar Widjaja

• Yiruma (1978- ):
• 1Improvisations on "River Flows in You"03:59
• Arvo Pärt (1935- ):
• 2Spiegel Im Spiegel (Sound Synthesis by Giordano Franchetti)09:18
• 3Fratres (Sound Synthesis by Giordano Franchetti)11:35
• Max Richter (1966- ):
• 4Mercy05:55
• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750):
• 5"Erbarme Dich, Mein Gott" (From St Matthew Passion) [Arr. By Iskandar Widjaja]06:23
• 6Violin Concerto in D Minor, BWV 1052R: I. Allegro (Arr. By Iskandar Widjaja)06:54
• 7Violin Concerto in D Minor, BWV 1052R: II. Adagio (Arr. By Iskandar Widjaja)07:11
• 8Violin Concerto in D Minor, BWV 1052R: III. Allegro (Arr. By Iskandar Widjaja)07:08
• 9Eneril (After Bach's "Erbarme Dich")10:09
• Total Runtime01:08:32

Info for Mercy

Iskandar Widjaja just doesn't line up with the image of a musician on the classical music scene. As the ambassador of a new generation he simply can't be pigeonholed as representing this or that genre. In his new project "Mercy", Iskandar Widjaja presents a broad musical spectrum with a closely interwoven thematic structure, summing up his achievement to date and opening a new phase of his life.

"Mercy" begins with an improvisation on the composition "River Flows In You" by the South Korean pianist Yiruma. The British composer Max Richter, whose habitual field of operations is the electronic, ambient and film score scene, contributes the title track "Mercy". A quiet, almost meditative work for piano and violin, it is framed by congenial segments with works by Arvo Pärt and Johann Sebastian Bach.

"This project gave me the chance to give my imagination free rein and translate earlier experiments on the concert platform into the environment of the recording studio. This makes it a highly personal choice, contrasting the mathematical, technical side of the pieces with a nuanced rhythm sensed on stage. I thought about what I would like to hear on disc myself, taking into account the reaction of my audience."

Long-time friends and associates – like the Italian electronic music artist Giordano Franchetti, who created a sound synthesis with NASA "space sounds", or pianist Friedrich Wengler, whom Widjaja has known since his schooldays – accompany him on his new album. The greatest challenge proved to be the piece "Eneril" (inspired by J.S. Bach's plea for mercy "Erbarme Dich"), in which the vocal part was taken by Mongolian singer Urna Chahar-Tugchi, who grew up in a shepherd family in the grasslands of Ordos. "We took a risk, because Urna has a totally different approach to classical music and in any case she does not work with musical notation." The result is a track that is Iskandar Widjaja all over: wandering between worlds, never without a homeland, being at home everywhere.

The release of "Mercy" on the Berlin Neue Meister label lays the foundation for an international concert tour in the late summer and fall of 2018.

Iskandar Widjaja, violin

Iskandar Widjaja
connects worlds. The son of Arabic-Dutch and Chinese-Indonesian parents grew up with high-caliber classical music and has already performed with internationally renowned ensembles such as the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester and Konzerthaus Orchestra Berlin, the Munich, Warsaw and Shanghai Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, RSO Vienna and the Hong Kong Sinfonietta. Simultaneously, he has developed a parallel showbiz career in east Asia, with regular TV appearances, commercial endorsement contracts, brand-ambassador duties and "trending topic" status (most mentioned term) on Twitter.

He entered the Berlin "Hanns Eisler" conservatoire as an extraordinary student at the age of eleven. Awarded many international prizes even as a teenager and while studying, he now collaborates with the great names of music such as Zubin Mehta, Christoph Eschenbach, Rolando Villazón, David Foster, Itamar Golan and Fazil Say. He is also often to be seen at mass-media events like Miss World or Miss Earth, the Davis Cup, EXPO in Milan, the Fashion Week in Paris or the world premiere in Vienna's Konzerthaus of the suite for violin and orchestra "Across the Stars" from Star Wars.

Iskandar is strongly committed to educational projects for children in the Asian Pacific region, typically in collaboration with UNICEF or the WWF. Supported by KOMPAS Gramedia, Indonesia's biggest media group, he has organized charity events to finance musical instruments and instruction for street children.

His personality and energy are aptly summed up by the string players' house magazine The Strad, in the following words: "Iskandar Widjaja, a true force of nature."

Booklet for Mercy