Robb Report Malaysia Offers A Musical Interpretation Of The Louis XIII Malaysia Edition Inside The Country’s Tallest Building

The world in the 1920s came following the end of the First World War. The era that followed, the Jazz Age and Roaring Twenties, would come to define the period in the United States. Over in France, the extravagance of Art Nouveau evolved into Art Deco, and the artistic period would then collide with culture and society to birth exuberance—the années folles (crazy years)—like never before.

Along came George Gershwin, American composer and pianist, who studied in Paris. In 1924, on a train journey to Boston, and working with a five-week deadline to produce a new composition of a jazz concerto, the seeds were sown for his famous Rhapsody in Blue, a modern piece of music that blends classical and jazz music in an experimental concert. The premiere of Rhapsody in Blue—with Gershwin himself on the piano—would go on to stun the audience of the concert hall in snowy Manhattan and then the world, a musical creation that would be called a historic document and also a rarity.

Fast forward a century, and we find ourselves at Park Hyatt Kuala Lumpur, looking across the entire city skyline from the world’s second-tallest building, Merdeka 118. Here, we are joined by Sibu-born pianist, Hii Mei Lin, who has gone on to carve a career in the very same city where Gershwin originated, earning her post-graduate music degree from the Manhattan School of Music and performing with world-renowned pianists around the world, as well as garnering numerous awards for her artistry on classical piano.

In the way that Rhapsody in Blue is both a document of world history and a rarity, so too is the highly limited Louis XIII Malaysia Edition, which was launched recently. This edition is a triumph of the craft of Malaysian artisans, in which both the coffret and the famous Baccarat decanter are given matching gold leaf and hand-gilded treatments. On it, one finds intricate gold leaf application of three of Malaysia’s most iconic buildings: the Petronas Twin Towers, The Exchange 106, and, of course, Merdeka 118, which features Park Hyatt Kuala Lumpur on its topmost floors. A single decanter is made exclusively available at Park Hyatt Kuala Lumpur’s Cacao Mixology & Chocolate bar.

And, just like how Hii, on the Steinway Model O Grand Piano, brings Gershwin’s century-old composition to the modern day, so too does the liquid contents of the Louis XIII—distilled and put into wood during the Jazz Age by the maison’s Cellar Masters. These custodians of the Louis XIII legacy would have had to think of the century to come, spending their lives carefully producing eaux-de-vie and nurturing these casks to optimal perfection, before crafting the pinnacle cognac.

Since its 1874 founding, Louis XIII has made its own mark in world history, from the 1900 World Fair in Paris, to being served in first class on the 1935 maiden voyage of the Normandie, and, later on, onboard the Concorde’s first supersonic flight in 1984. In the ensuing years, Louis XIII has continued its unwavering commitment to preserving and promoting exceptional craftsmanship, which has led to its Malaysia Edition, intended to recognise the growth of a relatively new country, one poised to welcome many generations to come in the country’s ever-evolving story.

For more info and to purchase the Remy Martin Louis XIII Malaysia edition, please visit The Chamber.

Photography and videography by The Spacemen