Chopin Manille 2010 Bicentenaire Cecile Licad I

The Chopin Manille 2010 Bicentenaire series had one of its main highlights with their fourth concert. And the reason for this was no other than Cecile Licad, who is considered as one of the most celebrated pianists in the Philippines. And because of this, a handful of distinguished people from the Philippine art scene were present at the Philamlife Auditorium to see Licad in a solo recital still featuring Frédéric Chopin’s music.

The concert started with a very familiar piece. And that was when I realized that Licad’s piece for the first half is exactly the same as Raul Sunico’s second half from the concert a few days before. I’ve always thought that Licad would play another set of pieces during the first part of the concert but she instead started with the four Scherzos: Scherzo No. 1 in B Minor, Op. 20, Scherzo No. 2 in B Flat Minor, Op. 31, Scherzo No. 3 in C Sharp Minor, Op. 39 and Scherzo No. 4 in E Major, Op. 54.

Fortunately, she let the audience applaud after each Scherzo. But I guess that she had no choice since the audience started applauding even before the reverbaration died from the final chord of the first piece. I’ve seen her play before and she didn’t disappoint. She played with the command, authority needed with the imposing chords of some of these scherzos. And she showed the delicate touch which was featured in the contrasting themes of these pieces. She was also a bit animated in her playing. Some might find it engaging but some might find it distracting.

I guess that the audience was engaged by her playing since the applause got louder as she finished the rest of her pieces. Playing the four scherzos, in my opinion, was a very good and exciting way for Licad to start the night.

Unfortunately, the second half of the program was a bit of a letdown for me since it featured the 24 Preludes, Op. 28. This set of pieces has always perplexed me and it’s not easy for me to appreciate fully although I really like a few from this set like Preludes No. 9 and 20. I guess that one has to really be familiar with all the pieces in here and not only that, but also to be able to look at the piece as a whole in order to really appreciate it. And it’s one that I’ve somewhat struggled with up to now. It’s also a test of patience since it’s quite a long piece when all 24 pieces were played and some people who weren’t familiar with the piece were trying to grasp from other people when it would end. But despite my bias regarding this piece, I still was able to appreciate the masterful way Licad played. Although I admit that I listened more closely to the sections that I liked more.

As expected whenever Licad performs here, the crowd gave her a resounding standing ovation which prompted her to do several encores. I was only familiar with the first one which was Chopin’s Etude No. 3 in E Minor, Op. 10 which is actually a regular encore performance from her. If I’m not mistaken, she did four more after that but I failed to get the titles of those other pieces. But the crowd was absolutely in high spirits after every encore and Licad radiated joy as she made her curtain calls. So it’s no surprise that after the concert, people flocked to the table set up to have their programmes, CD’s, books and other memorabilia signed by this remarkable woman.

Pianist Cecile Licad