Chopin Manille 2010 Bicentenaire Dana Ciocarlie

As I’ve said before, I always liked Frédéric Chopin’s music. And to have the Chopin Manille 2010 Bicentenaire series of concerts devoted to his music, it’s like being a kid again during Christmas time. I’ve already been to the first concert and I went back to the Philamlife Auditorium for the second concert of the series to see pianist French-Romanian Dana Ciocarlie perform this time.

But aside from the concert, there was also the opening of the Chopin in Paris exhibit as well. This event was sponsored by the French Embassy and Alliance Française so I was a bit uncomfortable whenever I found myself surrounded with French speaking people since I don’t know the language at all. So I just viewed the exhibit with a glass of wine in hand since there plenty was of it at the event. And since I’m a Chopin fan, I already knew a lot of the information that accompanied the photos at the exhibit. But it was still a good way for me to get psyched for the concert.

So the concert started with Dana Ciocarlie talking a bit about the pieces she was going to play for the first half. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. I do like this setup because not only does it prepare the audience for the music performance but it also shows a bit of the personality of the pianist. And she was very charming, cheerful and came off as very warm and gentle like a nice cup of English breakfast tea. So for the first part, Ciocarlie played Rondo à la Mazur in F Major, Op. 5, the 3 Mazurkas, Op. 59 and Polonaise Fantaisie in A Flat Major, Op. 61. These pieces reflected more of the Polish side of Chopin since the Mazurka and the Polonaise are dances of Polish nature.

The Rondo is a very early work of Chopin and it’s not one of the most well known and I admit that I am not really familiar with it. But the mazurkas that followed are very familiar to me. They were among the first Chopin piano pieces that I’ve listened to. And it is always a delight for me to see them played by a competent pianist.

And my most awaited piece of the night finally arrived. The Polonaise Fantaisie is my favorite Chopin piece for the solo piano. When she played the first couple of chords followed by the ascending notes, I was already mesmerized. She had a natural, unforced manner in which she played this piece. After this, I felt that I could go home satisfied but there was still more to come after the interval.

Fortunately, I wisely stayed on for the second half since Ciocarlie had a surprise for everyone. She played a piece that wasn’t on the programme for the night and it was something that she just learned. The audience was very much delighted when she announced that this piece was Fantasie-Impromptu; not the one by Chopin but by Filipino composer Nicanor Abelardo. And this further endeared her to the audience since she took an effort to learn this piece.

She then returned to the Chopin programme and continued with two Nocturnes. The first one she played was the Nocturne in E minor, Op. post followed by the popular Nocturne No. 2. in D Flat Major, Op. 27 The first Nocturne isn’t one of my favorites but the second is definitely one of mine. Sometimes, my patience is tested whenever a piece I’m not too fond of precedes the one that I prefer more.

The next piece she played was the Ballade No. 2 in F, Op. 38 which started calmly not unlike the previous pieces that she played. Thankfully, this Ballade has a second part that sounded destructive and violent. And if any of the audience fell asleep during the Nocturnes, this Ballade would’ve woken them up.

She then had a handful of waltzes to end the programme. She first played the popular Waltz No. 1 in D Flat Major, Op. 64. And next were the 3 Waltzes from Op. 34 Trois grandes valses brillantes. She sounded very cheerful with her spiels when introducing the works and she was able to bring some of that cheerfulness and playfulness with some of these waltzes.

For her encore, she played something by Shumann but I failed to get the title of the piece. But I recognized her second encore as being the Etude No. 10 in A Flat Major, Op. 10. The audience wanted more from her and she obliged but reminding the audience that it was already her “last” encore. This last encore was something by Schubert and again, I failed to get the title of this piece.

Pianist Dana Ciocarlie

There were more people who watched this concert than the previous one featuring Rudolf Golez. It took me quite sometime in order to have my programme signed since Ciocarlie was busy entertaining some members of the audience after the show. It was a bit intimidating since most of these people were talking to her in French. And when it was finally my turn, I told her that I was very glad that she played my favorite Chopin piece. She then asked what it was, and when I told her that it was the Polonaise Fantaisie, she told me that it was also her favorite and that this piece is indeed a masterpiece.

There are still a few concerts left in this Chopin Manille 2010 Bicentenaire series and I am already geared for the next performance date.