My Dreams for My Children

Despite a having a busy day hopping from one place to another within the metro, made worse by the uncooperative weather, I still managed to arrive on time despite being wet at the FEU Auditorium in Manila to catch a concert entitled My Dreams for My Children.

This concert featured two very promising violinists: Diomedes Saraza Jr. and Regina Buenaventura. Accompanying them was the Manila Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Arturo Molina. Either of these violinists could've carried the whole show by themselves so when a concert featured these two, it should be no surprise that people would flock to the concert hall. And people did arrive at the FEU Auditorium despite the lousy weather and it was a full house with some people standing at the back of the hall.

For this concert, Saraza Jr. played the 1st movement of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35 and Camille Saint-Saëns' Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso. But before that the Manila Symphony Orchestra started the concert with their rendition of Antonino Buenaventura's By the Hillside.

For the second half of the concert, it was Buenaventura's turn with another Tchaikovsky piece: Souvenir d'un lieu cher (Memory of a Beloved Place). And then she played the 1st movement of another concerto, Johannes Brahms Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 77. And just like the preceding part, the orchestra performed first a handful of Happy Birthday Variations by Mildred Hill/arr. Peter Heidrich. And the two soloists performed Navarra by Pablo de Sarasate which capped the concert.

The Manila Symphony Orchestra is a competent orchestra and I've heard them play well numerous times. But their sound somewhat felt a bit dry during this night. I guess it had something to do with the less than stellar acoustics of the FEU Auditorium. This place is aesthetically beautiful and full of history but I do hope that they improve the acoustics soon. I wasn't able to fully appreciate the Buenaventura piece because of this. And their Happy Birthday variations was very entertaining especially when I considered the amusing reaction of the audience for the more popular variations presented.

The soloists were impressive and Saraza Jr. earned points for playing two of my favorite pieces in the violin repertoire. Unfortunately, the concerto being limited only to the first movement was not enough. But he did show flair and mastery of technique with his pieces. Buenaventura, on the other hand was more expressive with her Tchaikovsky piece. Again, the Brahms concerto being just the first movement wasn't enough. I guess that this was the compromise for having two great soloists in just one concert. Playing the full concerto would've made the for a much longer show and for some people, it might be too tiresome.

After the concert, I had a blast catching up with a few friends whom I haven't seen for a while. And it helps a lot when cocktails were served. Also, I always take advantage of having the opportunity to have a brief chat with the artists. Thanks once again to Martin Lopez for the invite.

PREDIS Young Artists Recital Series Giancarlo Gonzales & Joseph Brian Cimafranca

To escape the scorching summer heat in Metro Manila, I went to catch the third and final day of the PREDIS (Philippine Research for Developing Instrumental Soloists) Young Artists Recital Series at St. Cecilia’s Hall, St. Scholastica’s College. On this day, the featured soloists were cellist Giancarlo Gonzales and violinist Joseph Brian Cimafranca. Unfortunately, as I’ve said before, I missed the second day of this recital series that featured violinist Sara Maria Gonzales and cellist Gerry Graham Gonzales due to a convention that had to attend to that day.

These two artists boast a nice set of achievements between them. Gonzales was the 2008 First Prize winner of the National Music Competitions for Young Artists (NAMCYA) Cello Category. And he was also a delegate of the Asian Youth Orchestra back in 2007 and 2008. Cimafranca on the other hand is a 2002 and 2005 Prize Winner of the NAMCYA Violin Category. And he was a delegate for the Southeast Asian Youth Orchestra and also the concertmaster.

The first recital of that day featured Giancarlo Gonzales and he played a familiar piece to start the show: Habanera Filipina No. 2 by Ernesto Vallejo. He was accompanied on the piano by Mary Anne Espina. I’ve heard this piece before played on the violin but Gonzales is a cellist so this piece was transcribed for his instrument. And it felt a bit odd hearing this piece in much a lower pitch more suited to the range of the cello. But he played it with enough command needed for this show piece.

The next piece was Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Cello Sonata in G Minor, Op. 19. Again, Espina accompanied Gonzales with this piece and I admit that I had my attention more on the pianist since she had a difficult piece to play. And like the previous PREDIS recital of Rey Casey Concepcion that I was able to see, Gonzales didn’t play like he was in a junior recital at all.

After an intermission, the recital resumed with Gonzales playing the Cello Concerto No. 2 in D Major, Hob. VIIb/2 by Joseph Haydn. For this piece, he was accompanied by the Manila Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Arturo Molina. I’ve said before that Haydn pieces are a bit too happy for my taste but for this recital, it was okay since there was the Rachmaninoff piece to balance it with. Obviously, the highlight of the recital for me was the Cello Sonata.

Cellist Giancarlo Gonzales

After an hour or so, it was the turn of violinist Joseph Brian Cimafranca to have his graduation recital. He had Greg Zuniega accompanying him on the piano and the recital started with the Violin Sonata No. 9 in A Major, Op. 47 by Ludwig van Beethoven. I admit that despite being familiar with a handful of Beethoven piano pieces, I am not familiar with most of his work for other instruments. Again, it’s embarrassing to say that I can’t remember much about this performance except that he was the one who looked the most nervous compared to the previous two recitalists that I’ve seen.

But he settled when he played the next piece which was Mutya ng Pasig (arranged by Kabayao) composed by Nicanor Abelardo. He no longer looked nervous which made me feel more relaxed and I really enjoyed this piece which wasn’t really a technically demanding piece but was able to tug into my emotions.

And if I felt that fireworks were needed to show impeccable mastery of technique, Cimafranca supplied them in abundance when he played Theme Original Varié, Op. 15 by Henryk Wieniawski. Oh dear, I found myself holding my breath when I began to imagine how on earth one plays some of the passages of that piece. I enjoyed this piece and so did the other members of the audience.

The second half of the recital as expected was a work accompanied by an orchestra. And it’s no longer a surprise that the Manila Symphony Orchestra conducted by Arturo Molina joined Cimafranca for the performance of Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto Op. 14. I admit that except for the wildly popular Adagio for Strings, I know nothing else of Barber’s work which is quite a shame.

But Cimafranca, carried on the momentum that he had from the first half of the recital and did an excellent job on this piece. It was my first time to hear this and a mark of a good performance of an unfamiliar work is if it made me want to hear a recording of it so that I could be more familiar with it. And he certainly did that.

Overall, I was glad to catch three recitals and regret missing two especially when I heard nice things about the performances that I’ve missed.

PREDIS Young Artists Recital Series Rey Casey Concepcion

It’s been quite a while since I’ve updated this blog. There weren’t any notable concerts for the past two weeks since there was this Holy Week/Easter weekend which meant that people were on a break. And I am glad that there was this break since I need to recharge from all the concerts that I’ve seen the previous month. And there were also a handful of student recitals that I’ve watched last month but I purposely didn’t write about them.

But this entry is about a student recital and yet I made an exception with the PREDIS Young Artists Recital Series. I wouldn’t normally write about student recitals whether they are junior or graduation recitals but this recital series staged at St. Cecilia’s Hall at Scholastica’s College had quite an impressive promotion for just a student recital. And this recital is a PREDIS 25th Anniversary Presentation so it’s a milestone to be celebrated. By the way, PREDIS actually stands for Philippine Research for Developing Instrumental Soloists.

So the first recitalist in this series was violist, Rey Casey Concepcion. He is currently the principal violist of the Manila Symphony Orchestra. I’ve seen this orchestra perform before but I haven’t seen him play before as a soloist. But he’s the 2008 First Prize Winner of the National Music Competitions for Young Artists (NAMCYA) for Viola and aside from that; he was also a delegate of the Asian Youth Orchestra back in 2009.

Yet despite these achievements, I was still at a loss when I watched this recital because I am totally ignorant of the usual viola repertoire. The programme consisted of Suite No. 2 in C Major, BWV 1009 by Johann Sebastian Bach, Märchenbilder, Op. 113 by Robert Schumman, Romanze in F Major, Op. 85 by Max Bruch and Der Schwanendreher by Paul Hindemith. I recognize all these composers but the pieces were unknown to me. And I’m still quite mystified with the viola and its appeal. But as I’ve said before when I started this blog, I’ll be open to new things and I should just be grateful that I’ve had this opportunity to see a viola recital.

Concepcion started the recital by playing the Bach piece unaccompanied and then he was joined by Greg Zuniega at the piano for the Schumann and Bruch pieces. And right from the start, I noticed that he had a presence on stage. He may have displayed a few signs of nervousness as he entered the stage but when he started playing, he seemed like he was in a world of his own and went into a performance mode. It didn’t feel like a junior recital at all since he performed like someone who has done this for years. I can’t say much about the pieces played since it’s no secret that I’m not the biggest fan of Bach’s music and it was my first time to ever listen to the other two pieces.

For the last piece which was played after the intermission, Concepcion was now accompanied by members of the Manila Symphony Orchestra conducted by Arturo Molina. I know Hindemith but his pieces aren’t the most accessible for me. And Der Schwanendreher was no exception. It was quite interesting though to have neither violins nor violas in the orchestra for this piece but it did make the viola stand out. But one instrument also did stand out for me although for the wrong reasons. It felt odd hearing an electronic keyboard play the part of the harp. I know that it’s not that easy to procure a harp in here and having the keyboard play its part was quite distracting and I never got used to it throughout the performance.

Despite the pieces being strange to me coupled with my lack of knowledge with the viola itself, I enjoyed watching this recital. Concepcion performed with heart and he never made me feel anxious and nervous like some of the student recitals that I’ve seen recently. And if this recital sets the tone for the entire series, then it’s extremely unfortunate that I have to miss the next two recitals due to conflict of schedule.

Violist Rey Casey Concepcion

Chopin Manille 2010 Bicentenaire Cecile Licad II

Just a couple of days after her solo concert, renowned Filipino pianist Cecile Licad performed once again for the fifth concert of the Chopin Manille 2010 Bicentenaire series. This was without a doubt, the main highlight of the series since she was scheduled to play Frédéric Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor, Op. 21 with the Manila Symphony Orchestra conducted by Arturo Molina. And people knew it as well since a very diverse crowd ranging from the well dressed members of the high society to the young music students filled the Philamlife Auditorium. All of them were eager to see Licad perform this famour concerto.

But the Chopin concerto was the last piece for that night which meant that the orchestra had to play something else. Chopin composed almost exclusively for the piano so the other pieces had to be from other composers. And these pieces were Richard Wagner’s Overture to "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg", Franz Liszt’s Les Preludes and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio Espagnol, Op. 34.

The first half of the concert featured the orchestra playing the Wagner and Liszt pieces. I am remotely familiar with these pieces and this half was a real test of my patience. I was actually more eager to listen to the second half of the concert but I had to sit throughout these two pieces.

As expected, the second half was the most awaited part of the concert. And Rimsky-Korsakov’s delightful Capriccio Espagnol was a good way to start it. I’ve seen the orchestra play this piece before during the NAMCYA guitar winners’ concert a few months back. But for this night, the tempo felt a bit too slow than what I’m used to. Still, the clarinet and violin solos were quite lovely.

And saving the best for last, Licad then played the Chopin concerto. So long have I waited to see her play this piece live and it was absolutely sublime. In this concerto, there are certain parts that I absolutely adore and Licad nailed them perfectly. Kudos to the first bassoon for not letting me down as the second movement Larghetto was winding down. It was exquisite and he had a lovely tone during the counterpoint.

The audience thought that despite a superb performance from Licad, it was still not enough as they demanded an encore and she obliged with a handful of them. She played a couple of Chopin pieces: Etude in C Minor, Op. 10, No. 12 and Waltz in D Flat Major Op. 64, No. 1. And then she played a handful of pieces which I again failed to note the titles and their respective composers. But a couple of them she played as encores as well during her solo concert. After the concert, Licad was mobbed by members of the audience all wanting to have her autograph and their photos taken with her. Spotted among the audience were Rudolf Golez and Raul Sunico who were previous performers of the concert series.

Pianist Cecile Licad

Finally, the concert series is almost over since the next performance is still months away. I’ve had my fill of Chopin and I think that it’s time for me to have a change of pace. It’s time for me to rest a bit since I’ve been through a lot of concerts this March and it’s been tiring. But I’m still far from getting tired of all the concerts and the music; I just need to recharge so that I’ll be energized for the next concerts/recitals just lurking around the corner.

2009 NAMCYA Winners Guitar

The guitarists featured in this concert are all young since they were the winners of the 2009 NAMCYA (National Music Competition for Young Artists). My knowledge of the guitar repertoire is very limited so I was looking forward to expanding my horizons with this concert.

It’s a good thing that Carlo Antonio Juan, honorable mention at the competition, started the afternoon concert with Asturias by Isaac Albéniz, a piece familiar to me since it was originally written for the piano. It made me felt at ease although he looked quite nervous being the first soloist. But he eventually relaxed as he went on to play his other pieces which were Un Sueño en la Floresta by Agustín Barrios Mangoré, Mysterious Habitats by Dusan Bogdanovic, Iyo Kailan Pa Man by Angel Matias Peña and Kudyawit by Bayani de Leon. I’d like to note that Juan’s third piece started with a very interesting bass line that sounded modern and contemporary. And the rest of it was just sublime. It was the first time I’ve ever heard anything by Bogdanovic and it was hauntingly beautiful.

Ramoncito Carpio, who got the second prize, was the next to perform his set and in he is more of an extrovert compared to the more laid back Juan. The three pieces he played were Tarantella by Johann Kaspar Mertz, Fantasy Variations by Jose Valdez which was based on the Philippine Folksong “Sarung Banggi” and Koyunbaba by Carlo Domeniconi. He played them with the confidence of a showman and by the time he finished the Presto of the Koyunbaba, the audience was enthusiastic in their applause. The two soloists’ performances made up the first part of the concert. I admit that it wasn’t easy for me to sit and watch guitar solos. Lack of familiarity with the gutar repertoire and not really knowing what to expect proved to be my handicap. But I’m glad to have sat it out since I got to listen to Bogdanovic whose music still resonates in my mind.

The second part of the concert was when the familiar music came to me. The Manila Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Arturo Molina started it with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio Espagnol. It was a totally different change of pace from the guitar solos since this piece has a brilliant and lush orchestration with delightful percussions especially at the end. There were nice solos played the both the concertmaster and the principal clarinet. The orchestra played with this piece with the flair needed and I was very much satisfied.

The finale of the concert was reserved for the first prize winner Franco Raymundo Maigue. And he performed the very popular Concierto de Aranjuez by Joaquin Rodrigo. For this piece, the orchestra was conducted by Michael Dadap. The guitarist was technically proficient especially with his cadenzas but I felt that he lacked the emotional pull needed for this piece especially with the Adagio of the second movement. I guess this is where the lack of life experience comes in. But then, I had to remind myself that Maigue, along with Juan and Carpio aren’t seasoned professional performers.

As I’ve said, these three guitarists are still young. There were times when they took their bows that they looked delighted and a bit perplexed that people were applauding them and that these people actually paid their tickets to watch them. But I think that given time and more experience, these three will be able to connect more with their audience aside from impressing them with their impeccable technique.

NAMCYA Honorable Mention Carlo Antonio Juan