Philippine Festival

Finally, the 2010 Season of the Manila Symphony Orchestra has begun. And I absolutely made sure to come to the Philamlife Auditorium to see their season opener entitled Philippine Festival. I went there still carrying with me the buzz and excitement of the Uto Ughi performance that happened just a few days before this. And I really had to comment the dedication of this orchestra, under the music direction of Prof. Arturo Molina, since they opted to rehearse instead of seeing Ughi which was very tempting indeed.

As the title states, the programme for this night consisted of works by Filipino composers. So after attending a few concerts made possible by foreign companies, it was nice to hear something very close to home and that embodies the Filipino spirit.

The night started with a performance of the Philippine Festival Overture by Angel M. Peña. I tried to listen closely to this piece since I've never heard this before but I failed with this. And I had violinist Gina Medina to blame for not remembering much of this piece. Medina was the featured soloist for the second piece of the night which was Lucino Sacramento's Violin Concerto No. 2. Medina played her part with suchy beauty that I was completely mesmerized especially by the dreamy second theme of the first movement. And it was this piece that got stuck in my mind at the expense of the opening overture. I just hope that this never happens again in future concerts.

But Peña should not fret since I do remember what happened when the orchestra performed Trinity, which was another piece that he wrote. The addition of a few theatrics like the lights out at the beginning of the piece and the solo flute who played at the back of the concert hall made sure that this performance would not be easily forgotten.

At the beginning of the second part of the concert, the audience was treated by a performance of the PREDIS kids who performed Dugtung-Dugtungan which was basically a medley of popular folk tunes. I can only imagine how excited these kids were performing at an evening concert and some of these kids were so young that it was possibly past their bedtime when they got to perform on stage. Despite their young age, I was impressed by this piece that was arranged by Jeffrey Solares.

Then it was time for the Nicanor Abelardo composed Piano Concerto performed by Virginia Laico-Villanueva. I admit that I've never seen her play before this so I had no idea what to expect. Alas, I found it difficult to connect with her probably because I was more drawn with the violin concerto that was performed earlier. It felt odd because I play the piano so a piano concerto should be easier for me to connect with. But not all was lost since I liked Laico-Villanueva's encore piece a lot more than the piano concerto.

The last piece for the night was Lahing Kayumanggi by Lucio San Pedro. I've heard this piece played a few months before and the Bahay Kubo theme was still on my mind. Having heard this piece quite recently enabled me to appreciate the performance a lot more this time. And I was able to notice that the orchestra seemed very comfortable with this piece.

The only gripe I had with this concert was that there was a keyboard used to play the parts of instruments that weren't available that night like the harp. As I've said before, this really distracted me from the overall performance and I do hope that the orchestra manages to get the actual instruments in future concerts. The electronic sound really felt out of place with the impressive overall sound of the orchestra.

But I really do appreciate the theme of the concert that really celebrated the Filipino spirit. Not only does the country celebrate their Independence Day during this month, but they also usher in a new era with the new administration that is set to take office. So it was really a poignant choice of music for their season opener and it renewed my sense of pride and nationalism. Well done, Manila Symphony Orchestra and Prof. Arturo Molina and see you at the next concert!

Violinist Gina Medina

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