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
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
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