Quartetto Espressivo

I admit that I'm not really familiar with string quartets. I don't listen to recordings of it and I can't recall if I ever watched a live performance before. But since then, I've gotten acquainted with the members of the Quartetto Espressivo composed of Joseph Brian Cimafranca (violin 1), Sara Maria Gonzales (violin 2), Rey Casey Concepcion (viola) and Gerry Graham Gonzales (cello). And when they invited me to come over the GSIS Museum to watch their concert, I did so without any second thoughts.

The weather during that afternoon seemed ominous but the opening piece of the concert, Franz Joseph Haydn's Quartet No. 43 in G Major, Op. 54 No. 1, somewhat provided some cheer to block the thoughts of the threatening rain outside. I'm not a huge fan of Haydn's happy music but I'd take anything to counter the gloomy weather outside.

The next piece they performed was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Adagio and Fugue K. 546. I was very much pleasantly surprised by this piece since the Adagio sounded very dark which I didn't expect from Mozart. I never liked fugues before but the introduction made me like the fugue part that followed it.

The last piece they played was Ludwig van Beethoven's Quartet No. 3, Op. 59 "Razumovsky". I've never heard this piece before as well as the other pieces that they played but this was the one that brought me through many different moods. But the one thing that stood out during this performance was the way that Sara Gonzales' face lit up during the final bars of this piece. It was such a delight seeing her face in triumph as she savored the last moments of the performance. She knew that they performed well and the audience did so too.

For an encore, the quartet played a Cebuano medley and it was then when they appeared to be relaxed and just focused on enjoying playing this encore. This piece was quite fitting since with the exception of Concepcion, the other three members all hail from Cebu.

One thing that I really liked about this concert was the spiels done by Jeffrey Solares who hosted the event. He provided some background information regarding the pieces to be performed which really sparked my interest. And he even commented on an Amorsolo painting that was displayed at the gallery to provide some insight on how western music has been embraced by the Filipino people. And proof of that is the Quartetto Espressivo and the much improved audience attendance at the GSIS Museum that night.

Quartetto Espressivo

Fingerdance

Now, it’s back to the regular entries involving my experiences in watching classical music performances. There have been a few performances that happened over the last few weeks but I wasn’t able to see them. But now, I’m back with an entry about the performance of Gerry Graham Gonzales whose recital during the PREDIS Young Artists Recital Series I also failed to see. Since then, I made it a point to somehow make it up to him and that I did when I caught his latest performance entitled Fingerdance which was held at the GSIS Museum.

As I’ve said before, I’m not that knowledgeable about the cello and I wasn’t jumping for joy when I saw his first pieces for the concert: Suite No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1009 by Johann Sebastian Bach and Rondo in C Major by Luigi Boccherini. I admit that these pieces are unfamiliar to me. The same could be said by the third piece which was David Popper’s Gnometanz, Op. 50 No. 2. I felt that he started a bit cold during the Bach but somehow got his pace with the Boccherini and the Popper piece which has a more upbeat tempo. By the way, except for the first piece, Gonzales was accompanied by Jourdann Petalver at the piano.

For the second half of the program, Gerry was joined by Sara Maria Gonzales on the violin for the piece Passacaglia duo for violin and cello by Georg Frideric Handel and Johan Halvorsen. This was followed by Antonin Dvořák’s Rondo in G Minor, Op. 94 and lastly by Peter Tchaikovsky’s Pezzo Capriccioso and accompanying him on the piano was Petalver once again.

I was glad to finally see Gonzales perform but this performance was light weight compared to his recital a month before where he had an orchestra backing him up. The performance in this intimate setting was very relaxed compared to the other performances that I’ve been too. And I guess that things actually got too relaxed that some mistakes were made especially at the Passacaglia. But overall, this is one of the concerts where one just could sit and relax, get away from the summer heat and enjoy a music performance. And a nice bonus is a chance to view the art pieces on display at the museum which I did before the performance started.

Fingerdance is actually a part of the GSIS Museum Thursday Concert Series which is held every second and last Thursday of the month from January to November. Surprisingly, this was my first time to see a concert from this series but this certainly won’t be my last.

Cellist Gerry Graham Gonzales

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.

UST Chamber Orchestra in Concert

This concert, featuring the UST Chamber Orchestra conducted by Renato Lucas, was the culminating performance of the UST String Department Week. And it was made extra special with the inclusion of guest soloist, cellist Iñaki Etxepare. This was held at the Main Gallery of the UST Museum which was a rather intimate setting if one ignores all the preserved animals around.

Cellist Iñaki Etxepare

Etxepare is one half of the Pik Nik Dúo that performed during the Music and Poetry Concert a couple of days before this concert. His presence was made possible by Instituto Cervantes and the Spanish Program for Cultural Cooperation. And despite not being slated to perform, the other half of the duo, Marta Roma was present at the concert to lend her support.

Just like the duo’s previous concert, I only got incomplete information regarding the programme for the concert. I was only aware of Etxepare’s scheduled performance of Joseph Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Hob VIIb: 1. I only found out about the rest of the programme once I got into the venue. It makes me uncomfortable not knowing the programme beforehand and I wasn’t prepared at all for the Entrance of the Queen of Sheba by George Friedrich Handel and the Suite in the Olden Times (Holberg’s Suite) by Edward Grieg. But I had no choice but to sit through it before the familiar Haydn cello concerto.

Fortunately, the first two pieces were pretty accessible. The Handel did have a delightful oboe duet amidst the strings and no longer was I uncomfortable. And the Grieg piece was based on dances so there was no need for esoteric knowledge of this piece at all. I just let myself relax and enjoy since it was lively music after all. But I also liked the Air (Andante religioso) part since it was a nice slow change of pace which made me appreciate more the fast Rigaudon that featured a violin solo.

Finally, it was time for what I came to UST for: the cello concerto. I prepped myself up for this by listening to a recording featuring Rostropovich. I’ve mentioned before that I’m not really an avid fan of Haydn’s music but this concerto is very accessible even for the unitiated. I’ve always thought of this piece as clean, pure, lively and not really heavy on the drama but Etxepare surprised me with his cadenza when nearing the end of the first movement. There was unexpected tension and drama in it which I wasn’t prepared for at all. There weren’t any surprises like that during the second and third movements. And I just let myself enjoy the final movement which could probably make an emo’s head explode because of the inherent joy in that part. Fortunately, it was the audience’s applause, instead of exploding heads that filled the gallery after the performance.

For an encore, Etxepare played a lullabye which he said is a song for small children in a place at the north of Spain. It was lovely hearing him play pianissimo in such an intimate setting. It was just a bit creepy when I remembered all those preserved animals around. After finishing the lullabye, he got a bit cheeky pretending that he had fallen asleep.

To everyone’s delight, food was served outside the museum and it offered me the chance to have a brief chat with some of the orchestra members as well.

A Touch of Dutch

Dutch pianist See Siang Wong was the main attraction at the concert entitled “A Touch of Dutch” that was held at the Culturual Center of the Philippines. Accompanying him was the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Herminigildo G. Ranera. This concert was also presented by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

For that night’s performance, only the orchestra section was available and it made the affair a lot more intimate. I knew beforehand that it would be a double piano concerto performance but upon receiving the programme, I found out that a Mozart overture would be the starting piece of the night.

I was delighted that the orchestra had a nice performance to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Overture to The Marriage of Figaro, K.492. They played it comfortably and it made me feel relaxed which was a good way to start the show. It’s a popular piece and the orchestra had no problems with it. And it helped a lot that this overture is a favorite of mine because it just makes me happy whenever I get to hear it.

I am not really an avid fan of Joseph Haydn and the era where he came from. But that didn’t hinder me from enjoying Wong’s rendition of the Piano Concerto in D Major Hob. XVIII:11. It was playful, light, youthful and full of joy. There were a few tentative moments at the beginning when the orchestra couldn’t seem to get settled with the pace of the piano but they found their groove by the second movement. It was odd that I started thinking about the Beethoven piece which was to be played later on even while the Haydn was still being played.

I couldn’t help it since as I’ve said earlier that Haydn doesn’t do much for me. But it’s totally different for Ludwig van Beethoven. I admire Beethoven and his works especially his symphonies and piano sonatas and piano concertos. So it was with great anticipation that I awaited for Wong to finally play Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37.

Again, I felt that the orchestra had some tentative moments in the beginning especially during the opening passage of the wind section. The long orchestral exposition was almost too unbearable as I anxiously waited for the piano part to begin. And Wong entered with a statement of authority which is in stark contrast to the cheerful Haydn piece. Gone was the playfulness of the Haydn and what was present was the seriousness, drama and maturity of Beethoven especially in this C minor key.

And with the command and authority of the first movement, Wong showed delicate touch with the accompanying arpeggio while the flute and bassoon played their solos during the second movement. This has always been my favorite part of the concerto and it made me absolutely relax and I knew that I had to savor that moment since it was all too brief.

So by the time of the Rondo in the third movement, Wong had the audience at the palm of his hand. I was almost hypnotized when he attacked the coda and in another odd moment, I thought about the earlier Haydn piece. How totally different the moods of the two pieces and how Wong was able to convey those two concertos magnificently. The audience showered Wong with thunderous applause that resonated around the theater that can make one think that the balcony sections were filled with people as well.

Wong then treated the audience with a recap of the finale of the Haydn piece for an encore. He was back to his cheerful self again. And it felt as if he was trying to put the audience back at ease after the drama of the Beethoven. But that wasn’t enough. For the second encore, he did a very interesting Chopin Nocturne in C sharp minor, Op. posth. He started slower than usual, then played at the usual tempo, and then went faster than usual. It was the same for the dynamics with some passages played loud and turbulently. Overall, it was an interesting display of light and shade in that usually melancholic piece. I still can’t get over that Chopin.

Pianist See Siang Wong

After the performance, cocktails were served at the second floor hallway courtesy of Dusit Thani Hotel. I was able to have a brief chat with See Siang Wong and I told him how I felt about the Chopin encore. He told me that those deviations in tempo and dynamics were spontaneous and unplanned. Also among the crowd was Maestro Jae-Joon Lee who was with a group of very enthusiastic and very appreciative Koreans.