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

PPO Signature Series Concert V

The fifth concert of the 27th Season of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra held at the Cultural Center of the Philippines was the first concert of the year for me. Included in the programme lead by conductor Oscar Yatco were Paul Hindemith’s Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber; Frédéric Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11 and Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68. The featured pianist for the Chopin piece was Albert Tiu.

As I settled into my seat about 10 minutes prior to the start of the concert, I heard the usual tuning of the instruments backstage. From the discordant tones stood out a clear passage played by a lone violin. It was from Brahms Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68. But I had to wait since that was the last piece of music to be played that night.

I admit that I wasn’t too familiar with the Hindemith work so I can’t really comment on how the orchestra played it. I did find the second movement quite interesting with the main theme repeated over and over as it got passed on from one group of instruments to another only to end up abruptly with a loud chord. And then what came next was a variation of that same theme but done with a jazzy feel to it by the trombones. And add to it the use of several lesser known percussion instruments like the tubular bells that added another facet to this very interesting movement. But during the end of the fourth and final movement, the brass section completely overpowered the strings and I could barely hear a sound from them despite their frantic bowing.

The next piece to be performed was the Chopin which is one of my favorite pieces of classical music. And I am glad that Albert Tiu delivered. He absolutely made the piano sing despite a few missed notes at the end of the difficult passages during the first and third movement. The second movement though was divine and the bassoon responded beautifully during the solo parts that supported the delicate and clear sounds from the famous slow section of this concerto. Again, I noticed that the brass section, particularly the horn was too loud. And unlike the bassoon solo which complimented the piano well, the horn sounded harsh which didn’t go well with the soft piano passages from this movement.

The audience responded well to the Chopin with some already applauding even when the last note was still being played. Tiu then treated the audience with an encore of a piano transcription of Le Cygne by Camille Saint-Saëns. He was later mobbed by adoring fans at the lobby during the intermission.

Pianist Albert Tiu

The Brahms started out nicely with the ascending and descending tunes of the introduction accompanied by the steady beat of the timpani setting the mood for this heavyweight work. The solo parts were remarkable especially the oboist during the second movement. I wish that I could say the same for the sweet yet haunting violin solo but as I’ve noticed earlier, the horn was too loud again for me to appreciate this wonderful tune. But the horn finally delivered at the fourth movement during the famous horn call. The flute that immediately followed echoing this call was up to the task and he also played his part well.

It seemed like it was all coming together as the final movement comes to a triumphant end but somehow it didn’t turn out as well as I would’ve expected. A flute noticeably stuttered, a horn had a very cautious entry, and in a strange turn, during the second brass chorale that usually sends a shiver down my spine, the brass section was somehow underwhelming. This was the part where the hair at the back of my neck was supposed to rise but it didn’t. I’m not sure if the orchestra ran out of gas at the end. It’s not like they crashed and burned and had it all wrong in the end but it was more like it didn’t end right. The applause at the end which should’ve been the loudest was a bit restrained compared to the audience’s enthusiastic response to the Chopin piece.

Overall, it was a satisfying performance by the orchestra. The Chopin alone was worth it. I still feel a bit overwhelmed by the brass section but it made me think if adding a few members to the string section would’ve improved their sound production. Speaking of the strings section, during the orchestral tutti at the beginning of the Chopin piece, a member from the 2nd violin section stood up and left the stage. He came back after the first movement and exchanged instruments with the Associate Concertmaster. I think that the Associate broke a string or something and had to have it fixed. Fortunately, the one who left returned during the pause between the first two movements and everything went well during the rest of the performance.