PTGP Beethoven Concerto Competition 2010

It's the time of the year when going to concerts requires a lot more effort. For the PTGP Beethoven Competition 2010 Winner's Concert, the heavy rains resulting in flooded streets made it difficult for a lot of people to arrive at the Philamlife Theatre on time. But I did make it despite being very wet and quite haggard.

But thankfully, the foul weather didn't dampen the performance of the winners of this competition. Before the performances started, the finalists were awarded their trophies. For Category B, the winners were Kao Sugata (1st prize), Lorenzo Medel and Gabriel Allan Paguirigan (3rd prize). For Category C, the winners were Ma. Regina Montesclaros (1st prize), Maysel Joy Adap (2nd prize) and Elaine Sara Lim (3rd prize).

First to perform were the winners of the Best Performance of the Contest Piece. The winner for Category B was Gabriel Allan Paguirigan and he played Rondo in C Major Op. 51 No. 1 and he was followed immediately by Category C winner Maysel Joy Adap who then played Rondo in G Major Op. 51 No. 2. This being a Beethoven Concerto Competition meant that all the pieces played were obviously by Ludwig van Beethoven.

After the performances of the two Rondo, it was time for the 1st prize winners to perform. The winning pianists performed their respective concerto pieces accompanied by the UST Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Herminigildo Ranera. And this was actually one of the prizes for winning the competition, a performance of their concerto piece accompanied by an orchestra. They did also receive a cash prize but I wasn't able to get information on how much did each of the winners including those who placed 2nd and 3rd for each categories.

The 1st prize winner for Category B was Kao Sugata and she played Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major Op. 15. Her Category C counterpart was Ma. Regina Montesclaros and her piece was Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major Op. 58. They played adequately but still none of the passion that I would expect from a seasoned performer.

But I was really taken aback by the orchestra's performance especially the brass section which seemed to me to have been grossly out of tune. I know that they are a student orchestra but their performance that day didn't meet my expectations.

26th Sampung Mga Daliri, Atbp

The 26th Sampung Mga Daliri, Atbp concert by the UST Conservatory of Music held at the CCP Main Theater was my first concert after taking a short break to deal with important family matters. The main draw for this long running concert is the use of ten pianos all throughout the show and it is a chance for the piano majors, alumni and faculty to shine. Each number will feature different pianists and a different group from the Conservatory.

Honestly, I wasn’t too thrilled with this setup being more of a purist. But like what was said in the souvenir programme, this show was meant to be accessible. And it indeed needed to be accessible since most of the audiences were family members and friends of the participants of the show. And I also reminded myself that I vowed to keep an open mind even in formats that don’t usually appeal to me. In order for me to enjoy the experience more, I decided to observe the people seated around me and to see which of the numbers they would appreciate more.

After the obligatory National Anthem and UST Hymn, the show started with the first number which was the Poet and Peasant Overture by Franz von Suppé. The ten pianists were accompanied by the UST Rondalla Ensemble. This piece was arranged differently to suit the instruments so it sounded very different from what I was used to. And the combination of the pianos and the rondalla ensemble was something I wasn’t really accustomed to. They got just a polite applause from the audience which is perfectly understandable since the people haven’t settled into the show just yet.

The next couple of pieces were Larawan by Francisco Buencamino and Pamulinawen from “Pahilaga” by Ryan Cayabyab. These were my favorites of the night. The pianists were all by themselves and with this setup, I was able to appreciate the rich, textured, varied and unusual harmonics. There were no other instruments to distract me from the tone of the piano. And this was when I heard some people beside me marvel at the skill of the pianists.

It was the UST Guitar Ensemble’s turn to join a different set of pianists to perform Sevilla from “Suite Española” by Isaac Albéniz. This is another familiar piece for me that was played with an unfamiliar arrangement. The same could be said for the next piece which was Les Preludes by Franz Liszt. One thing unique about this number was that it had two pianists per piano. But one of the pianists inexplicably lost his partner and performed alone. For this piece, the UST Wind Orchestra accompanied the supposed to be twenty pianists.

The next set was one of the crowd pleasers of the night and it was made possible by the inclusion of the UST Percussion Ensemble. The two pieces played were a smoldering Adios Nonino by Astor Piazolla and the delightful Sabre Dance by Aram Khatchaturian. Unfortunately, the people around me were more amused by the variety of the percussion instruments onstage. This set was a fitting end to the first part which made the audience excited for what was coming next.

The second part started with Pop’era Breakers featuring the UST Pop’era Chorus. But let’s not forget that there was yet another set of pianists playing the ten pianos. This was the most applauded number since this featured the ubiquitous song Nobody along with Lady Marmalade and Umbrella. And it was also a visual treat since there was choreography, costume and props which added to the delight of the audience.

The next set of pianists knew that they had to follow what was the most popular performance of the night. But they held their own since they played popular tunes as well: Nais Ko by Ryan Cayabyab and Saranggola ni Pepe by Nonong Pedero. And having the UST Percussion Ensemble (although they were down to a few members this time) accompanying them sure helped a lot. Their performance of Saranggola ni Pepe is one of my favorites of the night since the arrangement really brought out the rich sounds of the pianos and the percussions weren’t too distracting.

The second half was on a roll this time especially when the next set of performers (another set of pianists along with the UST Jazz Band) entered. Some members of the audience were amused when they noticed that the set’s conductor also held an instrument which was a trumpet. They were definitely pleased with their performance of Summertime and My Favorite Things. I liked the first number a lot better since it was sultry with nice and smooth solos from some of the band members.

It was the UST Symphony Orchestra’s turn to accompany the next set of pianists for their performance of Night and Day, a standard written by Cole Porter. This number felt a bit old fashioned for me perhaps suffering a bit from my enjoyment of the Summertime piece.

Finally, it was time for the finale which was the Les Miserables Medley but the audience had to wait a lot longer since the humungous choir had to position themselves at the rear of the stage. I was quite surprised when the choir sounded underwhelming despite their overwhelming numbers. The soloists also weren’t the strongest vocalists. They were adequate but still not enough power and emotion to send chills up my spine. And I felt that the tempo at the end was too fast and it felt that the choir had to catch up. I didn’t really like the material from the UST Pop’era Chorus but they were far stronger vocally. So unfortunately, the concert ended a bit flat for me.

But that was not the case for the families and friends of those who were part of the choir. One mother was particularly proud of her daughter despite having difficulty of finding where she was positioned in the choir. She hoped that her daughter would one day have a more prominent role in the subsequent productions of the Conservatory. And because of that, the concert absolutely ended on a high note.

Before I forgot, the night actually ended with a birthday song for Mr. Raul Sunico who is the Dean of the Conservatory of Music. And amazingly, the choir did a much better job with this than the finale.

UST Conservatory of Music Dean Raul Sunico

Just Mozart

On February 18, 2010, I watched the UST Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Herminigildo Ranera, perform at the Philamlife Auditorium. The programme for the night consisted of works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The orchestra played the Overture to The Marriage of Figaro, K.492, Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major K.488 featuring Najib Ismail at the piano, and finally, Symphony No. 40 in G Minor K.550.

I was supposed to write the usual review but about half an hour after the concert, as I was on my home, I received a phone call that my grandmother had passed away after getting seriously ill almost two weeks before this.

So instead of reviewing the performance, I'd like to thank the UST Symphony Orchestra and the people whom I've had the pleasure of seeing that night. Thank you Mr. Aries Caces, concertmaster Benj, viola/piano girl Jaydee, and Korean violin girl Bo Ra. Thank you as well to the other people whose name I failed to get: the viola guy with the shaved head and eye glasses, the guy with Benj, and the guys (and the girls from FILHarmoniKA) manning the table who thought that I was still a student.

UST Symphony Orchestra

I'd like to believe that through your performance and the brief chat that we had that night, knowing the sad news became a bit less difficult for me. I always say that music gives me strength to deal with the hardships in life and I'm grateful that during this difficult time, music came to the rescue.