Piano Peace (The After Concert Experience)

I wrote in the previous entry that my experience from the Piano Peace concert featuring Yaron Kohlberg and Bishara Harouni went beyond from just being a member of the audience. Looking back, I still find it amazing on how things turned out and I am extremely grateful that I was given this opportunity.

It was during the brief chat after the concert that I had with Filfest Executive Director Martin Lopez and Yaniv Revach, the Deputy Chief of Mission of the Israeli Embassy that I eventually ended up as being one of the page turners for the two pianists during the celebration of the 62 Anniversary of the State of Israel that was going to be held at the Hotel Intercon. Since they needed two page turners, I recommended my friend Charisse who agreed to do it when I told her about it.

Martin also invited me to drop by the Far Eastern University the day before the event since the pianists would be having an open rehearsal at the FEU Auditorium. I’ve never been to the FEU campus before but I told myself that there’s always a first time for everything. Besides, I was able to go to the Insular Theatre in Alabang so why not to the FEU Campus which is much nearer to my place. A few hours before the rehearsal, I was able to listen to Yaron and Bishara getting interviewed over at the radio station 98.7 DZFE so I was definitely pumped up to go to FEU.

As I’ve said, it was my first time to be inside the FEU campus and I was pleasantly surprised with what I saw. And I was also impressed by their auditorium where the rehearsal was held and I am very interested to go back and hear the sound from the different areas of the hall. One thing that threw me off a bit was that there was only one piano which meant that they wouldn’t be able to play the pieces that required two pianos. And those two pieces, the Shostakovich and the Milhaud which they played before, were the ones that needed the page turners. So for this rehearsal, they only played the Schubert piece for four hands and some of the solo pieces that they performed during the concert.

They appeared a lot more relaxed this time around since this was just a rehearsal but they were still able to impress the people who went there to see them. After playing, the two were kind enough to answer questions from the audience who were made up mostly of students and their answers impressed even Ms. Celine Pil whom I noticed was beaming throughout the rehearsal. Some even requested that they play certain pieces but Bishara said that he could’ve granted those requests if he had the music sheet but he was still able to manage to play a section of a Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 23 in F Minor, Op. 57 “Appassionata” from memory.

Pianist Bishara Harouni

Afterward, while confirming with Martin the details of the event for the next day, I was invited to have a snack with the pianists. And it was during this time that I started to see another side to them. And the fun time continued on when I was also able to join the two when they were toured briefly at Intramuros before heading over to the SM Mall of Asia for dinner. And then we had a game of bowling where I just embarrassed myself on how badly I play. Among with us were Martin, Carlo and a bunch of FEU students (Anna, Ces, Cholo, Mon, Nicole, and Tina) who were also the ushers from the concert over at Alabang. And I knew right then that these kids will be remembering this experience with fondness as well. It’s just a shame that none of them (except for the pianists, obviously) were able to make it the next day at the Hotel Intercon.

Pianist Yaron Kohlberg

I admit that I was nervous hours before the performance since the first piece to be played where I’d be page turning was the Shostakovich piece. I am familiar with it but I’ve never seen the score before and that made me nervous. But the Milhaud piece wasn’t a problem for me since I was already familiar with the score. Minutes before the performance, I was able to have a good look with the Shostakovich score so I was able to have a bit of preparation. Yaron joked that I looked very serious while going through the score and that actually calmed me down a bit.

I’m really glad that the other page turner is a good friend since I knew no one at the event and the pianists were also very busy with their preparations, getting interviewed by a television show covering the event and also entertaining guests. My friend was able to introduce me to Rabbi Azaria and because of him, she was a guest at the event even if I didn’t ask her to page turn. The Rabbi and I expressed our amazement on how my friend was my first and only choice and that we would all end up seeing each other at the event. I was also glad to see Mr. Ray Sison who supplied the pianos for the performance and he was quite surprised to see me as well.

Fortunately, the performance went very well and I am proud to say that I turned the pages a lot better than I bowled the previous night. I guess this happened because right before the pianists took to the stage, I told myself to stop being nervous and just be grateful that this was happening and most of all, to enjoy everything. So whenever I look back at the Piano Peace concert, I’d always remember it with wonder and amazement since it was more than just a concert to me.

Piano Peace

I first got aware of this event when I picked up a flyer for the Filfest 2010 Season that was available during the Chopin concert series. I admit that I wasn’t at all interested with the contents of the flyer at first because the concert venue, the Insular Life Theatre at Alabang, was too far south from where I live. So I just told myself why bother since it would be difficult for me to go and see concerts there.

But I still read what was inside the flyer while I was waiting for the show to start and the concert entitled Piano Peace got me curious. It’s no secret that concerts featuring pianists are what I really prefer compared to those that feature other instruments. And the distinction that the pianists featured in this concert were an interesting pair further fueled my interest. The pianists for the concert were Bishara Harouni and Yaron Kohlberg; the former is an Arab while the latter is a Jew. A pair like that performing in one concert is very rare so I told myself that I must get my gears turning so that I could catch this performance.

So I was glad that I was able to make it to the theatre to see this interesting pair. And right from the start they made a very good impression upon the audience when they appeared on stage wearing the Barong Tagalog. And the good impression continued as they played Dmitri Shostakovich’s Concertino for 2 Pianos in A Minor, Op. 94. I really like this piece since it’s a joy to hear and it has some passages reminiscent of some themes in Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2 which is my favorite piece as of this moment. I knew that the show had just started but at the back of my mind, I felt the urge to practice at the soonest time possible.

Then it was Yaron’s turn to play. And he did please me since he played music by Frédéric Chopin. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: I never grow tired of watching pianists play Chopin especially good pianists who can do his exquisite work justice. I can forgive Yaron for playing five out of the 24 Preludes from Op. 28 which is not my favorite Chopin piece to hear. But he made up for it by playing three etudes that are among my favorites: Etude Op. 10, No. 12, Etudes Op. 25, No. 5 and No. 11. I was absolutely glad that it somehow felt that this was a little extension of the Chopin concert series that I’ve enjoyed a month before this.

For the next piece, they played Franz Schubert’s Fantasia in F Minor for Four Hands, Op. 103. Since it’s a piece for four hands, they played side by side on just one piano and it was remarkable to see how well they work together. And it was during this piece when I was reminded that Yaron is Jewish and Bishara is Arab and there they were, playing side by side. It was very unlike what I normally see in the news and I hoped at that moment that this was how things should be in real life. And this was also the piece where I noticed how different their style and their personalities as they were playing. Yaron was more animated and grinned a lot at Bishara. And Bishara was more passive and reserved but he wasn’t overwhelmed at all by Yaron’s extroverted demeanor.

After this, it was Bishara’s time to do his solos and he started with Chopin’s Ballade No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 52. It was a bit odd seeing him play this piece seated not on the usual piano bench, but on the typical chair with back support. But aside from that interesting choice of seat, Bishara’s Chopin was quite mesmerizing. He is a tall guy who might come of as intimidating at first glance but there was this tenderness and depth in his Chopin. And then he showed his intensity and power at the end of this piece. Then he changed the pace with his next piece: Franz Liszt’s La Campanella which is the more popular name for Etude No. 3 in G Sharp Minor from the Grandes etudes de Paganini. I normally associate music by Liszt as just fireworks showpieces but Bishara had a way of making it more than just that. Again, there was this delicate artistry which is beyond just showing technique.

For the last piece, the duo played Darius Milhaud’s Scaramouche which is a piece that is just plain fun for me. And the two of them definitely looked like they were having fun especially Yaron who dealt with humor the snags that he encountered with his piano and his inexperienced page turner who was one of the usherettes that night. Despite these minor problems, the duo played with such joy that left everybody in such high spirits. Proof of this was the wild applause from the audience who demanded an encore and the duo granted them with a reprise of the first movement of this piece.

Pianist Bishara Harouni

Pianist Yaron Kohlberg

Honestly, I thought that the programme for the night was a bit short and I was disappointed a bit that they didn’t give another encore performance. But in an amazing turn of events, my experience with these two pianists extended beyond the night of the concert. And what I experienced after was one of the most memorable moments that I’ve had recently. But this story merits a blog entry of its own.