PPO I: A Hero’s Life

Cellist Renato Lucas with RAd and the Pinoy Violinists

Featuring:

Renato Lucas, cello

Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra

Olivier Ochanine, conductor

Programme:

Camille Saint-Saëns Bacchanale from Samson and Delilah, Op. 47

Edward Elgar Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85

Richard Strauss Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40

At long last, the wait is over and the new season of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra has arrived. The recent season openers by the various resident companies of the Cultural Center of the Philippines had been very successful and I had high hopes that the PPO’s 29^th season opener, Soundscapes, would continue this streak. Olivier Ochanine, the orchestra’s music director/principal conductor prepared for this season a programme that would push the orchestra’s technical prowess to the limit with pieces that are almost impossible to play according to him. And for the opening concert, the pièce de résistance was the tone poem entitled Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40 composed by Richard Strauss.

But that doesn’t mean that the other pieces were no longer noteworthy. To start the evening, the orchestra played the Bacchanale from Samon and Delilah, Op. 47 by Camille Saint-Saëns which I think was a very interesting choice to start the season. The piece was lively and dance like but at the back of my mind, I’ve thought of the drunken revelry associated with this piece. I guess that the orchestra and the conductor had the urge to be intoxicated once they’ve realized what they’ve gotten themselves into when they decided to perform the epic pieces lined up for the rest of the season.

And after getting drunk, the mood turned somber and nostalgic as Renato Lucas took to the stage to play Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85. Lucas, the former principal cellist of the PPO, played with a borrowed cello that was able to project its sound more clearly at the theater. But for me, the sound of the cello he used was still too light and much more suited to a Haydn piece instead of the Elgar. But that was just my preference since I wanted a cello that sounded like it was weeping from the depths of the earth. Despite not reaching the level of despair that I’ve wanted to hear, Lucas did perform well especially the third movement which was the emotional highlight of the concerto for me. For an encore, Lucas performed a piece in which he dedicated to his numerous students in attendance at the concert which was  the Prelude of Suite No. 1 in G major, BWV 1007 by Johann Sebastian Bach.

Olivier Ochanine with RAd and the Pinoy Violinists

The next half of the concert was devoted to Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40 by Richard Strauss which was a test not just for the orchestra but for the audience as well. It was a piece that lasted for more than 45 minutes which told through music the life of a hero which could’ve been Strauss himself. I admit that despite my exposure to music of this kind, it wasn’t easy for me to listen to this or perhaps it was because I was already more than satisfied with the Elgar performance which was the main draw of the concert for me. But still, I managed to sit through it as the hero was menaced by the winds and was later embraced by the solo violin. As this epic piece came to an end, the audience showered the orchestra with generous applause with probably a mix of those who really appreciated the piece and those who were glad that it was finally over.

Thankfully, the orchestra played Aram Khachaturian’s Lezghinka from the ballet Gayaneh as an encore which is one of the pieces that I’ve wanted to see a live performance of for quite some time now. Although I wished that they played it faster which would’ve probably brought some protests from the flute section, I was nonetheless delighted by this piece. The concert did continue the streak of successful shows by resident companies of the CCP considering that there were more than 300 students in attendance. And most of them had never been in a classical music concert before so a special programme was presented to them before the concert in order to orient them with shows like this. This was a good start to Ochanine’s second season with the PPO and I am now looking forward to the next concert.