MSO V: Beethoven Lives!

Alexander Vikulov and the Manila Symphony Orchestra

Featuring:

Arturo Molina, violin

Greg Zuniega, piano

Victor Coo, cello 

Manila Symphony Orchestra

Alexander Vikulov, conductor 

Programme:

Ludwig van Beethoven

     Overture from Creatures of Prometheus, Op. 43

     Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano in C major, Op. 56

     Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92

The Manila Symphony Orchestra recently held their closing concert of their Gala Season celebrating the orchestra’s historic 85^th year at the Philam Life Auditorium featuring guest conductor Alexander Vikulov and soloists Arturo Molino (violin), Greg Zuniega (piano) and Victor Coo (cello). The concert entitled Beethoven Lives! featured the music of Ludwig van Beethoven (obviously) that very much delighted the inner Schroeder in me.

But I am not as obsessive as Schroeder when it comes to Beethoven since I had no idea how the Overture to Creatures of Prometheus, Op. 43, the first piece of the evening, actually sounds. And it didn’t help at all that while the orchestra was playing this piece, I paid more attention in checking out how they sounded under the baton of guest conductor Alexander Vikulov. I am prone to doing this especially if the opening piece is not familiar to me. I also checked out if those who didn’t play during the last concert were back this time around. And before I knew it, the piece was already over.

Arturo Molina, Victor Coo and Greg Zuniega perform the Triple Concerto

Then it was time for the Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano in C major, Op. 56 which was probably the main highlight of the concert for many in the audience that night. This piece also known as the Triple Concerto is an unusual one since instead of just one soloist, there are actually three. And what was more unusual during this performance was that the three soloists do not actually perform together regularly. I usually see Arturo Molina conducting the MSO and I couldn’t even recall if I ever got to see him during his days as the concertmaster of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra. On the other hand, I’ve seen Victor Coo perform with violinist Joseph Esmilla and pianist Rudolf Golez (Trio con Brio). And it was during recitals that I’ve seen the very reliable Greg Zuniega. And despite this lack of playing together, they showed excellent rapport especially during the first movement which featured a lively conversation between the three with each instrument taking on the themes. I was also able to appreciate the attention to detail that Beethoven did especially with the cello that had the tendency to be drowned by the piano and the violin. In all three movements, the cello delivered the first solo hence giving it the chance to shine before the piano and violin eventually dominate. After this piece, the trio of Molina, Coo and Zuniega delivered a charming encore of Pamulinawen arranged by Ryan Cayabyab.

As much as I appreciated the Triple Concerto, it was actually the last piece, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92 that I was really looking forward to that evening. This piece has become very popular in recent years because of the manga/anime/drama series Nodame Cantabile. With the exception of the second movement, this piece exudes such joy all the way through. I normally don’t like happy and cheerful pieces but this is a major exception. The fourth movement is one of the pieces I normally listen to whenever I’m feeling down in the dumps and experiencing a live performance easily trumps listening to a recording anytime. And when the MSO played this fourth movement, the joy and the sense of triumph coming out from the orchestra was almost tangible. I don’t know if it’s the November rain but this concert just continued the streak of outstanding orchestra performances that started with the Taipei Symphony Orchestra.

Special thanks should be given also to Lisa Macuja-Elizalde for bringing over the exceptional conductor Alexander Vikulov. He had a rather understated style that didn’t call much attention to himself. But what’s more important was that he was able to bring out the best in MSO who delivered a very inspired performance. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend his masterclass over at the University of the Philippines that happened a few days later due to a conflict in schedule.

Since their season has already ended I couldn’t help but look back at the season as a whole. The MSO had a hit lineup for me since they included some of my favorites like the Mahler Symphony No. 5, Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5, Brahms Symphony No. 4, and Beethoven Symphony No. 7. And also, they performed the Khachaturian Violin Concerto which I’ve wanted to hear for some time now. For this concert season, I’ve noticed that everything went ahead as planned without any of the mishaps (Ondoy back in 2009) or sudden program change (July 2010) that they’ve experienced in previous seasons. I do hope that the next season will continue the upward momentum of the Manila Symphony Orchestra.