MSO I: Jazz Meets Classical

Tal Gamlieli, Yaron Gottfried and Yonatan Oleiski

Featuring:

Yaron Gottfried, piano/conductor

Yonatan Oleiski, drums

Tal Gamlieli, bass

Manila Symphony Orchestra

Programme:

Yaron Gottfried Capriol Jazz Suite for Jazz Trio and Orchestra

Modest Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition

The Embassy of Israel told me about this concert way back during the invitation only screening of the Israel Film Festival. I was just told by the Deputy Chief of Mission that the Embassy will be bringing an Israeli artist who will conduct the Manila Symphony Orchestra. And as the months went on, I knew more details about the concert: that the Israeli artist was in fact composer, conductor and pianist Yaron Gottfried. I found out later that the pieces to be played would be by Gershwin, Mussorgsky and also Gottfried’s own composition. I learned as well that in this concert, Gottfried would also be joined by two other Israeli musicians namely Tal Gamlieli on bass and Yonatan Oleiski on drums.

Israel Ambassador Menashe Bar-On, FilFest's Vicky Zubiri,
Deputy Chief of Mission Yaniv Revach and RAd

Time passed and finally, the date of the concert came. Dressed in my best set of threads, I arrived with plenty of time to spare at the BDO Corporate Center and was told immediately by some members of the MSO that they would no longer be playing the Gershwin piece. I was of course disappointed to hear that but I had no choice but to accept this change and just be grateful that it wasn’t Gottfried’s piece (a Philippine premiere) that was scrapped from the programme. I headed over to the cocktail area where I met Italian Ambassador Luca Fornari and his wife Madame Silvana Novalli-Fornari. I can honestly say that my music experiences with both the Israeli and Italian Embassies had been very memorable and I will be forever  grateful to them.

Composer, conductor, pianist Yaron Gottfried

The concert soon started at the Francisco Santiago hall with the Capriol Suite for Jazz Trio and Orchestra with Yaron Gottfried himself conducting the orchestra and playing the piano along with bassist Tal Gamlieli and drummer Yonatan Oleiski. This suite, based on the Peter Warlocks Capriol Suite for Strings (which was based on tunes from Arbeaus Orchesographie published in 1588) featured four movements based on baroque dances. But interspersed in between the orchestral passages were extended sections wherein the jazz trio did major improvisation based upon the themes of the original tunes. It was very interesting to hear the clear melodies of the tunes and then Gottfried adding layers to it complex chords with the piano resulting in a very textured sound. I have always wanted to hear a contemporary piece played by an orchestra in here and it was indeed such a treat not only to hear such a work but to have the composer conducting it. But at some point, listening to the jazz musicians got me frustrated since I've focused more on classical technique and have learned to accept that I'll never be able to excel with jazz improvisation no matter how much I try. It just isn't in my system, so there's no point in forcing myself to learn how to play it and instead, I just need to enjoy listening to it.

Bassist Tal Gamlieli

For an encore, the trio performed a special arrangement of Jingles by Wes Montgomery. During this time, the venue felt like a jazz lounge than a concert hall and some of the orchestra members found themselves swaying while the trio played the piece. I also let go of my inhibitions and found myself nodding my head and tapping my feet to the beat as well.

Drummer Yonatan Oleiski

The second half of the programme had the MSO playing a very familiar and popular piece: Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition that was orchestrated by Maurice Ravel. While some purists might scoff at the classical and jazz mash up of the previous piece, I think that they would’ve been silenced by the second piece which is not only a staple in the orchestral repertoire but also poses a challenge to the musicians as well. The Old Castle section did pose some trouble for the horn player but the rest of the piece turned out well especially my favorite Gnomus and of course, the Promenade theme in all its appearances in the work.

The Jazz Trio during the PI Jazzfest 2012

One thing that I found odd was that I couldn’t find any thematic link between the Jazz Suite and Pictures at an Exhibition during the concert. But I was able to find out the link a few days later when I watched Gottfried, Gamlieli and Oleiski once again during their performance at the Cultural Night of the PI Jazzfest 2012 held at Greenbelt 3. This time, the trio performed portions of Pictures at an Exhibition (Old Castle, Samuel Goldenberg and Shmuyle, and The Market at Limoge) but with a very jazzed up arrangement. They also played a couple of Bach pieces (also with a jazzed up arrangement) and finished their set with the jazz trio portion of the Toridon from the Jazz Suite from the previous concert. But true to the nature of jazz with its improvisation element, no two performances are alike and this Toridon was indeed very different from what they did with the MSO.

The Jazz Trio with a couple of members from MSO

I am very grateful to the Israeli Embassy for bringing the musicians here and also for fulfilling my wish to hear a contemporary piece. I’ve been very fortunate to have been a part of the Embassy’s events and celebrations for about a couple of years now and it was music that made things possible in the first place. I value the friendship and I wish that it remains strong as the years go by. And this also applies between the two countries and not just between myself and the Embassy alone.