Forte@40

The moment I entered the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (CCP Main Theater), the first thing I did was to count the pianos set up on stage, to see for myself if there were indeed forty of them. Never mind that the concert was called Forte@40, in celebration of the Piano Teachers’ Guild of the Philippines’ 40^th Anniversary, but I just had to make sure that the pianos were indeed forty.

After counting, I had to take note of how the pianos were set up: two top of the line Shigeru Kawai concert grand pianos placed right in front of the stage, eight grand pianos of various smaller sizes took the prime spots at the stage, and the rest of the thirty Kawai emblazoned upright pianos filled up the entire space. All of the Kawai pianos were provided by Lyric Piano and Organ Corp. The utilization of the orchestra pit area and the use of risers for the pianos further back the stage gave the impressive setup levels and depth that allowed the audience to see almost everything onstage.

The concert started with a very accessible piece called Concertino on Familiar Tunes by Stanley Avery. As the title stated, the tunes were very familiar and this introductory piece with 40 pianists, (1 per piano) all of them led by conductor Herminigildo Ranera, set the tone for the evening. While the opening number was all about accessibility, the second piece, Grand Perpetual Motion Waltz by Michael Cox was an impressive display of virtuosity by 12 pianists possessing advanced technical skills. I found it a very nice touch of having 10 very young piano students play side by side with his/her teacher on a single piano (20 pianists, 2 per piano) during the next number which was the Andante from Franz Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 94 in G major, Hob. VI:54 Surprise. This piece, conducted this time by Daniel Bartolome may not have had the technical difficulty of the one that preceded it, but it had an ample dose of cuteness.

Since this event is in line with the PTGP’s 40^th Anniversary, it wasn’t any surprise that the number 40 was a recurring theme throughout the concert. The first of the 40 themed pieces was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 in G minor, KV. 550 in which 40 piano teachers played the symphony’s first movement, the very popular Allegro molto. This is a very familiar symphony even for casual audiences and I wouldn’t be surprised if some of them couldn’t get the opening bars out of their heads after hearing this piece. After this, Father Manuel Maramba OSB, decked in wizard’s clothing signaled the young pianists to start the next piece which was Harry Potter Fantasy and Super Mario Capriccio (on a theme by Koji Kondo) arranged and transcribed by Kabaitan Bautista. This proved to be a tricky piece having five parts and there were some spotty moments when the pianists weren’t in sync with each other.

The second half of the concert started with another 40 themed piece which was Frédéric Chopin’s Polonaise in A major, Op. 40 Military, a regular part of a concert pianists’ repertoire. There weren’t any fancy arrangements made for this one but some parts were split among the 40 piano teachers (1 per piano) who performed this. I noticed that some of the pianists like Dr. Raul Sunico, Anthony Say and Carolyn Cheng played the piece in its original form without the aid of a music sheet. After this traditional piece, the concert took a turn for the unexpected as 20 pianists (1 per piano) played something based on modern rock music which is Contagion based on Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana by Kabaitan Bautista. And what was more surprising was that this was played by pianists whom I never expected to play this kind of music like Philippine Madrigal Singers choirmaster Mark Carpio and others like Mary Anne Espina, Najib Ismail and Peter Porticos. This by far was the most complicated, dissonant piece of the concert with 10 different parts with a pair of pianists playing each part.

Pianists Enzo Medel and Jeline Oliva

After this rather esoteric piece, the pace changed once again as more pleasant sounding tunes Workin’ on the Railroad by Eugénie Rocherolle and Perpetual Commotion by Kevin Olson were played by 28 young pianists (2 per piano). More crowd pleasing music was heard as 20 pianists (1 per piano) performed a Ryan Cayabyab arranged Pop Medley featuring a medley of OPM hits like Kay Ganda ng Ating Musika, Saranggola ni Pepe, Pumapatak ang Ulan and many others. This number certainly was a hit among the audience getting one of the loudest applause during the whole concert. A very overwhelming finale capped Forte@40 with the world premiere of Augusto Espino’s Mga Gintong Pamana. Featuring 80 pianists (2 per piano), this was the most awaited part of the evening. Commissioned by the Piano Teachers Guild of the Philippines specifically for their 40^th Anniversary, this piece showcased themes of various works by Filipino composers like Nicanor Abelardo, Lucio San Pedro and Lucrecia Kasilag among others. I had to admit though that while this piece was being played, I paid more attention to finding out who’s playing and where rather than listening to the composition. The sheer spectacle of what I was seeing meant that listening had to take a backseat which was rather unfortunate for me. I would really like to hear this piece once again even if it only had a tenth of pianists involved.

I can only imagine how difficult it is to put together this kind of concert with the number of pianos and pianists involved. And the Piano Teachers Guild of the Philippines managed to pull it off producing a concert of this magnitude. One of the most odd feelings that I’ve gotten after watching this concert was that I am now looking forward to the day that I turn 40, hoping that it would be as grand as Forte@40.