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| The ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra with Xian Lim |
To
celebrate a fruitful year for the newest orchestra in town, the ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra and its conductor Gerard Salonga presented A Christmas
Gift concert which was held at the Rockwell Tent. A couple of ABS-CBN talents were the
special guests for this concert: singer and theater actress K-La Rivera and
singer/actor Xian Lim who might now add pianist/trombonist to his résumé. A
Christmas Gift had two performances, a matinee and an evening performance and I
was very fortunate to have been invited by the orchestra to watch the latter.
The
concert started with A Christmas Festival
(Medley) by Leroy Anderson which is made up of popular Christmas tunes like
Joy to the World, Good King Wenceslas, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Silent
Night, Jingle Bells and O Come All Ye Faihtful. Another Leroy Anderson
composition, the ever so entertaining Sleigh
Ride was performed next. Some members of the audience tried to control
their laughter as they heard the horse whinny towards the end.
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| K-La Rivera |
Some
members of the orchestra were given the spotlight in this concert. The first to
be highlighted was trumpeter Robert de Pano playing the solo in the big band
version of I’ll be Home for Christmas.
Gerard Salonga further explained prior to this number that he specifically
reserved the position of principal trumpet for de Pano who was still working on
a cruise ship back then. The next members to have their moment were Ralph
Taylan and Jonathan Livioco, the concertmaster and assistant concertmaster
respectively. The two violinists performed the solo parts of a mash up of Silent Night and Payapang Daigdig.
The
orchestra then shifted to the typical orchestral repertoire but still Christmas
related music when they performed three short pieces from Pyotr Ilyich
Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker namely The
March of the Toy Soldiers, Chocolate
(Spanish Dance) and Trepak (Russian
Dance). Hearing the orchestra play these pieces made me feel bad for missing
Philippine Ballet Theatre’s recent staging of this ballet that had the ABS-CBN
Philharmonic Orchestra providing live accompaniment. I also learned that for the
afternoon show, the orchestra performed a different set of pieces from The Nutcracker
that included my favorite Waltz of the
Flowers.
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| Xian Lim |
Then
it was time for the guest artists to perform. First up was K-La Rivera wearing
a red gown that I might say was shining, shimmering and splendid to take a note
from her recent stint as Princess Jasmine in the Atlantis Productions’ staging
of Disney’s Aladdin The New Stage Musical. She sang Grown Up Christmas List which was very relevant that night owing to the recent tragedies here (the typhoon Pablo) and
abroad (the Connecticut school shooting). K-La’s theater experience manifested itself during this performance as she was able to communicate effectively the message of this
song. Her musicality also shone through as she was gave me goosebumps
when she went into the final chorus utilizing to great effect the crescendo of
the orchestra. After her performance, I recalled the first time that I met her and how I hoped that this talented young lady will get good breaks. She did have a good 2012 and she has good momentum going into 2013.
Next
to perform after that was probably the most anticipated portion of the whole
concert. I admit that I got really intrigued when I learned that Xian Lim would
be performing, not as a vocalist but as a trombonist and a
pianist as well. He first did the trombone piece performing The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an
Open Fire). He really appeared nervous while playing and he was visibly
very relieved once this song was done. But he wasn’t finished yet since after that, he sat
on the piano and played Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Rondo alla Turca (Turkish March). In both pieces, Xian was
accompanied by the orchestra who came to the rescue when he encountered a problem
during the performance. It was quickly resolved so it was possible that only those
with very keen sense of hearing among the audience knew what that minor mistake
was. I could just only imagine how nerve wracking it was for Xian to play both
instruments along with an orchestra and in front of an audience. But the dedication that Xian
showed in preparation for this concert earned him my respect.
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| Gerard Salonga |
The
orchestra wrapped up the concert with the piece Carol of the Bells that immediately segued into a jazzy version of Ang Pasko ay Sumapit. It was an odd combination but it's always refreshing to hear different interpretations and versions of tunes that I've heard over and over again throughout the years. This was supposed to be the last piece but the music didn’t
stop there as the audience demanded an encore. For the first encore, Gerard gave the audience a sampler of what they usually do whenever they
play for students as part of the educational program of the orchestra. During these
performances, they ask for volunteers to sit among the musicians and have that experience of being surrounded by sound. And among these volunteers, one gets the chance
to conduct the orchestra. A young boy from the audience that night bravely took
the challenge, volunteered and led the orchestra for a reprise of Sleigh Ride. This section quickly brought back memories of my experience conducting the orchestra. The next
encore was another crowd pleaser as it was a medley of 2012 hits that included Party
Rock, Moves Like Jagger, Call Me Maybe, and the ubiquitous Gangnam Style.
Gerard tried to lead the audience in shouting “Oppa Gangnam Style!” just like the
Mambo in Leonard Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances. Lastly, the orchestra asked the
audience to sing along for their final encore which was Kumukutikutitap.
After
the concert, I was able to have a brief chat with Xian, K-La and Gerard. I took
that opportunity to congratulate them for their entertaining performances that made me
feel better since I’ve been under the weather during that week.
ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra’s A Christmas Gift signaled the end of my
orchestral concert viewing for this year. For the past six months, I’ve seen
the orchestra in various events like the Icons at the Mall of Asia: Masters of OPM, the Kapamilya Concert and the Magic of John Williams. I also cannot forget
The Legends and the Classics concert earlier this year when they were still FILharmoniKA back then. They
showed in these performances that they could easily switch from one genre to
another with ease. I look forward to seeing more performances from them this
coming 2013.
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| My ticket signed by K-La, Xian and Gerard |
A
Christmas Gift was presented by ABS-CBN, First Philippine Holdings Corporation
and Rockwell Land
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