PPO V: Happy 40th PPO!

Ryan Cayabyab

Featuring:

Dino Decena, violin

Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra

Olivier Ochanine, conductor

Programme:

Richard Wagner Prelude to Act 3 of Lohengrin

Ryan Cayabyab New Work for Violin and Orchestra

Richard Wagner Siegfried Idyll

Robert Schumann Symphony No. 1 in B flat major, Op. 38 Spring

The Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra celebrated its 40^th anniversary by premiering the highly anticipated new work by Ryan Cayabyab. This new work, a violin concerto, was commissioned by the PPO specifically for this occasion which is the orchestra's fifth performance for their 30^th  concert season entitled Milestones. This concert was perfectly set up for me since I’ve had my fill of Ryan Cayabyab’s other works like Rama Hari and Katy which recently got restaged at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Both Cayabyab and PPO principal conductor and music director Olivier Ochanine knew how much I looked forward seeing this piece of work performed so there was no way that I was going to miss this concert.

Violinist Dino Decena

But before everyone else got to hear the new work, we had to sit through a short Richard Wagner piece first. A late addition to the concert, the Prelude to Act 3 of Lohengrin lasted for only about three minutes and before I even got settled into the piece, it was all over.

The Ryan Cayabyab New Work for Violin and Orchestra that followed was a totally different creature compared to his more well known works in the popular genre. If someone in the audience expected something in the vein of Kay Ganda ng Ating Musika, then he would be terribly disappointed with what he had heard that night. Associate Concertmaster Dino Decena was the featured soloist in this performance and he played a theme that wasn’t fully developed during the first movement. While Decena played his part, the orchestra accompanying him rumbled their way as if it was totally independent of what the violin solo was playing. There were only a few instances when the soloist and the orchestra, specifically the strings were in unison. I understood then what Ryan Cayabyab tried to convey as he waved his arms to describe the first movement to me when I asked him about the piece when it was still a work in progress. I also totally got what he meant when he said that the first movement would be a “quasi development of a theme”. The second movement slowed things down and displayed Cayabyab’s penchant for the minor tonalities almost to the point of romanticism. This segued into the third movement which was contrapuntal and and venturing into the tonal territories. Then the unexpected happened towards the end as a cheeky shift in rhythm had the bass drum thumping a hip hop beat. And before I got myself wrapped around this sudden and unexpected change in mood, the music reverted back to its contrapuntal nature as it settled into a clear shift to the major tonality. This violin concerto certainly was a clear departure from the prevailing works of Cayabyab and it definitely merits another performance and possibly a recording so that I could sink my teeth deeper into it.

Conductor Olivier Ochanine

I would totally understand if many among the audience felt that the violin concerto didn’t live up to their expectations. But I think that Decena’s encore of Astor Piazzolla’s Ave Maria satisfied their cravings for a very romantic, melodic and mushy violin piece.

The second half of the concert included yet another piece by Richard Wagner, Siegfried Idyll. While I found it hard to grasp his operas, especially with the arias taken out of context, this intimate piece was very accessible. Knowing the story of how Wagner wrote this as a surprise for his wife made me appreciate this piece a lot more. Olivier was able to make the orchestra sound like it was embracing its audience with the music. The last piece for the night was Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 1 in B flat major, Op. 38 or Spring. Just like the title suggests, this symphony was indeed spring like starting from the exhilarating brass fanfare at the beginning up to the lightness and grace of the joyful finale.

Mike Swift and Rico Blanco

The anniversary concert of the PPO drew in an interesting and diverse crowd. Many members from other orchestras like the Manila Symphony Orchestra and ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra including Gerard Salonga were there. What’s even more promising was spotting music personalities from other genres among the audience that night like rock musician Rico Blanco and hip hop heavyweight Mike Swift. Now, if only this would be the case every time an orchestra performs and not be limited only to anniversary performances.