PPO VI: Shakespearean Delights

Pianist Albert Tiu

Featuring:

Albert Tiu, piano

Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra

Olivier Ochanine, conductor

Programme:

Otto Nicolai Overture from The Merry Wives of Windsor

Edvard Grieg Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16

Felix Mendelssohn Suite to A Midsummer Night’s Dream

William Walton Suite from Henry V

The Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra went to poet and playwright and considered as one of the most important writers in the English language, William Shakespeare for their latest performance of their 30^th Concert Season Milestones held at the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (CCP Main Theater). This concert, entitled Shakespearean Delights, featured various works for orchestra based on Shakespeare but with a notable exception.

Initial announcements regarding this concert had soprano Hyunah Yu scheduled to perform various vocal selections very likely taken from operas based on Shakespeare’s works. But a medical complication forced her to cancel her appearance. Pianist Albert Tiu was announced as the replacement soloist and that meant that he had to play whatever piece he could whip up at such a short notice. So his Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16 had to join in the other Shakespeare themed music lined up in the programme like Otto Nicolai’s Overture from The Merry Wives of Windsor, Felix Mendelssohn’s Suite to A Midsummer Night’s Dream and William Walton’s Suite from Henry V. I am not a huge fan of Shakespeare’s works but I think that music is one way for me to spark a newfound interest in them and that was how I approached this concert.

The concert started with Nicolai’s Overture from The Merry Wives of Windsor. This is the best known work for German composer, conductor and the founder of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and it was a pleasant tune to listen to, starting quietly and then developing into a lively, dance like rhythm which was aptly conducted by PPO principal conductor and music director Olivier Ochanine. It nicely set up the upcoming piano concerto which was the main highlight of the concert for me.

If I had only one word to describe Albert Tiu’s performance of Grieg’s piano concerto, then it would be crisp. His rendition was everything that I expected a Grieg piano concerto to be. He didn’t go radical with this piece that could’ve ruffled the feathers of purists. And after the contemporary music that I’ve heard during the Japan-Philippines Friendship Contemporary Music Festival, it was nice to go back to familiar territory no matter how often played this certain concerto is. Albert Tiu then played a very interesting and an unusual encore which was a nifty arrangement of Hey Jude by The Beatles. I guess it ties up neatly with the Shakespeare theme since The Beatles has had the same cultural impact worldwide although it happened centuries later.

Conductor Olivier Ochanine

With the concerto already out of the way, it was time for me to enjoy, relax and listen without any pressure to the remaining Shakespeare themed pieces that made up the second half. Felix Mendelssohn’s Suite to A Midsummer Night’s Dream transported me to a realm of fantasy where faeries exist. But what clearly remained in my head and for many others in the audience was the bridal march. It is not just a bridal march but it is THE bridal march, the most popular tune associated with weddings alongside the Bridal Chorus from Richard Wagner’s Lohengrin. I noticed a few people getting a bit surprised once they heard the very familiar tune. The final piece of music that the PPO performed was William Walton’s Suite from Henry V, a fairly recent piece considering that it’s actually a film score. This piece was more successful in transporting me back to medieval times and vividly painting a picture of battles, the sorrowful aftermath and just the sheer majesty of those times when kings and knights abound. And with the massive popularity of the novels like The Lord of the Rings and A Game of Thrones along with their film and television adaptation as well as their soundtracks, this suite served as a reminder that Shakespeare and Walton did it before. And it was only fitting to pay tribute to these earlier works.

It’s no longer surprising that I am now interested in reading and hopefully seeing the film Henry V, the one featuring the Walton’s soundtrack because of this concert. So I guess that this concert gave me hope that one day, I would truly appreciate Shakespeare’s works in general aside from the only that I liked which was Macbeth.