Arthur Espiritu leads an evening of bel canto vocal music at the Ayala Museum

October 26, 2013, 7:00 PM

Ayala Museum 

Makati Avenue corner De La Rosa Street

Greenbelt Park, Makati

Featuring:

Arthur Espiritu, tenor

Elainne Vibal, soprano

Myramae Meneses, soprano

Stephanie Aguilar, soprano

Najib Ismail, piano

Internationally acclaimed tenor Arthur Espiritu headlines the MCO Foundation’s An Evening of Bel Canto, a special concert highlighting the art of beautiful singing this October 26, 2013, 7:00 PM at the Ayala Museum.

Arthur Espiritu, considered as the country's premiere tenor today, holds the distinction as being the only Filipino to have sung at the prestigious Teatroalla Scala along with other major opera houses in the world. He has also won the Belvedere Vocal Competition in Vienna. Joining him in this evening are sopranos Elainne Vibal, Myramae Meneses and Stephanie Aguilar. Vibal is a winner at the Jovita Fuentes Vocal Competition, while Meneses won the top prize at the National Competition for Young Artists. Aguilar on the other hand was last year’s third prize winner of the Jovita Fuentes Vocal Competition. Accompanying the vocalists is Najib Ismail, one of the most sought after collaborating pianists in the country.

Tenor Arthur Espiritu

The press release says that bel canto which means beautiful singing in Italian is a vocal fad made popular during the late 17^th century that requires singers to possess incredible virtuosic vocal technique and impeccable musicality. Composers such as Gioachino Rossini, Vincenzo Bellini and Gaetano Donizetti wrote music with limpid melodic lines that would encompass a singer's whole vocal range with a lot of ornate embellishments. Operas like I Puritani, La Sonnambula, Norma, Lucia di Lammermoor are some of the well-known bel canto opera. The concert will include some of the most challenging and rarely performed arias and scenes from great operas like the duet from Bellini’s I Puritani, Rossini’s Semiramide and Donizetti’s La Fille du Regiment.

I still consider myself as an opera newbie who still has very limited knowledge of the vast opera works out there. And I admit that I’ve yet to hear any of the music from majority of the works listed above but I welcome the opportunity to learn more through this concert. Supertitles/surtitles will be projected during this concert for those who want to understand what is being sung.

An Evening of Bel Canto is made possible in partnership with the Ayala Museum, BusinessWorld, HighLife, DZFE.FM The Master’s Touch and Lyric Piano and Organ.

Ticket prices:

P1500 Center

P1000 Side

For inquiries:

MCO Secretariat at 750-0768, (0920) 954-0053

COEA 782-7164 or (0918) 347-3027

TicketWorld 891-9999