An emotionally charged "Saraza in Concert"

Featuring:

Diomedes Saraza, Jr, violin

Greg Zuniega, piano

Programme:

Ludwig van Beethoven
     Violin Sonata No. 5 in F major, Op. 24 Spring

Nicanor Abelardo
     Cavatina

Manuel Velez
     Sa Kabukiran

Frédéric Chopin
     Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Op. posth

Franz Waxman
     Carmen Fantasie

Richard Strauss
     Violin Sonata in E-flat major, Op. 18

Encore:

Willy Cruz
     Sana'y Wala ng Wakas

  

The sudden announcement of violinist Diomedes Saraza, Jr.’s upcoming concert at the Cultural Center of the Philippines caught me by surprise. The concert was happening on a Saturday, and I learned about it on Monday when Saraza himself made the announcement in Facebook. But I knew that I have to catch it no matter what. So on Saturday, I left home before noon, more than eight hours before the actual concert, just to avoid getting stuck in my hometown that was having a parade at the main roads in celebration of its foundation day.

For this concert, Diomedes, along with the ever reliable Greg Zuniega on the piano accompanying him, prepared a program that I initially thought was generally positive, light and brimming with optimism. With this in mind, I was taken aback with his opening piece, Ludwig van Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No. 5 in F major, Op. 24 “Spring” which he performed with too much tension and drama for my taste. The all too familiar first movement, Allegro, felt like it teetered on the dark side but the tricky Scherzo of the third movement, with the violin seemingly chasing the piano in a game of tag, was handled very deftly. If performed by less capable hands, this part can come off as a mess, but Diomedes and Zuniega were up to the task.

The next couple of pieces, Nicanor Abelardo’s lyrical Cavatina and Manuel Velez’ playful Sa Kabukiran, showed Diomedes’ range as he was able to showcase the contrast between the two short, well known pieces. And it was crystal like clarity when he tackled Nathan Milstein’s violin transcription of Frederic Chopin’s Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Op. posth. The way he made the violin sing as it flowed from the primary theme to the next made me want to attempt to replicate such clarity on the piano as soon as I arrived home after the concert.

Diomedes displayed a great deal of fireworks with Franz Waxman’s Carmen Fantasie. Listening to it should be a walk in the park seeing that this piece was made up of various music from George Bizet’s opera Carmen. But familiarity with another Carmen Fantasie, the more popular one composed by Pablo Sarasate, meant that there were times during the performance when I was taken by surprise by how some parts went into unexpected turns. I had to remind myself that this was a different arrangement and whatever differences the Waxman have with the Sarasate was not a mistake.

Clearly, the main highlight of the concert for me was Richard Strauss’ Violin Sonata in E-flat major, Op. 18. Before starting, Diomedes offered some insight regarding the piece, telling the audience that Strauss wrote this when he was in love with his eventual wife and that we should all watch out for the contrasting lyrical and rhythmical themes in the sonata. Lastly, he recounted how this piece was assigned to him by Stephen Clapp, his teacher at the Juilliard School shortly before he passed away. With this piece having such a personal and profound meaning for him, it was no wonder that Diomedes delivered an intense and emotionally charged performance. He even looked like he was on the brink of tears during the second movement. Again, Zuniega proved himself as one of the most reliable accompanists here and it was hard for me to imagine anyone else in the piano during the Strauss. For an encore, Diomedes did Sana’y Wala Ng Wakas by Willy Cruz which prompted a few members of the audience to hum along.

With the very short notice for this concert, the audience turnout was not surprisingly the full house that his last concert was. Still, I am pleased by how the concert turned out which is incidentally my first for 2016 that also marked my return to this blog after some months of inactivity. May this be the fuel that will invigorate me for a more fruitful and musical year ahead.