Wednesday, March 23, 2016

UST Symphony Orchestra looks forward in New World concert


Featuring:
Anthony Say, piano
Fe Marsha Nicolas, piano
UST Symphony Orchestra and Alumni
Herminigildo Ranera, conductor

Programme:
Franz Liszt
     Les préludes S.97
Francis Poulenc
     Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra in D minor, FP 61
Antonín Dvořák
     Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, B. 178, From the New World

Encore:
Derrick Atangan (arranger)
     2015 Playlist

Watching the young members of the UST Symphony Orchestra in their latest concert, I had a sense that I was seeing a preview of the future of the orchestra scene here in the country. Led by conductor Herminigildo Ranera, the concert also featured pianists Anthony Say and Fe Marsha Nicolas. With a line up consisting of groundbreaking pieces by Franz Liszt, Francis Poulenc, and Antonín Dvořák, the concert lived up to its billing of New World, New Generation.

I couldn’t help but notice the massive orchestra made up of UST Conservatory of Music students, UST SO Alumni, and some faculty members assembled on stage as they started their opening piece, Liszt’s Les préludes S.97. From where I was seated, I could count around six flutes and the other sections had a few more instruments/chairs than what is typical. I doubt that List wrote this piece with this number of instruments in mind. As a result, the brass and winds somehow drowned the strings section that probably because of their size (around seven stands in the first violins alone), weren’t as tight and even. Despite the orchestra’s slight hiccups, their performance became a lightbulb moment for me as I was finally able to grasp the piece. The main motif and how it was repeated and transformed throughout the symphonic poem’s six sections, somehow became clear to me.

For obvious reasons, the main highlight of the concert for me was Francis Poulenc’s Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra in D minor, FP 61 with pianists and UST Conservatory of Music faculty Anthony Say and Fe Marsha Nicolas as the two soloists. Since it was my first time to see this piece played live and I had no idea how the piano parts were divided, I paid extra attention to this performance. Say, who was Piano 1, had a more prominent part than that of Nicolas’ Piano 2. It may not be as virtuosic like a Rachmaninoff concerto, the Poulenc concerto with its eclectic themes was still tricky nonetheless that demanded precise timing between Say and Nicolas as well as the orchestra.

The sheer number of musicians on stage was utilized to great effect with the orchestra’s take on Antonin Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, B. 178, From the New World. Again, the strings were a bit wild at the start, but somehow found their groove during the inner movements. I wish that the second movement Largo was played slower than they did it but that would’ve been extremely difficult on the English horn player who had to do the very famous melody. Towards the end, the orchestra started to strain a bit, with the horns getting unpredictable, and some out of sync bowing here and there. I guess that this was probably fatigue or a loss in concentration thinking that it’s just smooth sailing to the finish. One thing’s for sure, these students learned that they have to pace themselves well in order to finish strong, especially if it’s a long work like the New World Symphony.

With the main program already out of the way, everyone on stage was able to let their hair down with the encore, 2015 Playlist arranged by Derrick Atangan. The crowd pleasing medley featuring recent chart topping songs like Mark Ronson’s Uptown Funk feat. Bruno Mars, Justin Bieber’s Sorry and Love Yourself, and Brandon Beal’s Twerk It Like Miley was such a hit among the UST students inside the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Main Theater. But what was particularly amusing for me was seeing the alumni and faculty (especially those who also play with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra) on stage performing this number.

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