Sumi Jo conquers Manila anew with divine performance

Soprano Sumi Jo and tenor Paul Dominique Galvez

Opera fever filled the air as Korean soprano superstar Sumi Jo conquered Manila audiences anew during her one night only Divine Diva concert at the Meralco Theater.

Sumi Jo opted for a more subdued and refined music with most of the coloratura fireworks taking a backseat but that didn't stop her for being resplendent and sounding divine. The current venue with its better acoustics helped a lot when compared to that sorry excuse of a hall where her previous concert was held three years before.

Sporting a shorter and edgier hairdo, Sumi Jo delighted audiences with her rendition of Julius Benedict’s Gypsy and the Bird, Gioachino Rossini’s La pastorella dell'Alpi from Les soirees musicales, Maurice Ravel’s Vocalise-étude en forme de habanera, Léo Delibes’ Le filles de Cadix, and Giuseppe Verdi’s Ah, Fors'è lui… Sempre libera from La traviata. In some of the songs, she was joined by flutist Antonio Maigue and there was great interplay between the two especially in the Benedict and Delibes' pieces.

Personally, I was mesmerized by the relatively low key songs like Henry Purcell’s Music for a While, Vincenzo Bellini’s Eccomi, in lieta vesta... Oh! Quante volte from I Capuletti e i Montecchi, Charles Gounod’s Sérénade, Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Vocalise, Op. 34, No. 14, and most specially her sublime Plaisir d'amour by Jean-Paul-Égide Martini. These songs may not have a gazillion notes that went up and down and looped like a roller coaster, but the way Sumi Jo controlled, supported and shaped the notes and phrases was truly divine. When she went soft, one could almost hear a pin drop causing one to fear that she had lulled the audience to sleep. But the thunderous applause that greeted these numbers said otherwise.

A special guest for that night was tenor Paul Dominique Galvez who sang Quanto è bella from Gaetano Donizetti‘s L'elisir d'amore. He explained that years ago, he uploaded videos of him imitating Sumi Jo and that eventually caught her attention. And this has resulted with him sharing the stage with his idol.

There was no question that pianist Najib Ismail would repeat as her collaborating artist. He played with sensitivity and a complete assurance as if he had been accompanying her for years. And he was given the chance to be on the spotlight with a solo number choosing to play Francisco Santiago’s Nocturne in E flat minor.

As the concert came to a close, the people wouldn’t let Sumi go without her doing encores. Her first was a Korean song that led her to take over the piano like she did during her previous concert. I learned afterwards from baritone Byeong-In Park that what she sang was 그리운 금강산 which translates to English as Longing for Mount Geumgang. I didn’t have to ask anyone for her second encore though which was the popular O mio babbino caro from Giacomo Puccini’s Gianni Schicci. I just knew that Paul Dominique Galvez would just be appearing once, so it came to no surprise that he showed up for the third encore. What was surprising was the choice of duet which was Rossini’s Buffo duetti di duo gatti. This number showed the humorous side of Sumi and also the soprano range of Paul as he took over the high notes at the end. Just like her previous concert, she capped things up with Franz Schubert’s Ave Maria.

Just like in her previous concert, she made a donation and this time, it’s the street kids that are being help by the Tulay ng Kabataan Foundation Inc. who were the beneficiaries.

About a week before Sumi Jo came here, there was news about the cancellation of three of her concerts in China. I hope that her disappointment regarding those cancellations was put on the back burner by how warmly she was received by the Philippine audience as if she was a pop/rock star.