 |
| Yoshikazu Fukumura and the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra |
An evening of comfortable viewing was what the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra's most recent concert delivered despite principal conductor and music director Yoshikazu Fukumura having to resort to plan B and stepping in to lead the orchestra himself due to unforeseen circumstances with the previously announced guest conductor/pianist who is unable to perform in the country
The program for that night, made up of German Romanticism with Carl Maria von Weber’s Overture to Der Freischütz, Op. 77, J. 277 and Johannes Brahms' Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73 sandwiching the Viennese Classical of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Symphony No. 39 in E flat major, K. 543 is drastically different from the initial lineup. While these changes lessened the excitement for me, Fukumura more than made up for it by managing to raise the level of the PPO on this night.
When the updated program was released, I wondered why he chose to do the Brahms second symphony again and not another one that he is yet to conduct with the PPO. I suspect that he went back to this, as well as the Weber overture, since they are comfortable and do not really pose a challenge to him considering the circumstances that led him to conduct at this concert. So the resulting performance was pure pleasure to the ears. His first ever collaboration with the PPO was conducting this particular Brahms symphony while he was still a guest conductor and it earned him a very good impression on me. May I add that this Brahms 2 was an improvement over the previous one, with the chemistry between Fukumura and the orchestra more evident. The PPO thankfully have redeemed themselves from the uncomfortable experience I've had during the last time I saw them.
Lastly, I cannot recall the last time that I applauded a horn player so enthusiastically. This makes me hopeful that she gets to do the solo in the next concert that has one of the most exquisite horn solos in the repertoire.
No comments:
Post a Comment