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| Trumpeter Raymon de Leon |
Featuring:
Raymond
de Leon, trumpet
Iñaki
Etxepare, cello
Philippine
Philharmonic Orchestra
Herminigildo
Ranera, conductor
Programme:
Bedřich
Smetana Die Moldau (Vltava)
Édouard Lalo Cello Concerto in D minor
Alexander
Arutiunian Trumpet Concerto in A
flat major
Ferde
Grofé The Grand Canyon Suite
An
evening filled with picturesque music filled the Cultural Center of the Philippines’
Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (CCP Main Theater) when the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra had their latest concert of their 30th Milestones Season entitled De Leon and Arutiunian. The title,
referring to guest musician Raymond de Leon and composer Alexander Arutiunian, is
a bit misleading since the concert had a lot more than just that. Also featured
during that night was another guest musican, Spanish cellist Iñaki Etxepare,
and PPO’s associate conductor Herminigildo Ranera who led the orchestra with
pieces from Bedřich Smetana, Édouard Lalo and Ferde Grofé.
The
concert started with Bedřich Smetana’s Die Moldau (Vltava)
that brought the audience to a journey as the river takes is course. The music
shifts from tranquil, to majestic, to turbulent and back to calm once again
which such clarity that one doesn’t need to know anything about the piece to
appreciate it. Then it was cellist Iñaki Etxepare who performed next Édouard Lalo’s Cello
Concerto in D minor. Unfortunately, this concerto for the cello is one of those
pieces that don’t excite me as much as say, Elgar’s. As much as I want to enjoy
Iñaki’s performance, it was difficult because of my bias regarding the piece. But
the audience clearly liked the piece since they applauded after every movement
of this piece. Personally, I enjoyed his encores a lot more. His first encore
was Ricercata Trovadora by Samuel
Maynez which was composed specifically for him. Iñaki requested a piece of
cello music that he could sing along with. And this singing caught the
audience, including myself, by surprise. The second encore he did was Aurtxo Seaskan by Gabriel Olaizola which
is a lullaby. This was exactly the same piece he did as an encore when he was
here almost three years ago. And I fondly remember him acting like he had
fallen asleep by the end of the piece back then. But he didn’t do it this time.
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| Cellist Iñaki Etxepare |
After
the interval, it was time for yet another concerto, this one Alexander
Arutiunian’s Trumpet Concerto in A flat major featuring Raymond de Leon. This
was a sprightly piece that showcased the nimbleness of Raymond with the
trumpet. And he topped that performance with his first encore which was Carnival of Venice
featuring his own set of variations. He showed off impeccable triple tonguing
that drove the audience to applaud mid-performance. And for his second encore,
he slowed things down with Over the
Rainbow composed by Harold Arlen but playing the jazzy trumpet version by
Allen Vizzutti. The last piece of the night was The Grand Canyon Suite by Ferde
Grofé which again is another piece that evoked images and this time around, of
the popular American attraction which is the Grand Canyon
(obviously). Just like the piece by Smetana, this piece went through different
moods but there was a movement in the piece that I do find amusing and peculiar
for it depicted a journey of a cowboy atop a donkey. Thinking how a donkey ride
found its way in a piece portraying the splendor of the canyons always bring a
smile on my face and I did smile when the orchestra got to that section. People
did smile a lot when it came down to the orchestra’s final encores as Ranera
led the audience in singing O Come All Ye
Faithful and Joy to the World. I
think that nobody expected that they would be participating in a little sing
along by the end of the concert.
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| Iñaki and RAd |
This
PPO concert, the fourth in their 30th concert season and the last
for this calendar year, was definitely an entertaining one. It was nice seeing Iñaki
once again after almost three years. I may not be a huge fan of Lalo’s cello
concerto but I liked it a lot more compared to the Haydn cello concerto that he
played back in 2010. The year 2012 is almost at an end and seasons by various
performing companies have wrapped up for now and will resume once 2013 starts
rolling. CCP has lined up a lot of promising shows for 2013 and PPO will resume
its concert season with no other than Maestro Ryan Cayabyab. Now, that is a
great way to start 2013.
