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| Tenor Arthur Espiritu |
Featuring:
Arthur
Espiritu, tenor
Elainne
Vibal, soprano
Myramae
Meneses, soprano
Stephanie
Aguilar, soprano
Najib
Ismail, piano
Programme:
George
Frideric Handel Tornami a vagheggiar from
Alcina
Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart Ruhe Sanft from Zaide
Gioachino
Rossini
Ah come mai non senti from Otello
Sombre
forêt from William Tell
Vincenzo
Bellini
Qui la Voce from I Puritani
Vieni,vieni fra questa from I
Puritani
Prendi, l’anel ti dono from La Sonnambula
Si, fuggire a noi non resta... Ah, crudel,
d'onor ragioni from I Capuletti e i Montecchi
Gaetano
Donizetti
Quel guardo, il cavaliere from Don Pasquale
Tornami a dir che m’ami from Don Pasquale
Chacun le sait from La Fille du Regiment
Ah! Mes amis from La Fille du Regiment
Bel
canto, or beautiful singing in English, is a term that I often encounter
whenever I dabble into the world of opera. But being the opera newbie that I still
am, my idea about bel canto is still somewhat vague and I still couldn’t say if
a certain aria was sung bel canto or not. Thankfully, the MCO Foundation,
together with the Ayala Museum
Performers
during this evening were Arthur Espiritu, possibly the most celebrated Filipino
tenor today and promising young sopranos Elainne Vibal, Myramae Meneses, and Stephanie
Aguilar. Accompanied by pianist Najib Ismael, they performed arias that are
rarely heard during concerts in here. The MCO Foundation felt that it was time
to steer away from the usual arias, offer something new and also have Arthur
Espiritu tackle some challenging material.
I
learned that bel canto may be an Italian term but it’s application isn’t
limited to operas from Italy
or in the Italian language, or by Italian composers. The opening number, Elainne
Vibal’s Tornami a vagheggiar from Alcina was by George Frideric Handel who was born
in Germany but flourished in Britain during the Baroque era. Ruhe Sanft,
performed by Stephanie Aguilar, from the unfinished opera Zaide by Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart was in German. And the final couple of numbers from Gaetano Donizetti’s
La Fille du Regiment were in French. I initially thought that bel canto came to
be during the Romantic period but based on the two opening numbers, it seemed
that bel canto already existed during the Baroque and Classical period.
Honestly,
the unfamiliar program, taken out of context, meant that the meaning of the
songs were lost in me. But I was able to relish the various tones, textures and
colors of the sopranos especially Myramae Meneses who stood out with her solo Quel
guardo, il cavaliere from Don Pasquale by Gaetano Donizetti. I felt bad for
missing her solo concert a while back and I was pleased to be able to have
another chance to hear her again.
The
most highly anticipated part of the concert was the last song, Ah! Mes amis from
Donizetti’s La Fille du Regiment in which Arthur Espiritu was awaited to hit
the nine high C’s of this very challenging piece. During that night, I heard
that Arthur was struggling with colds (not surprising considering the freaky
weather at the time) but despite some barely noticeable strain, he was able to
hit those C’s. After this number, he humorously let out a huge sigh of relief
while basking in the applause of a very appreciative audience.
Arthur
along with Elainne Vibal, Myramae Meneses, and Stephanie Aguilar then sang an
encore, Libiamo ne' lieti calici from La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi, which
he explained is not bel canto. Several members of the audience at the back joined
in as the chorus giving this number a sort of surround audio experience.
An Evening of Bel Canto was made
possible in partnership with the Ayala Museum , BusinessWorld,
HighLife, 98.7 DZFE The Master’s Touch and Lyric Piano and Organ.
