Pasinaya 2016 centers on "Family and Children"

As the CCP Pasinaya Open House Festival, the biggest multi-arts festival in the Philippines dedicates its last year of “childhood” to kids and their families when its 12^th edition happens this February 7, 2016 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines and other satellite venues.

With the theme Family and Children, Pasinaya 2016 highlights include youth choirs singing Bata ang Bukas by Ryan Cayabyab, children’s drum and lyre corps, screenings of Cinemalaya and Animahenasyon films, puppet shows, storytelling and poetry reading sessions, balagtasan for kids, and stage productions of Pinocchio, Alice in Wonderland, and many others.

Four groups who were victorious at international competitions last year, namely Boscorale, the Ligao National High School Choir, Baao Children & Youth Choir, and Triple Fret will be among the acts to watch out for at the CCP Little Theater which is designated as the festival’s Music Zone.

From Don Bosco Technical Institute in Makati, Boscorale, conducted by Alvin Paulin, bagged the top prize at the Vocal Ensemble Category at the Andrea O. Veneracion International Choral Festival beating 11 other choirs from various parts of the country along with those coming from Indonesia and Italy.

The Ligao National High School Voice Chorale from Albay conducted by Celger Villacampa Venzon was the Grand Prix winner at the Bali International Choir Festival beating 14 choirs in the Folklore Category and 22 choirs in the Teenager Choir Category, and emerged as the Grand Champions during the finals.

The Baao Children and Youth Choir from Baao, Camarines Sur, conducted by Hermelino B. Briones, were triumphant at the 11^th  Busan International Choir Festival and Competition winning the top prize in the Youth Choir Category, 2nd prize in the Ethnic Category as well as the Audience Prize.

The all-female guitar trio Triple Fret, composed of Jenny de Vera, Iqui Vinculado, and Marga Abejo, won the top prize at the 27^th Japan Guitar Ensemble Festival, the Japan Guitar Association Award, and the Harumi Award for Best Performance of an Original Contemporary Composition for Guitar.

Aside from the four aforementioned groups, other music acts are scheduled to perform at the CCP Little Theater/Music Zone throughout the day. In keeping with this year’s Pasinaya theme, most of the performers are children/youth groups.

The schedule of performances at the CCP Little Theater/Music Zone are as follows:

9:00 AM Kabataang Gitarista

9:40 AM PTGP Youth Piano Ensemble

10:20 AM Baao Children and Youth Choir

11:00 AM Orchestra of the Filipino Youth

11:40 AM Makiling Singers

12:20 PM PHSA Grade 10 Graduating Scholars

1:00 PM Timoteo Paez Elementary School Rondalla

1:40 PM Children’s Marimba Ensemble

2:20 PM Ligao National School Voice Chorale

3:20 PM Triple Fret

4:00 PM Bianca Camille Lopez

4:40 PM Boscorale

5:20 PM Silangcruz Family Flute Ensemble

Aside from the Music Zone, there will be other zones dedicated to various art forms like dance, theater, film, and visual arts housed at different spaces, areas and venues inside and outside the CCP.

As always, the Main Theater will be the performance venue of the CCP’s resident companies, namely the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, UST Symphony Orchestra, Ballet Philippines, Philippine Ballet Theatre, Ramon Obusan Folkloric Group, Bayanihan Philippine National Folk Dance Company, National Music Competitions for Young Artists (NAMCYA), Philippine Madrigal Singers, and Tanghalang Pilipino.

Pasinaya welcomes the Film Development Council of the Philippines' Cinematheque Centre Manila and the University of the Philippines Manila Museum of A History of Ideas as the two newest partner institutions joining the Metropolitan Museum, Museo Pambata, National Museum, Casa Manila, Bahay Tsinoy, 1335 Mabini Gallery, and Museo Marino that Pasinaya goers can visit throughout the day. Shuttles will carry Pasinaya goers from CCP to the museums and back.

The Cinematheque Centre Manila houses the Museo ng Pelikulang Pilipino that focuses on six Filipino directors: Jose Nepomuceno, Manuel Conde, Gerdardo de Leon, Lamberto Avellana, Ishmael Bernal, and Lino Brocka. During Pasinaya, the Cinematheque will also screen a selection of short films from the World Premieres Film Festival, Zamboanga, and Peace is Short.

On the other hand, the University of the Philippines Museum of a History of Ideas chronicles the beginnings of secular education to the country and the foundation of the University of the Philippines. The museum houses artifacts related to medicine and although I’m not into the medical field, the exhibit becomes interesting when I tie it with the history of the Philippines.

Pasinaya gives the public a taste of what the CCP and various performing companies have to offer for the rest of the year. And it takes just a minimum donation of P20 for one to enjoy the festival while a P300 baller enables one to avail of the fast lane for all of the venues.

MSO presents pre-Valentine's concert at Power Mac Center

February 6, 2016, 8:00 PM

Power Mac Center Spotlight

Circuit Makati

Featuring:

Camille Lopez Molina

Arthur Espiritu

Nonie Buencamino

Noel Azcona

Teenee Chan

Myramae Meneses

Michaela Fajardo

Viva Voce

Manila Symphony Orchestra

Arturo Molina, conductor

The Manila Symphony Orchestra offers an early Valentine’s Day treat with music from the world of opera, musical theater and sarsuela with Love in the Time of Opera happening this February 6, 2016, 8:00 PM at the Power Mac Center Spotlight in Circuit Makati.

Music from the operas Carmen, Così fan tutte, Don Giovanni,  La bohème, Lakmé, and the Merry Widow Waltz, musicals Carousel and West Side Story, and the sarsuela Walang Sugat will be performed by special guests Arthur Espiritu, Nonie Buencamino, Noel Azcona, and Teenee Chan joining the group Viva Voce led by Camille Lopez-Molina.

The concert will also serve as the send-off for Myramae Meneses and Michaela Fajardo, who are bound to London as scholars at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Myramae and Michaela were recently seen as Maria Clara and Sisa respectively in Gantimpala Theater Foundation’s Kanser@35.

Ticket prices:

P2000

P1500

P1000

For inquiries:

CAEO (0920) 954-0053, (0918) 347-3027, 997-9483, 782-7164

TicketWorld 891-9999

A dizzying display of speed in Cecile Licad Encore!

Featuring:

Cecile Licad, piano

Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra

Olivier Ochanine, conductor

Programme:

Gioachino Rossini

     Overture to L’Italiana in Algeri

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

     Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 23

Sergei Rachmaninoff

     Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18

Encore:

Francisco Buencamino Sr.

     Lullaby

Earl Wild/George Gershwin

     Embraceable You from Seven Virtuoso Etudes on Gershwin Songs

Louis Moreau Gottschalk                     

     Souvenirs d'Andalousie, Op.22

Cecile Licad, without a doubt the Philippines’ most celebrated pianist, has captivated audiences with her performances here and abroad for more than three decades already. Such an impressive résumé gives her an aura that she could do no wrong. But her most recent concert, entitled Cecile Licad Encore!, saw her sprinting her way through piano concertos by Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff with such dizzying speed that she actually left the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, led by principal conductor and music Olivier Ochanine, huffing and puffing in her wake.

The concert actually started at the right tempo with the PPO coasting through Gioachino Rossini’s Overture to L’Italiana in Algeri at the expected tempo, although the sound was less explosive without the bass drum, the triangle, and the cymbals, leaving only the timpani as the sole percussion.

The explosion started early on right at the opening piano chords of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 23 with Licad going on a bit too fast. Any hope of her slowing down was dashed by when she did the cadenza at lightning speed. And right then and there, I somehow knew that she would stick with this blistering pace throughout the lengthy first movement. A moment of reprieve was granted when she slowed things down at the second movement. But dread started to creep in as she approached the central Prestissimo section and my fears were founded when she indeed reverted to her first movement antics and played this section a lot faster than usual. The third movement was no better as she went on faster than before with the orchestra struggling at times just to remain in the same measure with her. I do have to give her credit that despite the unearthly speed that she spurred with this concerto, her precision was still amazingly spot on.

Licad’s second piece of the night, Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18 fared a bit better with her surprisingly starting slower dragging out the introductory chords. Probably owing to the piano serving an accompanying role throughout most of the first two movements, her tempo remained in check. Alas, it was short lived. For every opening of a phrase that she stretched, she responded by accelerating inexplicably towards the end. And just like with the Tchaikovsky, the fast interlude in the second movement of the Rachmaninoff went by like a blur in Licad’s hands. There were more moments of brilliance with the Rachmaninoff but her penchant to speed things up, especially as she neared the end of the third movement, made for an unsettling listening experience. Spicing up a well-known piece, giving it a fresh and exciting interpretation is one thing. But I think that she crossed the line when she took extreme liberties in regards to tempo.

The audience’s rapturous response to Licad's performance was not surprising. Though it seemed to me that it was either due to her exuberance, the stunning sight of the speed of her hands and fingers as seen on two giant screens at each side of the stage, or most probably because she is Cecile Licad, the Philippines’ most celebrated pianist. While she had most of the CCP audience at the palm of her hand despite a less than ideal performance, it would be a different matter with a more discerning New York audience if she performs the same way this Tchaikovsky piano concerto when she joins the PPO at their Carnegie Hall concert later this year.

Most surprisingly, Licad’s three encores, namely Francisco Buencamino Sr.’s Lullaby, Earl Wild’s arrangement of George Gershwin’s Embraceable You from his Seven Virtuoso Etudes on Gershwin Songs, and Louis Moreau Gottschalk’s Souvenirs d'Andalousie, Op.22, actually showcased more of Licad’s musicality. By not rushing through the pieces unnecessarily, she exhibited delicate touch, finesse, and restraint, along with power, command, and spark that I wish she displayed with her two piano concertos.

Cecile Licad Encore! was a co-presentation of the Philippine Italian Association and the Cultural Center of the Philippines, with the Rustan’s Group of Companies, Calata Corporation, The Peninsula Manila, Starbucks, Royal Duty Free Shops, Inc.,  and the San Miguel Corporation. The proceeds of the concert will benefit the Philippine Italian Association Endowment Fund and also the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra’s upcoming US tour this June 2016.

Robust, epic Beethoven in PPO's 2016 opener

Featuring:

April Merced-Misa, piano

Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra

Honna Tetsuji, conductor

Programme:

Ludwig van Beethoven

     Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op. 15

     Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 55 Eroica

The robust sound of Beethoven filled the CCP Main Theater when guest conductor Honna Tetsuji took the reins at the most recent subscription concert of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra. Scrapping the originally announced program of a Richard Strauss suite and a Haydn symphony, the concert became an all-Beethoven affair with the updated line up of the composer’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op. 15 with April Merced-Misa as the soloist and Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 55 Eroica.

The pre-concert chat with Olivier Ochanine, the PPO’s principal conductor/music director, and Honna Tetsuji recounted how their meeting during an event by the Embassy of Vietnam in Manila years ago paved the way for the latter to conduct the PPO.

I can’t begin to say how pleased I was on how April’s piano concerto turned out. Having a competent orchestra by her side this time around, she was able to course through the piece as if it was a walk in the park. An orchestra that bit more Tchaikovsky than it could chew hounded her piano concerto debut almost six years ago. And that performance became more a test of April’s resolve rather than a showcase of her musicality. I only had one quibble which was the unsettling reverb inside the hall that muddled the overall sound especially the numerous runs of the piano.

Whatever it was that caused the reverb earlier on was thankfully gone during the second half that was devoted solely to the symphony.  Second only to the 9^th Symphony in terms of length, listening to the epic Eroica required a great deal of concentration for me. Thankfully, this piece is no longer a stranger to me and performances from a couple of seasons ago were still fresh on my mind. The European seating of the orchestra, with the second violins seated at the conductor’s right where the viola or cello section usually is, offered a fresh way to listen to the piece. The stereophonic effect of the violins gave a new dimension in the listening experience and this was most evident during the fugue of the fourth movement. I felt that Tetsuji rushed too much during the first movement and this speed gave me an impression that there wasn’t enough room for the music to breathe. Miraculously, the usually dodgy horns went without a hitch during the trio of the third movement.

Conducting wise, Tetsuji has a more subdued style compared to the more exuberant Fukumura, the guest conductor from the month before. Tetsuji did shake things up a bit in this concert starting with the more traditional European seating, not only placing the violins directly opposite of each other, but by lining up the double basses in a single row at the back. There were also new faces in the orchestra as few members of the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra joined in for this concert.