Pianist Noriko Ogawa, PPO deliver explosive season opener

Pianist Noriko Ogawa and the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra

The brave souls who were not cowed by an earthquake scare earlier in the afternoon and yet still trooped over to the Cultural Center of the Philippines for the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra’s 37th concert season opener were rewarded with a memorable performance of that evening’s guest artist, Japanese pianist Noriko Ogawa.

Ogawa’s confident take on Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major, Op. 26 went beyond the energetic, bravura pounding of the keys. The clarity she gave each note highlighted the concerto’s sharp contours and sudden turns without making the piece a blurry, pyrotechnic mess. With her and the PPO under the baton of music director/principal director Yoshikazu Fukumura working in faultless tandem, never did it cross my mind that pianist and orchestra would engage on a frantic chase with this piece.

Pianist Noriko Ogawa

Thankfully, this didn’t matter with her encore which was a concise, 5 minute, solo piano version of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue that further showed her impeccable weaving and shaping of this popular tune heard without an orchestra accompanying her.

Conductor Yoshikazu Fukumura and the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra

Ogawa’s spectacular performance somehow threatened to make the second half of the concert featuring Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op. 70, B. 141 a bit anticlimactic. But Fukumura masterfully brought out the flavors, contrasts, and the tragic overtones in this piece making this symphony worthy of being programmed. The subdued end to the first and second movements in this symphony gave an eerie feel which was in direct contrast to how explosive the Prokofiev concerto ended.

I can’t help but commend horn player Atusko Tashiro, whose presence always gives me confidence, security and peace of mind, which she proved once again during the second movement.

Aside from a slightly tentative opening piece of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Overture to Don Giovanni, K. 527 and piano tuning issues that rankled keen listeners during the Prokofiev, it was still a promising start to the season considering that there had been doubts on whether the concert would still happen considering the earthquake and evacuations that happened hours before.

Mexican film screenings at the Shang's Red Carpet

Experience Mexico’s vibrant culture through cinema at Cine México happening on September 20-24, 2019 at the Shangri-La Plaza’s Red Carpet.

Presented by the Embassy of Mexico, Film Development Council of the Philippines, and the Shangri-La Plaza, Cine México marks the comeback of the Mexican Film Festival, the first to be organized by the Embassy in recent years. The festival also coincides with the celebrations  the 209th Anniversary of Mexico’s independence.

Mexican Ambassador Gerardo Lozano

In this edition, a total of seven, diverse Mexican films, with genres ranging from epic, romance, comedy, and even animation, will be screened for free on a first come, first served basis.

Here are the films lined up for this edition of Cine México.

Como agua para Chocolate/Like Water for Chocolate

Director: Alfonso Arau
Cast: Marco Leonardi, Lumi Cavazos, Regina Torné

A faithful adaptation of Laura Esquivel’s bestselling novel, Like Water for Chocolate/Como agua para Chocolate is a 1992 classic that follows a young girl named Tita. Though she is desperately in love with a man named Pedro, her mother doesn’t allow her to marry him. When Pedro weds Tita’s sister instead, she immerses herself in cooking. Through this therapeutic pastime, she discovers that she can magically infuse her emotions into her cooking.

La Boda de Valentina/Valentina's Wedding

Director: Marco Polo Constandse
Cast: Ryan Carnes, Kate Vernon, Tony Dalton

Valentina’s Wedding/La Boda de Valentina is a new take on the wedding comedy. Valentina, a scion from the most chaotic political family in Mexico, leads a blissful life in America. Thinking she has escaped all the drama, she gets engaged to Jason, her American boyfriend. When Jason insists they go to Mexico to meet her family, Valentina is sucked into her father’s re-election campaign, her crazy family’s antics, and her possessive ex, Alex.

¿Qué culpa tiene el niño?/Don't Blame the Kid

Director: Gustavo Loza
Cast: Biassini Segura, Gerardo Taracena, Karla Souza, Ricardo Abarca, Sofía Sisniega

Released in 2016, Don’t Blame the Kid/¿Qué culpa tiene el niño? is about a woman who accidentally becomes pregnant but decides to marry the father of her child anyway, even though he’s immature and unemployed.

Cuando los hijos regresan/The Kids are Back

Director: Hugo Lara
Cast: Fernando Luján, Carmen Maura, Cecilia Suárez, Irene Azuela, Erick Elías, Esmeralda Pimentel, Francisco de la Reguera, Takato Yonemoto

The Kids are Back/ Cuando los hijos regresan is a 2018 comedy about an elderly couple whose happy dreams of retiring and living a life without responsibilities are shattered when their grown children start moving back into the house.

Enamorándome de Abril/Falling in Love with Abril

Director: Joel Núñez Arocha
Cast: Arap Bethke, Cristián de la Fuente, Sofía Lama, Ilithya Manzanilla

Falling in Love with Abril/Enamorándome de Abril is a romantic comedy about two writers with nothing in common who spend the night together. One is a steely journalist who secretly publishes books under a female pseudonym while the other is a romance writer using a name pseudonym. After meeting, the two begin to question everything they thought they knew about love and relationships, sending each one on a hilarious identity crisis.

La carga/The Load

Director: Alan Jonsson
Cast: María Valverde, Horacio Garcia Rojas, Gerardo Taracena

The Load/La carga is an epic romantic drama about the quest for freedom. In the late 16th century, an indigenous man and a Spanish noblewoman escape into the New World to find a better life. Along the way, they learn to resolve their differences and become more intimate with one another.

El ángel en el reloj/The Angel in the Clock

Director: Miguel Ángel Uriegas
Cast: Camila Sodi, Leonardo de Lozanne, Erick Elías, Laura Flores

The Angel in the Clock/El ángel en el reloj is a poignant and heartfelt animated feature about Amelia, a little girl with leukemia who is whisked away by an angel in an attempt to stop time. In a realm where she must navigate hundreds of floating clock-castles in the sky, she learns about the importance of living in the present.

Here is the schedule for Cine México.

September 20, 2019 (Invitational)
7:30 PM La carga

September 21, 2019
2:55 PM El ángel en el reloj
5:00 PM Como agua para chocolate
7:30 PM La Boda de Valentina

September 22, 2019
1:20 PM El ángel en el reloj
3:20 PM Enamorándome de Abril
5:20 PM Cuando los hijos regresan
7:30 PM ¿Qué culpa tiene el niño?

September 23, 2019
2:55 PM La carga
5:00 PM Como agua para chocolate
7:30 PM La Boda de Valentina

September 24, 2019
1:20 PM Enamorándome de Abril
3:20 PM La carga
5:20 PM Cuando los hijos regresan
7:30 PM ¿Qué culpa tiene el niño?

Mariinsky Ballet stars add golden touch to Ballet Philippines' Swan Lake

Eugene Obille, Elena Evseeva, and Evgeny Ivanchenko
with Ballet Philippines' corps de ballet

Russian dancers from the Mariinsky Ballet added a golden touch to Ballet Philippines' latest production of Swan Lake, the company's opener for its milestone 50th anniversary season.

Having the Mariinsky Ballet's first soloist Elena Evseeva in the dual role of Odette/Odille and principal dancer Evgeny Ivanchenko as Siegfried for a very limited engagement meant that their two performance dates were hot ticket items with the opening gala night performance selling out two weeks before the show opened.

Those fortunate enough to secure their tickets were treated to a highly nuanced and lyrical performance of Evseeva as the White Swan Odette. And although she was not that technically daring, the attack she had as the Black Swan Odille was as fiery as her red hair. Never had I seen a ballerina remain in character while doing fouettés with her even accelerating her turns towards the latter half, raising her arms as if casting and putting the guests at the ball in Act III under her spell (and very likely commanding the orchestra to keep up with her).

She found a very capable partner in Ivanchenko considering that he was a late replacement for the injured Andrey Ermakov. The supported pirouettes in the White Swan Pas de deux felt very confident and fluid with Ivanchenko allowing Evseeva to do at most nine turns that never went off axis. There was an overall sense of security in technique while watching these two dance and it allowed me to see them in full character making me more engaged with the ballet's story.

Elena Evseeva strikes a pose
with Raoul Banzon and Rene Banzon

The tall and long limbed Russians may have literally towered over everyone else on stage but Ballet Philippines' stable of dancers raised their level to keep up with the guests' performances.
The cygnets in their popular Pas de quatre were impressive with their well matched lines that kept up with the fast tempo of the orchestra. Victor Maguad as the Jester with his explosive leaps and well centered turns proved that he is currently the technically strongest danseur in the company.

Probably the only thing that let me down with this production (aside from the happy Mariinsky ending that I never really liked) were the folk dances in the third act that lacked the punch and folk flavor that I came to expect from these.

Gigantic swans painting by set designer Eduardo Sicangco

Commendable also are the set design by Eduardo Sicangco and lighting design by Jennifer Tipton that truly worked in great tandem. The sets not only looked grand and textured but felt like it really had weight and was not really hollow. Every time the curtain went up to reveal a set was greeted by an appreciative applause from the audience. The subtle yet sublime lighting accentuated the grandeur of the sets and the intricate costumes by Salvador Bernal and James Reyes without resorting to flashy gimmicks.

The performances with Evseeva and Ivanchenko had the live music accompaniment provided by the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Herminigildo Ranera. This is the second time that the PPO has accompanied Ballet Philippines' production of Swan Lake in three years and it seemed that they have taken to heart the lessons they've learned during the previous production although they still have so much to learn.

To be honest, while a live orchestra at the ballet is considered a premium, it actually makes the dancers (and myself to a degree) anxious due to the difficulty of the orchestra to cater to the specific demands of the dancers. Accompanying for dance is a whole different ballgame wherein the requirements of the dancers especially in regards to tempo takes precedence. Having more knowledge in the language of ballet and how a dancer moves will enable conductors and musicians here accompany ballet productions more effectively.

Ivanchenko still gamely signed souvenir programs bearing Ermakov's bio

It is ironic that Philippine orchestras are more adept in accompanying opera productions that occur less frequently compared to ballet productions with live music. The country has three professional ballet companies that mount at least one or two productions with live orchestra per season while there are still no equivalent opera companies in here right now.

The Russians' time with Swan Lake may have already come to pass but the run resumes and wraps up this weekend, September 7 & 8, 2019 featuring the homegrown pairs of Denise Parungao and Eugene Obille, and Jemima Reyes and Victor Maguad.

Mabuhay Bollywood: Delivering a knock out punch with Mary Kom

The first ever Indian Film Festival, billed as Mabuhay Bollywood, made a splashy debut at the Shangri-La Plaza's Red Carpet with a lineup of 10 films which is very impressive for an inaugural edition.

With a varied selection ranging from romantic comedies to epic fantasies, what better way to introduce Filipinos to Bollywood/Indian films than a biopic about a boxer whose life somewhat parallels one of the most popular Filipinos worldwide.

Mary Kom

Directed by Omung Kumar, Mary Kom is a biographical boxing flick about the Indian boxer Chungneijang Mary Kom Hmangte, better known as Mary Kom, who won the World Amateur Boxing championships six times to date and was also an Olympic bronze medalist. The film follows the titular character's rise to the top of her sport while dealing with numerous struggles like being an ethnic minority, a woman and a mother, and not surprisingly, being at the mercy of corrupt sport officials.

Watching the film gave me a chance to learn more not just about Mary Kom and the actress who portrayed her, but also about a few aspects of Indian life as well.

First of all, Mary Kom, gained prominence in India as an amateur boxer winning world titles and Olympic bronze. She later on was nominated to be a member of the Parliament in India. The striking similarities between the trajectory of her life and career and that of Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao is quite obvious.

I learned that Priyanka Chopra is actually a superstar in India. She was crowned Miss World in 2000 and she never looked back since then starring in numerous films and also becoming UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and UN Peace Ambassador. So she is definitely more than just Nick Jonas' wife.

Mary Kom also shed light on the ethnic minorities in Manipur, India which I wasn't aware of before seeing the film. It opened my eyes about the various states and territories of India and how truly diverse this country is. 

I appreciate how the film showed Mary Kom in a not so nice light like when she lost her composure when her comeback to the sport didn't come as easy as she thought. It also showed the corruption in sporting federations wherein the officials live the privileged life while the athletes doing all the hard work and eventually bringing in the glory almost have to beg to have decent training conditions.

What surprised me most about Mary Kom was that it didn't feature the usual song and dance numbers that Bollywood films are known for. But it doesn't mean that the movie didn't have a knock out soundtrack. The soundtrack, made up of seven original songs by the duo of Shashi Suman and Shivam, also marked the debut of Priyanka Chopra's Hindi playback singing with Chaoro (Lori).

Too bad that I wasn't able to check out the rest of the films during the very limited, just one weekend run of Mabuhay Bollywood. I hope that this festival will turn into an annual affair since it is very unlikely that they will run out of films to be screened since India is the most prolific film producing nation in the world.

Mabuhay Bollywood, an Indian Film Festival was presented by the Embassy of India, the Film Development Council of the Philippines, and the Shangri-La Plaza.