Special Concert Series III: Raymond De Leon

Trumpeter Raymond de Leon

Featuring:

Raymond de Leon, trumpet

Raul Sunico, piano

Programme:

Oskar Böhme Trumpet Concerto in F minor, Op. 18

Jean-Baptiste Arban Variations on a Theme from Bellini’s Norma

Jeno Hubay Scènes de la Csárda No.4 Hejre Kati, Op.32

Vladimir Peskin Trumpet Concerto No. 1 in C minor

Camille Saint-Saëns Le Cyne 

Vittorio Monti Csárdás

US based trumpeter Raymond de Leon’s guest stint during the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra’s concert performing Arutiunian’s trumpet concerto back in December 2012 made such a splash that a solo concert featuring him seemed inevitable. Important family matters led to the postponement of the concert, but after a lengthy delay, Raymond’s concert did finally happen at the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (CCP Little Theater).

Raymond de Leon, accompanied by pianist Raul Sunico, prepared a mix of unfamiliar and rarely played trumpet concertos that included Oskar Böhme’s Trumpet Concerto in F minor, Op. 18 and Vladimir Peskin’s Trumpet Concerto No. 1 in C minor, and some transcriptions for the trumpet like Jean-Baptiste Arban’s Variations on a Theme from Bellini’s Norma and Jeno Hubay Scènes de la Csárda No.4 Hejre Kati, Op.32, Camille Saint-Saëns’ Le Cyne and Vittorio Monti’s Csárdás.

The couple of trumpet concertos he performed expanded my horizons as I only know Hummel, Haydn and the Arutiunian that he did before. There were a handful of times while listening to the piano parts when I wondered how the actual orchestration would’ve sounded in these pieces. It also made me note that I couldn’t recall ever hearing a trumpet sonata before. The trumpet transcriptions of the popular tunes Saint-Saëns’ Le Cyne and Monti’s Csárdás gave me more insight on the timbre, range, scope and limitations of the trumpet. The trumpet has a penetrating sound but Raymond was able to make it sound so tender during his two encores which was Sa Ugoy ng Duyan by Lucio San Pedro and the Canadian Brass arrangement of Amazing Grace.

One thing that I noticed throughout the concert was that he was gasping for breath through his mouth. The quick gasps, especially in between the tricky phrases, were audible even from where I was seated inside the Little Theater. A possible explanation came to light after the show during the meet and greet. Seeing Raymond up close made me notice his reddened nose which made me suspect that he could’ve been suffering from a nasty cold. I could only imagine how difficult it was for him to get through the whole concert where breathing is so essential. And for that, Raymond deserves and extra pat on the back for a job well done.