Featuring:
Anthony Say, piano
Fe Marsha Nicolas, piano
UST Symphony Orchestra and Alumni
Herminigildo Ranera, conductor
Programme:
Franz Liszt
Les préludes S.97
Francis Poulenc
Concerto for Two
Pianos and Orchestra in D minor, FP 61
Antonín Dvořák
Symphony No. 9 in
E minor, Op. 95, B. 178, From the New World
Encore:
Derrick Atangan (arranger)
2015 Playlist
Watching the young members of the UST Symphony Orchestra in
their latest concert, I had a sense that I was seeing a preview of the future
of the orchestra scene here in the country. Led by conductor Herminigildo
Ranera, the concert also featured pianists Anthony Say and Fe Marsha Nicolas. With
a line up consisting of groundbreaking pieces by Franz Liszt, Francis Poulenc,
and Antonín Dvořák, the concert lived up to its billing of New World, New Generation.
I couldn’t help but notice the massive orchestra made up of
UST Conservatory of Music students, UST SO Alumni, and some faculty members
assembled on stage as they started their opening piece, Liszt’s Les préludes S.97. From where I was
seated, I could count around six flutes and the other sections had a few more instruments/chairs
than what is typical. I doubt that List wrote this piece with this number of
instruments in mind. As a result, the brass and winds somehow drowned the
strings section that probably because of their size (around seven stands in the
first violins alone), weren’t as tight and even. Despite the orchestra’s slight
hiccups, their performance became a lightbulb moment for me as I was finally
able to grasp the piece. The main motif and how it was repeated and transformed
throughout the symphonic poem’s six sections, somehow became clear to me.
For obvious reasons, the main highlight of the concert for
me was Francis Poulenc’s Concerto for Two
Pianos and Orchestra in D minor, FP 61 with pianists and UST Conservatory
of Music faculty Anthony Say and Fe Marsha Nicolas as the two soloists. Since
it was my first time to see this piece played live and I had no idea how the piano
parts were divided, I paid extra attention to this performance. Say, who was
Piano 1, had a more prominent part than that of Nicolas’ Piano 2. It may not be
as virtuosic like a Rachmaninoff concerto, the Poulenc concerto with its
eclectic themes was still tricky nonetheless that demanded precise timing
between Say and Nicolas as well as the orchestra.
The sheer number of musicians on stage was utilized to great
effect with the orchestra’s take on Antonin Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, B. 178, From
the New World. Again, the strings were a bit wild at the start, but
somehow found their groove during the inner movements. I wish that the second
movement Largo was played slower than
they did it but that would’ve been extremely difficult on the English horn
player who had to do the very famous melody. Towards the end, the orchestra
started to strain a bit, with the horns getting unpredictable, and some out of
sync bowing here and there. I guess that this was probably fatigue or a loss in
concentration thinking that it’s just smooth sailing to the finish. One thing’s
for sure, these students learned that they have to pace themselves well in
order to finish strong, especially if it’s a long work like the New World Symphony.
With the main program already out of the way, everyone on
stage was able to let their hair down with the encore, 2015 Playlist arranged
by Derrick Atangan. The crowd pleasing medley featuring recent chart topping songs like Mark
Ronson’s Uptown Funk feat. Bruno Mars, Justin Bieber’s Sorry and Love Yourself,
and Brandon Beal’s Twerk It Like Miley was such a hit among the
UST students inside the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Main Theater. But what was particularly amusing for me was seeing the alumni and faculty (especially
those who also play with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra) on stage
performing this number.
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