Sunico's historic Rachmaninoff repeat: memory over musicality

Pianist Raul Sunico and PPO violist Claudinia Ronquillo

International pianist Raul Sunico brought the audience to its feet after performing all the four piano concertos of Sergei Rachmaninoff in a single evening for the second time, fifteen years after making history as the first on record to achieve this feat.

Since his historic performance back in September 2003, no other pianist has ever attempted to tackle the four fiendishly difficult pieces in one night, until Sunico himself had this repeat performance with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra led by Yoshikazu Fukumura and Herminigldo Ranera that served as a fund raiser for the Sunico Foundation for Arts and Technology, Inc. in which he is a trustee.

This rare occasion brought out a distinguished audience that included former First Lady Imelda Marcos, National Artist for Literature Virgilio Armalio, Education Secretary Leonor Briones, US Ambassador Sung Kim, TV host Korina Sanchez, and fashion designer Josie Natori just to name a few. Of course, Sunico’s colleagues and notables from the classical music scene were there in full force to witness the event dubbed as A Rach Concert.

Initial announcement had Yohiskazu Fukumura slated to conduct the first half of the concert consisting of Piano Concerto No. 1 in F sharp minor, Op. 1 and Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18 and Herminigildo Ranera leading the PPO during the latter half with Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30, and Piano Concerto No. 4 in G minor, Op. 40 to be performed in reverse order. But due to unforeseen circumstances, Fukumura had to lighten his load conducting only the mega popular second concerto leaving Ranera to conduct the remaining three. Back in 2003, Ranera conducted during the entire performance.

I would’ve been extremely delighted had the audience been treated to an exceptional performance that night. Instead, the evening felt more of hoping that Sunico would get through all four piano concertos rather than a showcase of musicality from an experienced concert pianist. Instead of gaining new artistic insights regarding these pieces, it was an anxious experience for me waiting for both pianist and orchestra to get back on track after dicey moments that occurred far too often than I would’ve liked. The evening became more of a testament to Sunico’s impeccable memory (he performed without scores) and his ability to remain unfazed despite circumstances that would’ve crumbled a less able pianist.

This may be an unpopular opinion but now that Sunico has come full circle with a repeat performance of the Rachmaninoff piano concertos in one night, may this mark the end of programming that seems more like a stunt rather than an artistic endeavor. Granted that feats like this gain more publicity, eventually drawing in more audience members, but I’d rather have one piano concerto performance that is technically brilliant, exquisitely nuanced, and emotionally affecting.

An emotional moment happened during the curtain call when Sunico acknowledged retiring viola player Claudinia Ronquillo who just had her final performance with the PPO at that concert.

I have no doubts that this concert was a success in audience turnout and also in raising funds for the Sunico Foundation for Arts and Technology Inc., and I do hope that the scholars who will benefit from this concert will greatly contribute to the enrichment of the arts and advancement of technology here.