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| 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.
