The BMW Cultural Concert Series Trio Con Brio

Trio con Brio

Featuring:

Joseph Esmilla, violin

Rudolf Golez, piano

Victor Coo, cello

Programme:

Paul Schoenfield Café Music

Felix Mendelssohn Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 49 (1^st movement)

Astor Piazzolla

     Concierto Para Trio*

     Soledad*

     La Muerte del Angel

*arranged by Albert Tiu

I very much regret not seeing Trio Con Brio when they had their critically acclaimed concert last year. This trio, composed of violinist Joseph Esmilla, pianist Rudolf Golez and cellist Victor Coo, is probably the most celebrated trio in the country today. Each member of this trio is a capable soloist and a heavyweight in the classical music scene in here. Although Victor Coo is based abroad, he frequently visits the country and does a number of performances whenever he is here. I still couldn’t find an explanation as to why I still haven’t seen Victor perform yet. No wonder that I scrambled to find where the BMW Prestige Motors Showroom was when I got an invite from Martin Lopez, Executive Director of the FilFest Foundation to see this trio perform there. I didn’t want to repeat the mistake that I did when I missed their concert last year.

I asked Rudolf about their prepared programme a few days before the music soiree and he seemed enthusiastic about the Paul Schoenfield piece entitled Café Music. He told me that it’s a contemporary piece with jazz elements. Knowing how diverse jazz music is, I had no idea what to expect with this one. Imagine my surprise when I heard ragtime, Charleston and early 20^th century jazz music in the piece since I’ve been listening to this type of music a lot in recent weeks. This piece was introduced to the trio by Coo and it was indeed a pleasant sounding one compared to the atonal and dissonant works coming from most contemporary composers. The Charleston part in the Allegro first movement almost tempted me to stand up and dance but I had to behave knowing that there were many distinguished guests during this invitation only event. The Andante Moderato second movement on the other hand was so exquisite that it made me wish that cognac was also served during this event. Alas, champagne was the only alcohol served that night.

The next piece that the trio performed was the first movement of Felix Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 49. This was originally the last piece in the programme but I actually preferred it to be the second since it would’ve been quite anticlimactic if they stuck to the original order. It’s a piece from the Romantic era and although I am really drawn to that period, the previous Schoenfield piece made such an impression on me that I wanted to relive that moment again. No offense to Mendelssohn and lovers of his music but that’s how I felt during this time.

The trio ended their programme with three pieces by Astor Piazzolla. The first two pieces, Concierto para Trio and Soledad, arranged for a trio by pianist Albert Tiu sounded like music from Piazzolla’s operetta Maria de Buenos Aires. These two along with the third Piazzolla piece La Muerte del Angel were positively received by the audience during the trio’s previous concert last year and these have since become their signature pieces. For their encore, the trio played Tubig at Langis by George Canseco arranged by National Artist Lucio San Pedro. But the audience wanted more so they performed another Piazzolla piece called Oblivion. I was seated near the back and didn’t have the best view but I didn’t mind at all since just being there was more than enough for me.

I’ve never been to a BMW Cultural Concert Series before since the previous performance venues were inaccessible to me. Finally, the location for this concert wasn’t as far south and I was able to witness this intimate performance. I was also very pleased to see Mr. Yaniv Revach, the Deputy Chief of Mission and he was able to introduce me to the new Israeli Ambassador Menashe Bar-On along and his wife Madame Eti. Also present during the concert was phenomenal violinist Diomedes Saraza Jr. and I told him that I was also eagerly anticipating his upcoming concert.

RAd, Israeli Ambassador Menashe Bar-On with wife Madame Eti,
Rudolf Golez, Joseph Esmilla and Yaniv Revach

All-Chestra featuring Joseph Esmilla

Featuring:

Joseph Esmilla, violin

Manila Symphony Orchestra

Arturo Molina, conductor

Programme:

Antonio Vivaldi Le Quattro Stagioni (The Four Seasons)

                      Concerto No. 1 in E major, Op. 8, RV 269, La primavera (Spring)

                      Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 8, RV 315, L'estate (Summer)

                      Concerto No. 3 in F major, Op. 8, RV 293, L'autunno (Autumn)

                      Concerto No. 4 in F minor, Op. 8, RV 297, L'inverno (Winter)

Antonín Dvořák Serenade for Strings in E Major, Op. 22

The 4^th Season of Filfest Cultural Foundation dubbed as All-Chestra started with the highly successful and critically acclaimed concert of pianist/tenor, Carlos Ibay with the Manila Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Arturo Molina. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to see that performance so I knew that I had to make up for it by watching the second concert which featured violinist Joseph Esmilla.

There was a heightened sense of excitement at the lobby of the Insular Life Auditorium moments before the concert started. This was due to an excellent audience turnout and the enthusiasm that they radiated somehow led me to believe that the rest of the evening would be truly awesome.

Unfortunately, whatever positive energy there was outside wasn’t able to manifest itself during the performance inside the auditorium. Even before the musicians entered the stage, I was already taken aback when the setup meant for a smaller ensemble suggested that the concert would open with Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Seasons which was actually listed as the second piece of the night according to the programme. Those who know me would attest that changes with the programme that are announced before the show starts do rattle me since I usually do make it a point to study the pieces to be performed beforehand. And I didn’t hear any announcement regarding the switch when Filfest Executive Director Martin Lopez delivered his opening remarks.

Normally, I would get settled in once the performance is underway. But I never felt that since Esmilla and the rest of the orchestra seemed very off. There were numerous slips from the usually solid Esmilla and it was difficult for me to believe if this was indeed the same violinist who did a sublime performance of Korngold Violin Concerto some months back.

The first two movements “Spring” and “Summer” felt uneven and unpolished not befitting of Esmilla and the MSO’s stature and caliber. And it was only during “Autumn” when it seemed that they were finally settling down and it was when “Winter” was being performed that they seemed to be completely at ease. But by then, the piece which comprised the first half of the concert was already over. It was indeed uncomfortable for me to see them this off. And while they were inexplicably off, the audience on the other hand was definitely on that night to the point that they’ve applauded the end of every movement. The only time that they didn’t was in between the second and third movements of Summer. And it felt like the applause, despite the audience’s noble intentions, only made it more difficult for the orchestra to get into the zone.

Joseph Esmilla and the Manila Symphony Orchestra

Joseph Esmilla did manage to show his prowess when he performed Fritz Kreisler’s Recitative and Scherzo-Caprice for solo violin, Op. 6 during the encore. And then in an unusual turn of events, the orchestra returned for another pass of the third movement of “Summer”. It was rather confusing since I wasn’t sure if this was another encore or if they opted to have another go with it since they didn’t nail it the first time around.

After a brief intermission, the concert resumed with the performance of Antonín Dvořák’s Serenade for Strings in E minor, Op. 22 which was supposed to be the first piece. This piece has parts in which the strings divide into numerous sections and that meant that more players were needed. So the rest of the strings section of the Manila Symphony Orchestra joined those who performed earlier. The divisons into sections by the strings resulted in such a rich and textured sound but still retained the lightness which is the overall character of the piece. If there was a raging storm during the Four Seasons, then it’s all light, pleasant and a cheerful, sunny day in this Serenade.

Thankfully, the orchestra performed better this time. There were some fine moments during the Tempo di Valse of the second movement which reminded me of a Chopin composition. And I felt just the right intensity during the Finale. But it was still uneven; with the principals standing out from the rest especially those further back the stands. The MSO have a strong and solid string section and unfortunately, they weren’t able to display this strength during this night.

It was indeed a very strange evening. The concert was a success in terms of audience turnout but it wasn’t so based on the performance that I was able to see that night. Despite this setback, I remain hopeful that Joseph Esmilla and the Manila Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Arturo Molina will soon give a performance that will show what they really are capable of.

Joseph Esmilla with RAd and the Pinoy Violinists

Text by RAd

Photos by Yuuko-san