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| Soprano Noema Erba |
Featuring:
Noema
Erba, soprano
Conrado
Ong III, tenor
Marvin
Gayramon, baritone
Augusto
Espino, piano
Programme:
Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart
Crudel,
perche… from Le nozze di Figaro
Non
più andrai from Le nozze de Figaro
La
ci darem la mano from Don Giovanni
Francesco
Cilea Ecco: rspiro appena from Adriana
Lecouvreur
Antonín
Dvořák Měsíčku na nebi hlubokém from
Rusalka
Gioachino
Rossini Largo al factotum Il Barbiere di Siviglia
Giacomo
Puccini
Quando
me’n vo’ from La Bohème
O
mio babbino caro from Gianni Schicchi
Nessun dorma from Turandot
Tu che di gel sei cinta from Turandot
Che gelida manina from La Bohème
Sì, mi chiamano Mimì from La Bohème
O
soave fanciulla from La Bohème
Giuseppe
Verdi Libiamo ne’ lieti calici from La
Traviata
After
a well received concert last year, Czech soprano Noema Erba returned to the
country for a return engagement held at the Dusit Thani Manila. The concert,
entitled Night in the Opera was part
of the Czech Embassy in Manila's Bohemian Rhapsody in the Philippines , celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the
Czech-Philippine diplomatic relations. Noema’s guests from her previous
concert, tenor Conrado “Dondi” Ong III and collaborating pianist Augusto Espino
joined her once again this year. And they all welcomed a new addition to the
fold, baritone Marvin Gayramon, making this year’s concert bigger compared to
the previous one.
Before
the performance, Czech Ambassador Josef Rychtar gave some opening remarks that
gave emphasis on Ferdinand Blumentritt, who was a close friend and confidante of Philippine National Hero Jose Rizal. A
lot of Filipinos probably aren't aware that Blumentritt is actually from the Prague, Czech Republic. People probably know him more as the name of several
landmarks around Metro Manila but this reminder by Ambassador Rychtar gave me the urge to brush up on
my Philippine history to know more about the man behind the name.
The
event may had been organized by the Czech Embassy and was headlined by a Czech soprano, but
the music was surprisingly very Italian with works by Francesco Cilea,
Gioachino Rossini, Giacomo Puccini and Giuseppe Verdi in the lineup. Even the
arias by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart were in Italian also. It was the lone work by Antonín
Dvořák which was in Czech that broke the Italian flavor of the concert program
for the night.
The Dusit
Thani Manila ballroom proved to be an excellent venue for Noema Erba as her
voice soared without any electronic amplification. I am pretty sure that those
who hadn’t seen a soprano perform live before had shivers down their spine when
they heard her voice. Guest artists Marvin Gayramon and Dondi Ong performed
duets with Noema and they also had their solo numbers as well. The Puccini fan
in me reveled in the abundance of his works in the programme like O mio babbino
caro from Gianni Schicchi, Sì, mi chiamano Mimì from La Bohème and the
very popular Nessun dorma from Turandot. Conrado “Dondi” Ong gave a brief
background to the arias in order to let the audience have a better idea as to
what the songs and the opera work itself was all about. And the people
responded well when they showed interest in knowing how Turandot ended.
The Dvořák
aria Měsíčku na nebi hlubokém (Song to the Moon) from Rusalka provided a breath
of fresh air and a brief change of mood and pace from the very Italian flavor of the night. And
it was through this number that Noema was really in her element as she showed
the audience that night what Czech operatic music was like. As always, it was
the songs from their encore, classical crossover and Broadway songs like The
Prayer, Time to Say Goodbye, and Tonight, that proved to be the bigger hits
among the audience.
Noema
Erba’s concert was indeed a success and I wouldn’t be surprised if she comes
back next year for yet another performance. Night in the Opera was presented by the Czech Embassy in Manila , Travelife Magazine and Dusit Thani Manila.
