Featuring:
Roxy Aldiosa, soprano
Jan Briane Astom, tenor
Carlo Bunyi, baritone
Michaela Fajardo, soprano
Mheco Manlangit, soprano
Carlo Mañalac, tenor
Myramae Meneses, soprano
Anna Migallos, soprano
Nomher Nival, tenor
Stefanie Quintin, soprano
Mia Ariana Tanciongco, soprano
Marielle Tuason, soprano
Iona Ventocilla, soprano
Najib Ismail, piano
Gabriel Allan Paguirian, piano
Full length opera productions in the Philippines are a
rarity which is a shame since there’s an abundance of talent in here. And a
small number of these talents, thirteen to be exact, showed off their operatic vocal
chops at a concert entitled A Night at the Opera, their culminating recital held
at the Ayala Museum after going through an intensive three day workshop under
famed Filipino tenor Arthur Espiritu.
The performers, namely Roxy Aldiosa, Jan Briane Astom, Carlo
Bunyi, Michaela Fajardo, Mheco Manlangit, Carlo Mañalac, Myramae Meneses, Anna
Migallos, Nomher Nival, Stefanie Quintin, Mia Ariana Tanciongco, Marielle
Tuason, and Iona Ventocilla each had their moment to shine as they sang works
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Gaetano Donizetti, Gioachino Rossini, Giacomo
Puccini, Giacomo Meyerbeer, and Roger Quilter. They were accompanied by
pianists Najib Ismail and Gabriel Allan Paguirigan.
When Myramae along with Iona kicked things off with Prenderò quel
brunettino from Mozart’s Così fan tutte, I had a realization that unsettled me
for a bit. Myramae, who just a few years ago was a promising newcomer to the
scene, now appeared as the seasoned veteran, along with Nomher Nival, in this
concert. These two later on sang arias from Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore with
Myramae doing Prendi, per me sei libero while Nomher delivering Una furtiva lagrima.
Iona, on the other hand, gave me my first taste of Mozart’s Don Giovanni with
Mi tradi quell'alma ingrata.
The evening served as an introduction for me to unfamiliar
faces like Mia Ariana Tanciongco who sang Porgi, amor, qualche ristoro from
Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Carlo Bunyi who did Madamina, il catalogo è questo
from Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Marielle Tuason (Ruhe sanft, mein holdes Leben
from Mozart’s Zaide), Mheco Manlangit (Chi il bel sogno di Doretta from Puccini’s
La Rondine), and Anna Migallos (Donde lieta usci from Puccini’s La Boheme).
It was also the first time for me to see familiar faces like
Michaela Fajardo (Voi che sapete from Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro), Carlo
Mañalac (Quanto è bella, quanto è cara from Donizetti’s L’elisir
d’amore), Roxy Aldiosa (Una voce poco fa from Rossini’s Il barbiere di
Siviglia) perform as soloists. I’ve seen them a handful of times perform as
members of Viva Voce so it’s nice to hear their solo voices at last.
Another very familiar face is Jan Briane Astom (Come Away
Death from Quilter’s 3 Shakespeare Songs, Op. 6) and seeing him sing was a
departure from what I know of him as a pianist. This wouldn’t be the first time
for someone to change tracks since Myramae actually had her start as a
violinist before switching to operatic singing.
The one who stole the show was Stefanie Quintin who dazzled
with great dynamics, humor and charm despite most of us in the audience not
having any idea what the French words of Ombre légère from Meyerbeer’s Dinorah
mean. Later did I find out that the aria is actually a duet for one with
Dorinah singing alongside with her shadow.
Aside from the solos, there were also duets between Mheco
and Marielle (Sull'aria...che soave zeffiretto from Mozart’s Le nozze di
Figaro) and Nomher and Anna (O soave fanciulla from Puccini’s La bohème) that eventually
capped the concert. For an encore, all the performers sang Ikaw ang Mahal Ko by
Tito Arevalo and Levi Celerio, a surprising choice but eventually a breath of
fresh air since it was not yet another Libiamo ne' lieti calici which has
already been done to death.
Throughout the concert, I was greatly amused seeing Arthur
Espiritu get all excited and nervous as he watched at the sidelines. At the
start, he gave opening remarks and told the audience how these young singers
need the support especially when they pursue further studies to improve their
craft. He clearly wanted these young singers to have the opportunities he has
had to study and perform in opera productions here and abroad. Of course, the
audience didn’t let the evening end without Arthur singing and he caved in to
demands and did Giuseppe Verdi’s La donna è mobile from Rigoletto.
It’s been only few years since I got first exposed to full
length operas and this night only told me that there are still new faces and
voices to discover and more operas to explore out there. A Night at the Opera
was presented by Cultural Arts Events Organizers and MusicArtes Inc.
