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| Ryan Cayabyab |
Featuring:
Dino
Decena, violin
Philippine
Philharmonic Orchestra
Olivier
Ochanine, conductor
Programme:
Richard
Wagner Prelude to Act 3 of Lohengrin
Ryan
Cayabyab New Work for Violin and
Orchestra
Richard
Wagner Siegfried Idyll
Robert
Schumann Symphony No. 1 in B
flat major, Op. 38 Spring
The
Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra celebrated its 40th anniversary by
premiering the highly anticipated new work by Ryan Cayabyab. This new work, a
violin concerto, was commissioned by the PPO specifically for this occasion which is the orchestra's fifth performance for their 30th concert season entitled Milestones.
This concert was perfectly set up for me since I’ve had my fill of Ryan
Cayabyab’s other works like Rama Hari and Katy which recently got restaged at
the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Both Cayabyab and PPO principal conductor and music
director Olivier Ochanine knew how much I looked forward seeing this piece of
work performed so there was no way that I was going to miss this concert.
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| Violinist Dino Decena |
But
before everyone else got to hear the new work, we had to sit through a
short Richard Wagner piece first. A late addition to the concert, the Prelude
to Act 3 of Lohengrin lasted for only about three minutes and before I even got
settled into the piece, it was all over.
The
Ryan Cayabyab New Work for Violin and Orchestra that followed was a totally different creature
compared to his more well known works in the popular genre. If someone in the
audience expected something in the vein of Kay
Ganda ng Ating Musika, then he would be terribly disappointed with what he
had heard that night. Associate Concertmaster Dino Decena was the featured
soloist in this performance and he played a theme that wasn’t fully
developed during the first movement. While Decena played his part, the
orchestra accompanying him rumbled their way as if it was totally independent of what
the violin solo was playing. There were only a few instances when the soloist and the orchestra, specifically the strings were in unison. I understood then what Ryan Cayabyab tried to
convey as he waved his arms to describe the first movement to me when I asked him
about the piece when it was still a work in progress. I also totally got what
he meant when he said that the first movement would be a “quasi development of
a theme”. The second movement slowed things down and displayed Cayabyab’s
penchant for the minor tonalities almost to the point of romanticism. This
segued into the third movement which was contrapuntal and and venturing into the tonal territories. Then the unexpected happened towards the
end as a cheeky shift in rhythm had the bass drum thumping a hip hop beat. And before I got myself wrapped around this sudden and unexpected
change in mood, the music reverted back to its contrapuntal nature as it
settled into a clear shift to the major tonality. This violin concerto
certainly was a clear departure from the prevailing works of Cayabyab and it
definitely merits another performance and possibly a recording so that I could
sink my teeth deeper into it.
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| Conductor Olivier Ochanine |
I
would totally understand if many among the audience felt that the violin
concerto didn’t live up to their expectations. But I think that Decena’s encore
of Astor Piazzolla’s Ave Maria
satisfied their cravings for a very
romantic, melodic and mushy violin piece.
The
second half of the concert included yet another piece by Richard Wagner,
Siegfried Idyll. While I found it hard to grasp his operas, especially with the
arias taken out of context, this intimate piece was very accessible. Knowing
the story of how Wagner wrote this as a surprise for his wife made me
appreciate this piece a lot more. Olivier was able to make the orchestra sound
like it was embracing its audience with the music. The last piece for the night
was Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 1 in B flat major, Op. 38 or Spring. Just
like the title suggests, this symphony was indeed spring like starting from the
exhilarating brass fanfare at the beginning up to the lightness and grace of
the joyful finale.
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| Mike Swift and Rico Blanco |
The
anniversary concert of the PPO drew in an interesting and diverse crowd. Many members from other orchestras like the Manila Symphony Orchestra and ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra including Gerard Salonga were there. What’s even more
promising was spotting music personalities from other genres among the audience
that night like rock musician Rico Blanco and hip hop heavyweight Mike Swift.
Now, if only this would be the case every time an orchestra performs and not be
limited only to anniversary performances.
