David Gómez-Ramírez mesmerizes at PPO season opener

Conductor David Gómez-Ramírez and the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra 

The Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra opened its 38th season with flair as Spanish conductor David Gómez-Ramírez sets the tone for the season and also the standard for the rest the shortlisted conductors gunning for the position of PPO's Music Director/Principal Conductor

The concert had a mesmerizing start with Redentor Romero's Philippine Portraits handled deftly and reverently by Gómez.

He also led the orchestra to a very confident showing of Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88 bringing much needed optimism and cheer to an audience who had waited for more than two years for the resumption of the PPO's season. While the Dvořák symphony is an often played, repertoire staple, Gómez delivered a magnificent display of colors and textures that made this piece sound fresh and exciting.

By the time of the encore, Gómez both had the orchestra and the audience at the palm of his hands via a masterful rendition of the Intermedio from La Boda de Luis Alonso by Gerónimo Giménez.

The only blemish in what might have been a flawless outing was the performance of Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Major, Op. 102 by Dmitri Shostakovich with Clement Acevedo as the piano soloist. At times, the orchestra was not in sync with Acevedo despite the pianist opting for a more relaxed and less frantic pace with this concerto. The orchestra's unfamiliarity with this piece was apparent by how tentative they were, lacking the cheekiness and playfulness that this defines this concerto. Thankfully, the sublime second movement showcased what a capable pianist Acevedo is which was also evident with his encore, a nostalgic take on Evocación from Iberia Book 1 by Isaac Albéniz.

Despite the misstep with the concerto, the PPO still had a promising start to the season. Display materials at the venue also made it known that the PPO's final two concerts of the season will be conducted by Beverly Shangkuan-Cheng on March 17, 2023 and Associate Conductor Herminigildo Ranera on April 28, 2023.

Italian Film Festival Manila brings Italian movies back to cinemas

Italian films make a comeback in cinemas with the Italian Film Festival Manila happening on September 29-October 2, 2022 at the Venice Grand Canal Mall.

Organized by Cineforum Bresson and the Philippine Italian Association, in partnership with the Venice Grand Canal Mall and the Film Development Council of the Philippines, the festival offers a selection of 7 contemporary films, to be introduced by festival director Antonio Termenini, shown for free, on a first come, first served basis, at the Cineplex of the Venice Grand Canal Mall. Aside from the film screenings, the festival program will also include talks by industry professionals 

Here is the line up for the Italian Film Festival Manila.

3/19 (2021)

Director: Silvio Soldini

Cast: Kasia Smutniak, Francesco Colella, Caterina Forza

The life of Camilla, a successful lawyer, is turned upside down by a car accident which fatally wounded a boy and for which she feels responsible. With the support of Bruno, the mortician who identified the deceased, Camilla tries to rediscover herself.

America Latina (2021)

Directors: Damiano D’Innocenzo, Fabio D’Innocenzo

Cast: Elio Germano, Astrid Casali, Sara Ciocca

Massimo is a dentist from Latina, happily married with two daughters. One day he goes down to the cellar and finds a girl tied up and gagged, begging for help.

L'Arminuta/The Return (2021)

Director: Giuseppe Bonito

Cast: Aurora Barulli, Carlotta De Leonardis, Fabrizio Ferracane, Sofia Fiore

August, 1975. A thirteen-year-old girl is taken away from what she thought was her family and returned to the home where she rightfully belongs. Having lost the ease of her previous life she has to learn how to live in a small and austere home with five brothers.

A Chiara (2021)

Director: Jonas Carpignano

Cast: Swamy Rotolo, Pio Amato, Koudous Seihon, Susanna Amato

Chiara Guerrasio is a bright young girl with a strong personality who is very much loved by her father. When he leaves for a long business trip hidden truths about her family emerge which impact the balance in her life.

Lasciarsi un giorno a Roma/Breaking Up in Rome (2021)

Director: Edoardo Leo

Cast: Claudia Gerini, Marta Nieto, Edoardo Leo, Stefano Fresi

There is nothing more complex than dealing with a breakup after ten years of living together. One needs to find the right ways and words ... and it may require the advice of a columnist to learn how to proceed. But what happens if this request for advice ends up with the person one is breaking up with?

Una notte da dottore/Doctor on Call (2021)

Director: Guido Chiesa

Cast: Diego Abatantuono, Frank Matano, Alessandro Betti

After a night of daring (mis)adventures. Pierfrancesco, a doctor making house calls on the night shift, and Mario, a pizza delivery rider, learn to support each other and improve their respective lives.

Il silenzio grande/The Great Silence (2021)

Director: Alessandro Gassmann

Cast: Massimiliano Gallo, Margherita Buy, Marina Confalone

In Naples in the 1960s, Mrs. Primic decides to sell the family villa with the consent of almost all the heirs. The only one who objects is Valerio who feels like a stranger among his loved ones. A story dense with misunderstandings, conflicts and confrontations within this dysfunctional family, that discovers that “existing” is not necessarily the same as “being alive”.

Here is the screening schedule of the Italian Film Festival Manila.

September 29, 2022

7:30 PM America Latina

September 30, 2022

5:30 PM Il silenzio grande

8:00 PM Una notte da dottore

October 1, 2022

5:30 PM A chiara

8:00 PM 3/19

October 2, 2022

2:30 PM L'arminuta

5:30 PM Lasciarsi un giorno a Roma

The Italian Film Festival Manila is organized by Cineforum Bresson, with the support of the Direzione Generale per il Cinema e l’Audiovisivo, and the financial support of the Embassy of Italy to the Philippines; locally organized by The Philippine Italian Association, in partnership with the Venice Grand Canal Mall, the Film Development Council of the Philippines, the MINT College, the Italian Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines, Ateneo Association of European Studies Students, and UP Euro-Filipino Understanding and Relations Organization; in media partnership with Art+ magazine, The Philippine Business and News, and two students’ magazines: TheLaSallian and The Laurel Standard.

Pacific Alliance Movie Nights debuts at the Shang

The newest foreign language film festival in town, the Pacific Alliance Movie Nights, presented by the Embassies of Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Singapore in partnership with Shangri-Plaza and the Film Development Council of the Philippines is set to debut on September 21-25, 2022 at the Shang's Red Carpet Cinema.

A total of seven films from the Pacific Alliance member states Chile, Colombia, and Mexico and from its first associate state Singapore comprise the inaugural Pacific Alliance Movie Nights. The Pacific Alliance is a Latin American economic bloc established in 2011 by Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru that mainly aims to reduce trade barriers among member states. In 2021, Singapore became the Associated State of the Pacific Alliance. Mexico holds the Presidency Pro-democracy this year. The Philippines is one of its observer states.

Leading the lineup are the Mexican films Arráncame la vida (Tear this Heart Out) by Roberto Sneider and Cuando los hijos regresan (The Kids are Back) by Hugo Lara.

Colombia's entries to the festival are Rafael Martínez Moreno's film El Piedra (The Stone) and Carlos Arturo Ramírez's documentary Chiribiquete. The films Calzones Rotos (Family Secrets) by Arnaldo Valsecchi and Mis hermanos sueñan despiertos (My Brothers Dream Awake) by Claudia Huaiquimilla are Chile's offerings.

Lastly, the JC Santos starrer, Motel Acacia by Bradley Liew will be shown as Singapore's entry to the festival.

All films will be screened in their original language with English subtitles. Entrance is free on a first come, first served basis.

Here is the lineup and more information about the films at the Pacific Alliance Movie Nights.

Arráncame la vida/Tear This Heart Out (2008)

Director: Roberto Sneider

Cast: Ana Claudia Talancón, Daniel Giménez Cacho, José María de Tavira

A young girl recounts her girlhood and eventual marriage to a general of the Mexican revolution. by one of the most outstanding writers of the new feminist Mexican literature, it is at once a haunting novel of one woman’s life and a powerful account of post-revolutionary Mexico from a female perspective.

Calzones Rotos/Family Secrets (2018)

Director: Arnaldo Valsecchi

Cast Gloria Münchmeyer, Catalina Guerra, Patricio Contreras, Julio Jung, Jorge D'Elia

The imminent death of a matriarch forces her whole family to reunite. From her dying confession, other hidden episodes will come to light. Each of the family members will face what they would prefer remained buried. Nobody is free of killing for love.

Chiribiquete (2017)

Director: Carlos Arturo Ramírez

The documentary follows a group of scientists exploring the extraordinary biodiversity and archaeological treasures of the Chiribiquete National Park in Colombia. Located at the heart of the Colombian Amazon, this impressive place was recently declared Natural and Cultural World Heritage Site by UNESCO, making it the largest protected tropical rainforest in the world. The documentary also presents the challenges of conservation before and after the peace process that ended 50 years of conflict in Colombia.

Cuando los hijos regresan/The Kids are Back (2017)

Director: Hugo Lara

Cast: Fernando Luján, Carmen Maura, Cecilia Suárez, Irene Azuela, Erick Elías, Esmeralda Pimentel, Francisco de la Reguera, Takato Yonemoto

A retired couple will have to defend their home against an unpredicted menace: Their kids moving back.

Mis hermanos sueñan despiertos/My Brothers Dream Awake (2021)

Director: Claudia Huaiquimilla

Cast: Iván Cáceres, César Herrera, Paulina García, Andrew Bargsted, Julia Lübbert, Sebastián Ayala, René Miranda, Luz Jiménez, Ariel Mateluna, Claudio Arredondo, Belén Herrera

Ángel and his brother Franco have been locked up in a juvenile detention centre for a year. Despite the hostility of the place, they form bonds with others inmates and daydream about the future

Motel Acacia (2019)

Director: Bradley Liew

Cast: JC Santos Jan Bijvoet Nicholas Saputra Agot Isidro Vithaya Pansringarm Bront Palarae Talia Zucker Will Jaymes Perry Dizon Brian Sy Angel Aquino

In the cold west, Motel Acacia is tasked with exterminating immigrants by the government through a BED, haunted with the spirit of a Filipino tree demon, that eats men and impregnates women. A young Filipino man, JC, is groomed by his tyrannical caucasian Father to take over the business.

El Piedra/The Stone (2018)

Director: Rafael Martínez Moreno

Cast: Manuel Alvarez, Isaac Martínez, Anibal Gonzalez, Mirla Aaron, Hugo Urruchurto

A washed-up boxer who gets paid to lose fights tries to straighten out his life after he meets a street kid who claims to be his son.

Here is the screening schedule of the Pacific Alliance Movie Nights.

September 21, 2022

7:30 PM Arráncame la vida

September 22, 2022

2:30 PM Calzones Rotos

4:45 PM Chiribiquete

6:45 PM Motel Acacia

September 23, 2022

3:00 PM Mis hermanos sueñan despiertos

5:00 PM El Piedra

7:30 PM Cuando los hijos regresan

September 24, 2022

1:00 PM Chiribiquete

3:00 PM Arráncame la vida

5:20 PM Calzones Rotos

7:30 PM Motel Acacia

September 25, 2022

1:30 PM Mis hermanos sueñan despiertos

3:45 PM Cuando los hijos regresan

5:40 PM El Piedra

7:30 PM Arráncame la vida

The Pacific Alliance Movie Nights is presented by the Embassies of Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Singapore in the Philippines, in partnership with Shangri-La Plaza and the Film Development Council of the Philippines.

PPO's 38th concert season features music director/principal conductor hopefuls

After a couple of years of online and outreach performances, the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra finally announced the return of their concert season, entitled Metamorphosis, to be held this September 2022-April 2023 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo and also at the Manila Metropolitan Theater.

The PPO's 38th Concert season will also feature five of the shortlisted conductors who are up in the running to be the orchestra's next Principal Conductor/Music Director.

David Gómez-Ramírez

Opening the season on September 16 is Spanish conductor David Gómez-Ramírez. Last seen with the PPO as guest conductor back in 2018, he has worked with many professional orchestras around the world. He has been chief conductor of the Sagunto Symphony Orchestra, and guest conductor in important orchestras as València, Seville, Madrid, Oviedo and outside of Spain, in France, Portugal, United Kingdom, Mexico, Russia, Romania, Italy, and Vietnam.

Grzegorz Nowak

On October 7, the PPO welcomes Grzegorz Nowak, for the second concert of the season. Nowak, the permanent Associate Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London, UK, was also the Music Director of the Polish National Opera, Warsaw, Poland from 2017-2020 and other orchestras in Poland, Germany, Switzerland, and the USA. He has conducted orchestral music recorded in over 80 CDs that have received awards and 5-star ratings.

Noam Zur

Noam Zur leads the orchestra as they perform at the Manila Metropolitan Theater stage on November 11. Since 2017, he was the principal conductor and artistic director of the State Symphony Orchestra of Salta, Argentina. He has over 20 years of professional and conducting experience during which he developed an expansive repertoire in opera, ballet and symphony. He is also a composer and arranger, having recorded his own works in Funkhausorchester des WDR Köln in August 2016 which he conducted as well.

Mark Anthony Carpio

Philippine Madrigal Singers choirmaster Mark Anthony Carpio conducts the PPO on December 16, which will be the last to be held at the CCP before the major rehabilitation of the main building starting in January 2023. Personally handpicked by National Artist for Music Andrea O. Veneracion to succeed her as choirmaster of the Madz, Carpio is one of the most respected figures in choral music and a sought after choral clinician who has given extensive and in-depth workshops all nationally and internationally.

Shizuo Kuwahara

Japanese-American Maestro Shizuo Kuwahara conducts the PPO January 27, 2023. Kuwahara is the First Prize winner of the prestigious Georg Solti International Conductors’ Competition in Frankfurt, Germany and Principal Guest Conductor of The Mariinsky Theatre, Russia. Kuwahara has led performances throughout Europe, North and South America, and Asia. He was also an Assistant and Cover Conductor with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony and Orchestra de Paris.

Haoran Li

On February 24, 2023, the PPO will be under the baton of Haoran Li. He was Assistant Conductor of China Philharmonic Orchestra from 2019-2020 and the National Center for the Performing Arts Beijing, China in 2018.

The conductors and programs for the March 17 and April 28, 2023 concerts have yet to be announced.

The September, October, and December concerts will be held at the CCP while the November and performances in 2023 will be at the Manila Metropolitan Theater.

Pianist Clement Acevedo joins PPO 38th concert season opener

Pianist Clement Acevedo joins conductor David Gómez-Ramírez at the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra's 38th Concert Season opener this September 16, 2022 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines' Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (Main Theater).

Program for the evening includes Redentor Romero's Philippine Portraits, Dmitri Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Major, Op. 102 with Acevedo as the featured pianist, and Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88.

Clement Acevedo

Clement Acevedo is an award winning pianist who has performed in prestigious competitions such as the Heida Hermanns International Piano Competition in Westport, Connecticut, and the National Music Competitions for Young Artists (NAMCYA), where he entered semifinalists in both 2004 and 2009. He won the Amati Award at the 2003 Amati Music Festival in Catskills, New York. Also, he has won in concerto contests hosted by the Manila Chamber Orchestra Foundation (MCO), James Madison University (JMU), and the UP College of Music, as well as the Rachmaninoff Piano Competition.

He performed with the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Herminigildo Ranera, the James Madison University Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Robert McCashin, and the Metro Manila Concert Orchestra under the baton of composer/conductor Josefino Chino Toledo at the Merkin Hall in New York City, the Taichung National Theater in Taiwan, and the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

He has recently accepted the position of Assistant Professor at the UP College of Music and Dance, to teach beginning the Academic Year 2022-23.