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| Pianist Dingdong Fiel |
Featuring:
Heliodoro
“Dingdong” Fiel II, piano
Manila
Philharmonic Orchestra
Rodel
Colmenar, conductor
Programme:
Redentor
Romero Philippine Portraits
Sergei
Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of
Paganini, Op. 34
Pyotr
Ilyich Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4 in
F minor, Op. 36
The
Manila Philharmonic Orchestra led by Rodel Colmenar presented a one night
concert entitled Journey: A Classical
Concert at the Cultural Center of the Philippines’
Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (CCP Main Theater) in preparation for their trip to
Japan as the
Philippine representative to the 2013 Asia Orchestra Week.
This
send off concert featured the same program with works by Redentor Romero, Sergei
Rachmaninoff and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky that they would play in Japan
in which the orchestra, was the one chosen by the Association of Japanese Symphony
Orchestras to represent the Philippines .
The
evening started with Philippine Portraits by Redentor Romero which I think was
a good choice to showcase Filipino orchestral music to a Japanese/foreign
audience. This piece incorporated some popular folk tunes which I think is
pretty typical in orchestral works by Filipino composers.
Also
featured in this concert was pianist Heliodoro “Dingdong” Fiel II who performed
the very popular Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 34 by Sergei
Rachmaninoff. It was difficult for me to appreciate his performance due to the
unsatisfactory Bösendorfer concert grand Dingdong was saddled with. I struggled
to hear the softer and elegant passages especially during the much awaited
Variation 18, probably owing to a piano that couldn’t project well without
resorting to violently pounding the keys. I’ve seen and heard Dingdong play
before and I can only imagine how frustrating it is to be at the mercy of an
unresponsive instrument.
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| Conductor Rodel Colmenar |
The
concert ended with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 in F minor,
Op. 36, a piece that had already been performed twice by other orchestras in
the past two months. I guess that it was a blessing in disguise that I wasn’t
able to watch those performances for this enabled me to listen to the MPO’s
rendition with fresh ears. Under Colmenar’s baton, the fate theme of the first
movement constantly tormented, while the second movement conveyed sinking into
the melancholy of the past. The third, with the pizzicato strings offered a
respite, a hazy wandering of the mind before being dragged down into the fate
that awaits the tortured soul at the fourth movement. I guess that I wouldn’t
have reveled into such thoughts had this been my third time in two months to
experience this symphony. On the other hand, I would’ve been pretty much sick
and tired of it already.
Despite
the melodrama of this symphony, the audience gave a hearty applause as the
orchestra gave their bows. For an encore, Colmenar introduced the MPO’s new
concertmaster, the Italian Giovanni Bobisse who gave the audience goosebumps as
he did an exquisite violin solo with Meditation from Thaïs by Jules Massenet. I was
momentarily distracted when I heard brass (and a bit spotty at that) which I
didn’t expect from a full orchestral version of this piece.
With
a successful concert that was well attended, the Manila Philharmonic Orchestra
had great momentum as they headed to Japan .
The 2013 Asia Orchestra Week has already come and gone and as of now, the MPO can
be heard accompanying Resorts World Manila’s production of Cinderella happening
at the Newport Performing Arts Theater.
