Opera as a grand telenovela in Seasons of Desire

Lawrence Jatayna, Dingdong Fiel, Elaine Lee, and Ivan Nery

Featuring:

Elaine Lee, soprano

Ivan Nery, tenor

Lawrence Jatayna, baritone

Dingdong Fiel, piano

Programme:

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

     Overture from Le Nozze di Figaro, K.492

     Cinque, dieci, venti... from Le Nozze di Figaro, K.492

     Ein Madchen oder Weibchen from Die Zauberflöte, K.620

     In Uomini from Così fan tutte, K.588

     Deh vieni alla finestra from Don Giovanni, K.527

     Papageno/Papagena duet from Die Zauberflöte, K.620

Giuseppe Verdi

     Mini Overture from Rigoletto

     Questo o Quella from Rigoletto

     Signor ne principe from Rigoletto

     Caro nome from Rigoletto

     Cortigiani from Rigoletto

     Mio Padre...Tutte le feste from Rigoletto

     Si vendetta from Rigoletto

     La donna è mobile from Rigoletto

     V'ho ingannato from Rigoletto

     Addio del passato from La Traviata

In the opera show Seasons of Desire, plot lines and devices regularly seen in popular television series were interspersed with various arias by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Giuseppe Verdi to make opera more accessible to a broader audience. Some opera purists would’ve raised their eyebrows with this treatment, but I opted to view this production that was staged at the Abelardo Hall Auditorium at the College of Music in UP Diliman, with an open mind to see if such approach would indeed work.

Featuring a small, tight cast made up of three singers (soprano Elaine Lee, baritone Lawrence Jatayna and tenor Ivan Nery), two narrators moving the story in English (Jacqui Amper) and in Filipino (Ruth Alferez), and a lone pianist (Dingdong Fiel), Seasons of Desire put into the fore the rather silly plotlines found in current television series and how the operas from centuries ago also featured almost the same inane plots. As director Nazer Salcedo put it, opera is one grand telenovela. And it did make me wonder again how on earth did the audiences back then approved of such plots. But then again, I also wonder why modern day viewers don't complain about the nth time the heroine gets kdinapped in telenovelas.

The story weaved by Vladimeir Gonzales follows a simple story of the boy, the Farmer played by Jatayna meeting a girl, the Baker played by Lee, and they fall in love. The first tragedy strikes when the girl dies during childbirth. Years pass by and the child, Angela (Lee), has grown into an adult woman. She is seduced by her scheming employer Angelo (played by Nery) and eventually kidnaps and violates her when her father refuses to sell her out to him for one night of romance. The father then tries to avenge his daughter by abducting Angelo himself but Angela frees him since she is clueless as to the true identity of her assailant. This act proves to be fatal as Angela becomes the tragic victim of the scuffle between her father and her one time lover. Telenovelas often end happily with the heroine in her true love’s arms but this time around, the tragedy of the opera won the day.

One who clearly won the audience during the show was Ivan Nery as the hopia magnate Angelo. His performance as the devious and scheming bastard bordered on being camp but his Questo o Quella and La donna è mobile, among the main highlights of the entire show, proved that he’s one of the country’s up and coming tenors. Lawrence Jatayna gave a solid performance shifting from the oblivious and then love struck farmer, to a doting and later on vengeful father. But what caught me off guard on this night was Elaine Lee, especially on her Caro nome, wherein she shifted an octave lower in some parts. It made me wonder if she was having an off night or if her vocal range wasn't a match for the aria. She fared better though towards the end with her V'ho ingannato and Addio del passato which she sang while almost laid down on stage.

As I’ve mentioned earlier, a show formatted like this could’ve not sat well with conservative purists now. But this is nothing really new since opera pastiches that used music from different operas into a single show, which I think what Seasons of Desire is, were in fashion back in 18^th century. I wouldn’t have any reservations with how this was conceptualized and constructed for in the end, no matter what the show is, it’s the vocal performances that will matter. And in this show, the vocal performances were uneven. The production also encountered some technical kinks that should be smoothed out in succeeding efforts. Overall, these kinds of shows can indeed bring opera closer to the mainstream audience. I also think that this could also serve as a launching pad for young, upcoming opera singers as well.

Asian Youth Jazz Orchestra kicks off with free concert at the Shang

February 22, 2015, 6:00 PM

East Atrium, Shangri-La Plaza

Mandaluyong City

Featuring:
Osamu Matsumoto, composer/arranger/trombone
Mayuko Katakura, composer/arranger/piano
Mariko Maeda, trombone
Yuri Kishimoto, saxophone/flute
Nohara Okamoto, bass
Fumihiro Ibuki, drums

The Japan Foundation Asia Center, Philippine International Jazz Festival Foundation and the Shangri-La Plaza cordially invite the public to the one-night-only concert of the Asian Youth Jazz Orchestra (AYJO) Band on February 22, 2015, 6:00 PM at the East Atrium of Shangri-La Plaza in Mandaluyong.

Six talented musicians from Japan namely composer/arranger/trombone player Osamu Matsumoto, composer/arranger/pianist Mayuko Katakura, trombone player Mariko Maeda, saxophonist/flutist Yuri Kishimoto, bassist Nohara Okamoto, and drummer Fumihiro Ibuki will serenade the crowd in a free concert. More importantly, the jazz concert will serve as AYJO’s introductory event in Manila. Part of the Philippine International Jazz Festival, the concert will also feature Raoul and the Wild Tortillas.

AYJO is a long-term project of the Japan Foundation Asia Center, with planning and production by Planet Arts Co. Its primary aim is to organize a new jazz orchestra consisting of young musicians in Asia whom they would train through international exchange and collaboration. Members will be screened and chosen through auditions in participating countries.

Fumihiro Ibuki, Osamu Matsumoto, Nohara Okamoto, Mayuko Katakura, 

Mariko Maeda, and Yuri Kishimoto

In Manila, auditions will be held on February 21, 2015 at the University of Santo Tomas and on February 23, 2015 at the University of the Philippines in Diliman. Music students as well as young musicians who responded through the open-call to audition will be given the chance to showcase their talents in playing Latin percussion, trombone, saxophone, trumpet, clarinet and flute. Successful applicants will get to join the rehearsal camps in Tokyo and perform throughout Asia from August to December 2015.

Jazz was chosen for its improvisational nature. With inspiration and spontaneity, which come from the musicians’ free thoughts and feelings, jazz creates a world of sounds through balance of interactions. Thus, jazz meets the purpose of creating new sounds through the interaction of young musicians. 

Ticket prices:

Free admission with prior reservation.

For inquiries:

The Japan Foundation, Manila 811-6155 to 58, email@jfmo.org.ph

Filipino and European jazz artists collaborate for two night concert

February 20, 2015, 9:00 PM

Tiendesitas

Ortigas Ave. corner E. Rodriguez Ave.

Pasig City

February 21, 2015, 8:00 PM

Fort Santiago, Intramuros

Manila

Featuring:

Henry Katindig, keyboard

Nguyen Le, guitar

Michael Schiefel, vocals

Raphael Preuschl, bass

Mar Dizon, drums

European and Filipino jazz artists collaborate for the 2015 Euro-Pinoy Jazz Concerts, a two night event happening on February 20, 2015, 9:00 PM at Tiendesitas in Pasig and on February 21, 2015, 8:00 PM at Fort Santiago in Intramuros, Manila.

For this cross-cultural collaboration jazz music project, German singer Michael Schiefel, French guitarist Nguyen Le, and Austrian bassist Raphael Preuschl join forces with the Philippines’ Henry Katindig on keyboards and Mar Dizon on drums for two nights of performances.

The 2015 Euro-Pinoy Jazz Concerts is presented by the Goethe-Institut, Manila, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and the Embassies of France, Austria and Switzerland.

Tickets:

Free admission. First-come, first-served basis

For inquiries:

program@manila.goethe.org

Caces' electrifying Rach 3 amid an evening of gloomy, romantic music

Featuring:

Aries Caces, piano

Manila Symphony Orchestra

Arturo Molina, conductor

Programme:

Richard Strauss

     Death and Transfiguration (Tod und Verklärung), Op. 24

Sergei Rachmaninoff

     Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30

     Symphonic Dances, Op. 45

An electrifying Rach 3 by Aries Caces amid a dark and brooding lineup of late romantic music by Richard Strauss and Sergei Rachmaninoff was how the Manila Symphony Orchestra and their principal conductor/music director Arturo Molina wrapped up their 2014-2015 Sound of Life Season concert at the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (CCP Little Theater).

Performing to a packed theater, the MSO opened the concert with Richard Strauss’ Death and Transfiguration (Tod und Verklärung), Op. 24 which I think is the most musically poetic depiction of death. The orchestra was able to weave an arc depicting the last moments of an artist, his final burst of reminiscence, his body finally succumbing to the inevitability of death, and ultimately, the immortality and triumph of the spirit. Such profound themes by Strauss could’ve made for a very emotional experience. Despite being the among the oldest orchestras in Asia, the MSO currently probably the youngest orchestra on average in here and this inexperience became a barrier for them. While they were able to go through the piece, I felt that it somehow lacked the punch needed to make the journey more moving.

The orchestra certainly needed the punch if ever they were to match pianist Aries Caces with Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30, a piece notorious for its difficulty and demands on the pianist’s stamina and endurance. But Caces seemed to breeze throughout the concerto as if everything was just as simple and easy as the unison passages that started the piece. The piano used at the concert was far from optimum but his brilliance was more than enough for me to look past the inferior sounding instrument. And the orchestra's level of playing was clearly more inspired in here than the previous piece. I was also relieved that the piano was able to bear the brunt of such a demanding piece which cannot be said by a member of the 2^nd violin section who broke a string during the Intermezzo. For an encore, Caces performed the mega popular 18^th Variation of Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 34 with the orchestra which slowed down the pace after the concerto’s electrifying finish.

The concert ended the evening, Symphonic Dances, Op. 45 also by Rachmaninoff. The three movement piece offered the orchestra a chance to showcase their range and explore different moods, colors and textures. The first movement featured a bizarre march that contrasted with a serene middle section that had Rachmaninoff using the alto saxophone for the first time. For me, the movement that drummed up the most interest is the second with its twisted and somewhat perverted version of a Viennese waltz. The third movement was soaked in such dark, sinister gloom and a fascination with death. What’s even more ominous was that this eventually turned out to be Rachmaninoff’s final work. I guess that this piece tied up thematically with the opening Richard Strauss work.

Again with the dances, I felt that a lot of the young and newer members were more relieved to get through the piece instead of being totally in command. The discrepancy between the first and the last stands of the strings section, which has been one of the MSO’s strengths, is now more pronounced. In recent years, the MSO has had its share of veteran members transferring to other orchestras and moving on to other things and that left the newer and much younger members with not just a lot of catching up to do but also with very big shoes to fill. The MSO is clearly on a transitional period with the younger members still gaining more experience as they go on through every concert to be at par with their predecessors.

RAd with pianist Aries Caces

But on a very positive note, the MSO has managed to fill up the CCP Little Theater for most of the shows this season. And I’ve been very delighted to see a lot of new and unexpected faces at their concerts, which is very much welcomed in the classical music scene in here. I think that a lot of credit has to go to Carlos “Garch” Garchitorena, their new Marketing Manager, who has been successful in drawing people from the other side of the fence to watch the MSO concerts.