Initiated and organized by concert pianist Jiovanney Emmanuel Cruz, the second International Piano and Chamber Music Festival titled “Opusfest” was, like the first, a confluence of talents.
Leading cellists Nigel Boehm and Renato Lucas matched skill with artistry in Vivaldi’s Concerto in G Minor for Two Cellos. Vivaldi is known as “the Paganini of the 18th century”, and his rapid labyrinthine passages were interpreted with glowing, sonorous tones by the two cellists whose ensemble playing, of the closest, reflected the mood and spirit of the movements: Allegro, Largo, Allegro. With ease and fluency, each cellist expressed throbbing emotion with powerful thrusts and deft finger work.
Alfonso “Coke” Bolipata’s usual intensity sent sparks flying in Bach’s Concerto in D Minor for Two Violins, Michael Sutton nearly equaling Bolipata’s own. In the second movement, Largo ma non tanto, every melodic line sang sonorously; the third, Allegro, was brisk and rhapsodic. As in the previous duo performance, the meeting of minds and hearts seemed to suggest that the violinists had been playing together through the years.
Bolipata again conveyed his singular intensity in Brahms’ appallingly daunting Double Concerto in A Minor for Violin and Cello, his passion gripping the listener. Cellist Boehm, similarly drew warm, resonant tones to express Brahms’ ardor, the duo rendering the closing Vivace non troppo, in a fiery climax.
The youthful Metro Manila Community Orchestra, under Josefino “Chino” Toledo, enthusiastically responded to his acutely sensitive cueing.
The internationally-awarded Cruz performed Franck’s Symphonic Variations with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra under acclaimed conductor Jeffery Meyer. Cruz’s fluidity came from skill, authority, experience and, of course, inherent talent. His focus was total. Unwavering. His rippling runs, cascading arpeggios, his superbly controlled dynamics — fortissimos conveying musical sturm und drang and pianissimos suggesting the faintest whispers — in short, the finest gradations of sound and, not the least, his panache characterized his playing.
Meyer’s exhilarating baton generated robust sounds from the strings, winds and brasses, keeping the orchestra consistently brisk, alive and spirited.
The Chinese Yuan Sheng and the Israeli Gilda Goldstein made up a fascinating and intriguing duo in Poulenc’s Concerto in D Minor for Two Pianos, as Aries Caces wielded the baton with gratifying authority. The staccatos of the opening Allegro bristled with vigor, zest and power, particularly from Sheng, drawing immediate attention and interest.
The familiar Larghetto, often played by itself, evinced exquisite lyricism, pianistic fireworks marking the finale.
Jacques Despres and Roberta Rust were masterful, individually and jointly, in St. Saens’ ineffably charming and keenly descriptive Carnival of the Animals. The “Turtle” was a solo by Despres; The “Elephant”, with its lumbering gait underlined by the double basses, was played solo by Rust.
With the orchestra contributing its own varied tonal colors, the pianists joyfully depicted creatures in the animal kingdom — the fishes, the peacock, the leaping kangaroo, the bear, the cuckatoo, the swan — this enhanced by the smooth, languid cello obligato of Nigel Boehm, which obligato called to mind Karsavina’s balletic portrayal of a dying swan.
Narrator Raul Guingona, eloquent and bubbly, infused dramatic color to the poems of Peter Schikele.
The Opusfest concerts at the Philamlife auditorium were not only a confluence but also a “conflagration” of talents.
Tonight at six, a concert of patriotic songs dedicated to the Filipinos who valiantly fought colonial oppression will be held at Casa Blanca, Intramuros. Felipe de Leon Jr. is director; Jordan Petalver, pianist.
After Allan Cosio opens his exhibition of nude paintings tonight at six-thirty, he will sing French opera arias for tenor. Venue: Alliance Total Gallery.