Thank you for the music

Last Saturday night after watching the concert-tribute Lagi Kitang Naaalala at the CCP, dedicated to the three late National Artists Atang dela Rama, Lucio San Pedro and Levi Celerio, I went to bed with the songs replaying in my mind like my favorite albums (the Beatles, etc.) I never get tired of playing – and replaying.

As I lulled myself to sweet slumber humming the soothing Sa Ugoy ng Duyan, Maestro Lucio’s immortal lullaby, I psyched myself into meeting the maestro, Ka Atang and Mang Levi (as they were addressed by CCP’s Nanding Josef when he thanked the audience for coming) in my dream so I could thank them for leaving a rich legacy of music.

I’m sure that where they are – yes, up there with the angels making beautiful music – the three musical giants must have looked down misty-eyed at the audience that Saturday night, the second of the three-night performance, giving a standing ovation to the more than two dozen performers who delivered the songs in a magnificent two-and-a-half-hour show made more memorable by the Ballet Philippines, the Angono Symphonic Band, the Bayanihan Philippines National Folk Dance Company, the Madrigal Singers, the Tanghalang Pilipino and the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra.

Those all-too-familiar songs, heard over and over again with nostalgic longing like the voice of a loved one long gone, seemed to have a new ring to them at the CCP Main Theater. You hung on to every word of every line of every lyric of those songs, with the stereophonic player in your mind spinning gently in sync with the performers.

Regine Velasquez, in a red gown with a plunging neckline (making our group wonder if they were real or, ehem, enhanced) was a last-minute replacement, all right, for Celeste Legaspi who backed out due to some, uh, "technicality," but she proved that second choice(s) could be better than the original ones by giving a moving rendition of the opening number Lagi Kitang Naaalala (music by Leopoldo Silos, lyrics by Mang Levi). Regine would later come back to sing Sa Ugoy ng Duyan, which would have been done by the piqued Celeste and her daughter Waya Gallardo. As usual, Regine was a show-stopper.

Having interviewed Mang Levi at Mario’s Restaurant (Tomas Morato Avenue, Quezon City) where he played soulful violin music until the last day of his life, I was drawn to the medley of songs he wrote lyrics for. The first, Pipitonggatang na Kalesahang Medley, consisted of Ang Pipit (by R. Alinsod), Pitong Gatang (by Tony Maiquez, theme song of the movie topbilled by FPJ, sung by Fred Panopio), Kung Ako’y Magaasawa (Juan Silos, Jr.) and Kalesa (Ernani Cuenco). The performers – Carlo Orosa, JM Rodriguez, Noel Rayos, Arnold Reyes and Tonypet Gaba, the guy in the biyahilo commercial – were lively, from their loudly colorful costumes to their singing style, perking up the audience with lullabies and kundimans.

The second, Filipino Love Songs Medley, was made up of Diligin Mo ng Hamog ang Uhaw na Lupa (by Ernani Cuenco, from the movie starring Erap Estrada and Gloria Diaz), sung by Jeffrey Hidalgo and Ciara Sotto; Saan Ka Man Naroroon (by Restie Umali, from the movie starring Lolita Rodriguez, Marlene Dauden and Eddie Rodriguez) by Franco Laurel and Roselle Nava; Sapagka’t Kami’y Tao Lamang (by Tony Maiquez, from the movie, also starring Lolita, Marlene and Eddie, that started the love-triangle trend in 1963); and Gaano Ko Ikaw Kamahal (by Ernani Cuenco).

The other Levi Celerio songs, Galawgaw/Alembong, (music by Juan Silos, Jr.) were sung by heavyweights (literally!) Bituin Escalante and Sheila Francisco with a touch of infectious naughtiness. This portion was introduced with a film clip of the LVN Galawgaw movie showing the late Nida Blanca and Nestor de Villa (Alembong, on the other hand, starred the late Lita Gutierrez).

Elizabeth Ramsey and daughter Jaya were a riot in Waray-Waray, also written by Juan Silos, Jr. with lyrics by Mang Levi. For a while, I thought mother and daughter would steal the thunder from each other; instead, they blended beautifully as a comic duo. The other Levi Celerio song Kahit Konting Pagtingin (music by Gomez-Hammond, recorded by the late Ric Segreto, used in the FPJ-Sharon Cuneta Viva starrer), was rendered with restraint by young talent Roel Nicco Valenzuela.

Dressed in a Barbie Doll-inspired pink gown, Verni Varga did her own haunting version of Bituing Marikit, the only song in the repertoire not done by the three National Artists being honored. Music of Bituin was by Nicanor Abelardo and lyrics by Servando de los Angeles.

Miss Saigon graduate (as Thuy) Robert Seña gave a stirring rendition of Alamat ng Lahi (by Maestro Lucio) and later, toward the finale, the heart-rending Bayan Ko (music by Constancio de Guzman, lyrics by Jose Corazon de Jesus), which was one of the two songs (the other was Ang Karayom ay Iduro, also by de Guzman and de Jesus, sung by Robert’s wife Isay Alvarez) in the excerpts from the zarzuela Walang Sugat (music by Fulgencio Tolentino and libretto by Severino Reyes) where Ka Atang played the lead heroine Julia.

Listening to Robert Seña’s powerful (awesome!) voice, I realized why they said that when he performed at Theater Royale Drury Lane in London’s West End (for Miss Saigon), the theater trembled.

Others who gave delightful performances were Calvin Millado and Karla Gutierrez in Anong Sarap, and again Calvin with Rachel Alejandro in Estrella, both in the excerpts from the Commonwealth-era zarzuela Paglipas ng Dilim; Ryan’s wife Emmy Cayabyab in Nabasag na Banga, and RJ Rosales and Dianne dela Fuente in Awit ng Pabo at Loro, both in the excerpts from Dalagang Bukid, the 1919 zarzuela which launched Ka Atang’s career.

I say, "Bravo, bravo!" not only to the performers but also to musical director Josefino Chino Toledo and director Chris Millado (who deserves another applause for his superb direction of Insiang, staged at the Huseng Batute recently); and to the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and ABS-CBN for co-producing the show as fund-raiser for the organization of a National Artists Gallery.

(Note: Lagi Kitang Naaalala was taped by ABS-CBN as a TV special, with Zsa Zsa Padilla doing the opening number and Piolo Pascual for the Pabo at Loro number also with Dianne dela Fuente. Watch for it soon on Channel 2.)