The best of 2001 in retrospect

It is astonishing how swiftly for an old man old Father Time runs his race, the sand in his hourglass sifting down with relentless certainty. We are so absorbed in our petty daily concerns that the feathered hours wing by unnoticed and suddenly one day, we pause from our labors and cry out in disbelief. Have we come to the end of another year again?

It is that time of year again when this schoolteacher moonlighting as a critic makes a list of the finest performances in the theater and the concert hall. I should not fail to acknowledge the artists who have made these presentations most memorable.

The concerts/plays sponsored by different foreign embassies have contributed much to our cultural life. The best of these include the following:

• Kaze: The Wild, Wailing Sounds of Tsugaru Shamisen presented by the Japan Foundation Manila Office and the Embassy of Japan – a shamisen ensemble in a concert-demonstration of Japanese traditional music;

• Speaking in Tongues, a prize-winning play by Australian author Andrew Bovell, directed by Paul Morales of Dulaang Talyer for the Australia Center which explores in a post-modern idiom the colors of lust and love;

• Les Trompettes de Versailles, an ensemble presented by the Embassy of France, as part of the French Spring in Manila, in a concert of the 17th century French Baroque music of the reign of King Louis XV; Orchestre de Contrebasses, also presented by the French Embassy and Alliance Francaise de Manille, a unique group of six musicians from Paris who draw the weirdest sound from their double basses;

• Verdi’s Il Trovatore, a flawed production by the Singapore Lyric Opera, the Opera Guild Foundation of the Philippines, the NCCA and the CCP, with some great singing from Italian soprano Christina Lamberti, mezzo Yang Jie, and baritone Mario di Marco.

• The two concerts of the Asian Youth Orchestra conducted by Sergiu Comissiona with pianist Cecile Licad in Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini and violinist Leila Josefowicz in Mendelsson’s Violin Concerto;

• And a concert of the Suk Chamber Orchestra from the Czech Republic which performed Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons with Chinese violinist Jue Yao, Dvorak’s Serenade in E Major and other pieces by Czech composers, each performed to perfection.

The country’s premier orchestra, the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra delivered some outstanding performances during the year. Among these are the following:

• The monumental reading of Rossini’s Stabat Mater presented by the San Agustin Museum in cooperation with the Embassy of Spain, the Agencia Española de Cooperacion Internacional, Instituto Cervantes, the CCP and the Friends of Intramuros Foundation, with soloists Aileen Espinosa-Cura, Jai Sabas-Aracama, Nolyn Cabahug, Lawrence Jatayna, and the U.P. Concert Chorus with Maestro Ruggero Barbieri conducting;

• Concert 8 of the PPO presented Schubert’s Symphony No.8 ("Unfinished"), Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor (with Alfonso "Coke" Bolipata, as soloist) and R. Strauss’ Death and Transfiguration, with magisterial conductor Oscar Yatco wielding the baton;

• Under Conductor Cecinio Ronquillo, a treat for youngsters–a program highlighted by Saint-Saens’ The Carnival of the Animals, with pianists Filmer Flores and Noemi Nemenzo as guest artists of the PPO to recreate the musical menagerie, and Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf with narrator Cris Villonco;

• And the stunning account of Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor conducted by Maestro Barbieri which may well allow the PPO to make the claim that it is among the best orchestras in Asia.

There’s one concert this year that has a special appeal to old-timers: Porter on Parade, a collection of Cole Porter’s best-loved songs performed delightfully by vocal artists Josephine Roces-Chavez and Eugene Villaluz, pianists Raul Sunico and Della Gamboa-Besa, flutist Antonio Maigue and guitarist Butch Roxas.

The best stage production of 2001 include the following:

• Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, a TicketCharge presentation conceived and directed by Jonas Sebastian with Arlynne Tupas and Andrew Vergara as Verona’s star-crossed lovers;

• Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, directed by Dr. Anton Juan for Repertory Philippines with a splendid cast headed by Leisl Batucan/Ana Abad Santos-Bitong and Tonipet Gaba;

• Norman-Simon’s The Secret Garden, Rep’s musical for its last season this year, directed by formidable tandem Zeneida Amador and Baby Barredo with a cast that includes Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo, Miguel Faustmann, Michael Williams, Noel Rayos, Jay Valencia-Glorioso and Karla Gutierrez;

• Rody C. Vera’s Dreamweavers, a PETA production for Bankard TicketCharge directed by the playwright and Maribel Legarda–a drama about three women whose lives are intertwined as figures in a tapestry.