A green New Year’s concert

A new year begins. The poetic soul sees in it rebirth, renewal, resurgence, renaissance, resurrection. One who looks for a symbol will find it in the mythical bird, the phoenix, which springs back to life from its own ashes. Its season is Spring. And its color is green, the color of grass, of trees, of all growing things, of life.

There is no place that engenders these thoughts better than the residence of Odette Alcantara in Blue Ridge, Quezon City. Heritage House is a place where civilized life and nature merge in harmony.

The invitation I received was for "A New Year’s Music Celebration." The CCP and the Philamlife Auditorium never have this kind of ambience. As for Paco Park, the stench of death lingers on, because it is a burial ground – the niches and the bones of a cholera epidemic are still there. Heritage House carries the scents of life.

I came to the concert from the University Belt in a cab with music mentor Dante de la Fuente and Humanities instructor Herbert de los Reyes. The vehicle had plowed through the dust and grime of the early evening traffic to bring us to Blue Ridge. It was with a sigh relief when we were deposited at 43 Hillside Loop. Here, far from the madding crowd, serenity was as palpable as the Guess? shoulder bag I carried my stuff in.

We got there early. The performing artists, violinist Melissa Lopez Exmundo and pianist Jonathan Arevalo Coo, were rehearsing some of their numbers. Odette had her hands full, bustling between the early arrivals and her cooking. Introductions were mostly unnecessary. Most were old friends – top music critic of a rival paper Pablo Tariman, program host of Maestro Filipino Bert Robledo, environmentalist Narda Camacho, PR charmer Bonjin Bolinao, pianist Zenas Lozada, harpist Lourdes de Leon with husband baritone Emmanuel Gregorio, painters Ivy Avellana Cosio and Allan Cosio, columnist Nestor Mata and National Artist for Music Lucrecia "Tita King" Kasilag on her wheelchair. There was also a group of young music students from NAMCYA. One could not expect a more congenial audience for a concert.

The first few measures of Edvard Grieg’s Sonata No. 3 in C minor, Op. 45 instantly established the impression of compatibility between Melissa and Jonathan. The first movement, Allegro molto ed appassionato, which leads to a resounding coda, conveyed the impression that the coupling of these young artists is a marriage made in a musical heaven, such that a group of matrons overcome by the passion of the performance broke into instantaneous applause.

The centerpiece of the sonata – the diamond in the ring – is the second movement, Allegreto espressivo alla Romanza. The first theme, a soulful melody lifted from the same composer’s Lyric Suite, is contemplated by the solo piano before the violin joins in, condoling with bittersweet empathy. A more agitated second subject follows before the soulful theme is reprised.

The last movement, Allegreto animoto, is a fiery conclusion that requires Melissa and Jonathan to pull out all the stops and throw caution to the winds.

Kasilag’s Intermezzo for Violin and Piano and Variations on Bahay Kubo Theme showcase this composer’s gift for invention and her love for Filipino musical folk material. And the two musicians apply their art to these pieces with an affinity to the musical sounds of their native soil.

During the intermission, Maribel Fernandez, manager of radio station DZFE, delivered a spiel on the mission of her station to promote and preserve the performances of Filipino musicians. The Maestro Filipino project of the Far East Broadcasting Company is well underway, but it needs the support of music lovers to prosper.

The second half of the program featured two compositions by Johannes Brahms, Sonata No. 1 in G Major, Op. 78 and a Scherzo.

Again, Melissa and Jonathan applied themselves to these pieces with a profound insight into the spirit of the material. As before, every page of the score, particularly the meditative Adagio of the sonata, came off splendidly, balancing the classical and the romantic elements of this composer with graceful ease.

They rewarded the clamor of their admirers for an encore with Ludwig van Beethoven’s Romance No.2 in F.

At this time, dinner was served. Any meal that came from Odette’s kitchen could not be anything else but memorable. Faithful friend and environmental lawyer Mimi Sison was on hand to attend to the guests.

Spotted among those lining up to the feast was film director Carlitos Siguion-Reyna, critic Juan Antonio Lanuza, Howard and Christine Belton of Unilever, Mother Earth board chairman Tes Choa, Mother Earth president Sonia Mendoza, Prof. Vicky Segovia of Miriam College, musician balikbayan Carmencita Lozada, and Maestra Rosario Buencamino Licad, mother of Cecile.

At the center of the dishes on the table was a big bowl of green salad. Of course… For me, the world that night was filled with the scent of green.