Cecile Licad redefined

During the Asian Youth Orchestra engagement two years ago at the CCP theater, the featured soloists were Cecile Licad and violinist Leila Josefowicz. After the latter’s concert, I went backstage to greet AYO founder Richard Pontzius. In that instant, Licad appeared seemingly from nowhere, and pointing to me, she told Leila, within the hearing of all those present backstage: "Ms. Orosa discovered me."

That was most gracious of Licad. Indeed, I started writing about her when she was only eleven, focusing uninterrupted attention on her before she left for Curtis where she won the Leventritt Award at 19. I persisted chronicling many more years thereafter – on triumphs and travails abroad, her mother Rosario "Charing" Licad avidly sending me letters on Cecile’s studies at Marlboro, Academie Maurice Ravel in France, etc. and later, on performances with major orchestras which were intimations of world fame.

Between her first concert at the CCP where she gingerly walked onstage in what looked like her First Communion dress, and her latest solo recital at the Philamlife, 31 years have elapsed, with Licad now a dauntless 42-year old concertist.

In each of her periodic home visits, Licad has consistently awed her listeners, conveying added breadth to her interpretive powers, a new dimension needing a re-definition. Her latest performance, which ended with Chopin’s 24 preludes, was certainly an assertion of this. The Preludes are not unlike the Etudes in that they enlarge the range of piano technique; one Prelude strengthens the left hand; another is meant to increase nimbleness of fingers in the runs, or power in the chords. But besides honing skill, Preludes, like the Etudes have an artistic merit of their own, with the former creating mood or atmosphere e.g. "the brooding, sunless E Minor" (No. 4), "the yearningly sad B Minor" (No. 16), "the solemn C Minor" (No. 20), "the rippling, open-air F Major" (No. 23). The commonly called Raindrop Prelude is the most familiar and identifiable, perhaps because it is the most descriptive.

In delineating mood or ambiance, Licad rendered each Prelude vastly distinct and different from the rest. Further, she more than proved she was equal to their technical demands while sensitively expressing the widely-divergent moods through exquisite tonal colors. With Licad’s rendition, one might venture to say that even if Chopin had composed nothing else but the Preludes, his place in piano literature would still be secure.

Many regard Debussy the greatest composer for the piano after Chopin, and that night, Licad interpreted Debussy’s Estampes: Pagodes (Pagodas), La Soiree dans Grenade (Night in Granada) and Jardin sous la pluie (Garden in the Rain). One might relate Estampes to Chopin’s Preludes by observing that Licad delineated, and here I quote a musicologist: "The creation of a refined and delicate stylist with a temperament of a Chopin subjected to modern influences." With Licad, "modern influences" mean an audacious disregard for convention which, nevertheless, retained the hazy impressionism – the subtleties underlying Debussy’s music.

Schumann’s Sonata No 2 in G Minor had a surging opening (Adagio Allegro) with a finale, as conveyed by Licad, evoking a gathering storm – both of which were in dramatic contrast to the quiet, tranquil first movement (Adagio Allegro) of Beethoven’s Sonata Op. 18 (Les Adieux). How Licad encapsulated Beethoven’s vibrant spirit and encompassing drama!

In retrospect, the program pointed up the magnitude and breadth of Licad’s amazing capacities. Through her continuing journey to becoming a consummate and complete pianist, she conveys added depth – a new dimension that requires redefining at virtually every homecoming performance.