Santamaria, Castillo in brilliant ‘contest’

What may have been the first significant event in DLSU’s Teresa G. Yuchengco auditorium in the nine-story Don Enrique Yuchengco edifice — this donated by son Ambassador Alfonso Y. Yuchengco — was Friday’s 8th Romantic Piano Concerto Journey.

Soloist Ingrid Santamaria and new PPO conductor Eugene Castillo brilliantly rose to the challenge of two virtuosic concerti: Rachmaninoff’s C Minor and Tschaikovsky’s B Flat Major.

From the former, one deduced that Rachmaninoff was a great composer and a great pianist; though one may never know how devastatingly he must have played his own work (except from records), Santamaria’s interpretation was highly gratifying. She impressed at once, her opening chords, sonorous and intense, growing in volume. The strings soon luminously intoned the first theme – melancholy and pessimistic. The mood persisted in the adagio, this gently introduced by the strings, woodwinds and horns, and the beautifully sad strains were joined by the pianist who rendered the cadenza with brio and panache.

In the closing scherzo, prefaced by long orchestral passages evincing Castillo’s command of line and dynamics, the piano introduced the theme now known as the song Full Moon and Empty Arms – the strings, disciplined woodwinds and brasses taking on the melody in exquisitely flowing, cohesive manner.

With Castillo eliciting the instrumentalists’ total resources, the orchestral thunder and the pianist’s rapid, powerful choral sequences reached a tremendous climax.

Tschaikovsky’s daunting bravura passages require virtuosity and demonic passion. Santamaria’s swift, smooth chords and runs were exciting, the melodies soaring in the lyrical portions.

From the start, soloist and orchestra were in sonorous "combat". The horns heralded the melody, the piano following with chords covering the entire keyboard as the strings played the familiar theme. With aplomb and self- assurance, the pianist rendered the extended terrifyingly demanding cadenza with singularly remarkable fingerwork.

The dialogue reverted back to the melody, which was taken by the strings, stirring up another contest, the piano in fortissimo passages. The robust, firm and secure brasses brought the section to a close.

Followed the unabashedly romantic adagio, the muted strings quivering. In the final allegro con fuoco, orchestra and soloist again vied for attention, later joining forces and marvelously "colliding" once more. The piano built up a "storm" while the orchestra strongly asserted itself, Castillo holding it in tight rein.

The mighty rivalry was resumed again, the piano vibrantly executing octaves through the whole register. Dazzling octaves from both piano and orchestra ended in towering crescendo, a dynamic understanding of Tschaikovsky’s idiom in closest rapport. Rousing applause led to Brahms’s Hungarian Dances rendered by Santamaria and Reynaldo Reyes who, by playing and earlier lecturing on romantic music, identified himself as the other "traveler" in the Journey.

The opening Slavonic Dances conveyed dash, verve and zest, Castillo having admirably captured Dvorak’s fiery, nationalistic spirit.