Bruckner revealed / Canada concert for GK

Bruckner’s strongest works, the unfinished Symphony No. 9 in D Minor and the Te Deum, were judicious choices of Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra music director-principal conductor Eugene Castillo for the season’s closing concert at the CCP main theater.

The over-long symphony — it took a full hour to finish — was pure music, as opposed to programmatic or descriptive. It opened majestically, the winds, particularly the brasses, playing dominantly and showing Bruckner’s ingenious treatment, with the strings infusing profound expression to the lyrical passages.

The climax was so powerful and thunderous one would have assumed the symphony had ended precipitately. The following movements were of the same structure, the calm invariably preceding the mighty, raging storm. The pattern would have become tedious and repetitive, each climax always seeming to be the last, had not each succeeding movement grown richer in thematic material, with every pause between movements making them more portentous and compelling, while serving to bind the themes more tightly together. Not deliberate on the composer’s part, the adagio ended the unfinished work as a very languid, gentle anti-climax.

Bruckner was supposedly influenced by Beethoven, Schubert and Wagner. Presumably, the scherzo’s delineation of a pastoral scene may have been influenced by Beethoven, the work’s lyricism by Schubert; the thunderous, towering climaxes, with their overwhelming impact, might have called to mind Wagner.

Castillo masterfully conveyed the dramatic contrasts of each movement, the strings, woodwinds, brasswinds and percussions contributing with vitality and intensity to the fluid ebb and flow of the music.

The Te Deum was interpreted by nearly a hundred chorus members composed of the Madrigals, founded by Andrea Veneracion and winner of top international awards, augmented by the Our Lady of Fatima Chorale under Philip Vincent Mabunga, the Immaculate Conception College Chorale under Alfred Allan Samonte, the Coro de San Sebastian under Elsie Eranista and the Manila Chamber Singers under Jose Emmanuel Aquino. The Madz’s Anthony Carpio served as over-all conductor.

The collective choir came up to expectations most of the time, producing dense, massive, vibrant and rich sounds, its fortissimos ascending the heavens, its prolonged pianissimos floating with remarkable control.

The orchestra, confident and assured, rendered glowing assistance, inspiring the huge choir.

However, the soloists — soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor and baritone — did not quite match expectations, imparting the general impression that further training, experience and exposure were wanting, as well as adequate vocal equipment, excepting the baritone’s.

Castillo’s magisterial baton gave a marvelous revelation of Bruckner’s greatness as a composer.

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Those concerned might wish to know that the second page of the program notes was an exact duplicate of the first page which, therefore, had no continuation. The second page devoted to the CCP staff likewise duplicated the first.

Canada concert for GK

The reputation of Gawad Kalinga, which is benefiting the entire country through the honesty and integrity of its organizers — the Couples for Christ headed by Antonio Meloto — is steadily spreading around the world. On June 9, proceeds from a Vancouver Academy of Music concert will in part go to GK.

To be featured will be Marguerite Echaus, faculty member of Vancouver Academy, and another member performing Rachmaninoff’s Piano Suite No. 2, Gershwin’s I’ve Got Rhythm Variations, R. Cayabyab’s compositions for two pianos, vocalists, strings and flute. There will also be a flute solo, dances and vocal solos by Joey Albert, concert organizer.

Echaus earned a Bachelor’s degree (magna cum laude) from the Catholic U. of America under Bela Nagy, and a Master’s degree from Holy Name College in Oakland, California. At Catholic U. Echaus was awarded an honor certificate for academic excellence.