Bravo Maestro Halffter / Sunico in 2 concerts

“Bravo España” had every ear glued to the Spanish music conducted by Spaniard Cristobal Halffter as he wielded the baton over the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra at the CCP main auditorium.

De Falla’s dance suite El Sombrero de Tres Picos (The Three-Cornered Hat) was commissioned by Diaghilev for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, and was subsequently choreographed by Leonide Massine and danced by him and Karsavina. The tremendously dynamic Halffter conveyed the dances’ vigor, spirit, zest and fire, particularly the Miller’s Dance (Farruca) wherein Massine had roused the conservative Londoners as he stomped and swayed, arresting attention even while he stood absolutely still onstage — all this to the composition which dramatically synthesizes Spanish folk arts.

Noches en los Jardines de España (Nights in the Gardens of Spain), also by De Falla, were symphonic impressions for piano and orchestra which hewed to a definite tonal, rhythmic and thematic design. Evocative rather than descriptive nocturnes — as De Falla himself pointed out — he wholly conveyed the essence, ambiance and vibrance of the music while unerringly and impeccably etching the daunting rhythms whether slow or rapid, lyrical or dramatic.

W.R. Anderson describes the nocturnes thus: “In the Generalife, we hear Granada’s hill garden with its fountains and ancient cypresses contemplating the city below. At night, with the dreamy patios, melancholy thickets and flowery pomegranates in the palace of the Moorish sultan, we feel a sense of mystery and the ghosts of the past . . . We imagine another garden for the second nocturne, The Dance in the Distance. About us again are the orange trees, the myrtles and the palms and the splashing waters. Mandolines and guitars play Oriental-sounding tunes, coming nearer in the gentle wafts of tone, now up above, now falling on the light breeze. In the last nocturne, In the Gardens of Sierra Cordoba, at a party on the mountainside, gypsies play, sing and dance. Here is music wilder, rougher, still rooted in the East, in impassioned feeling and primitive power.” Halffter and Golez were in total technical and emotional accord throughout the nocturnes.

Halffter’s own Preludio para Madrid 92 — rousing, jubilant, of monumental power and drive — fused old and new “the cultured and the popular” in a distinctive manner. Reflecting festivities and merry-making, the piece drew massive, ear-shattering orchestral volume, augmented prominently by the xylophone and percussions, and by the Madrigals (under Mark Anthony Carpio), the Immaculate Conception College Chorale (under Alfred D. Samonte) and the UE Chorale (under Anna A. Piquero), followed by contrasting lambent pianissimos.

After the riotous applause, Halffter repeated Farucca and Ruperto Chapi’s Preludio de la Revoltosa which had opened the program.

Nothing, except perhaps Russian music, matches the fire, the turbulence and passion expressed by Spanish music. “Bravo España”, so ignited and electrified the audience that I must end this review with a lusty “Bravo, Halffter!”

President GMA headed the audience which included Spanish Ambassador Luis and Soledad Arias, Argentine Ambassador Mario and Silvia Schuff, Don Jaime and Bea Zobel de Ayala.

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To celebrate both the Social Security System’s 51st anniversary and the Yuletide Season, eminent international concert pianist Raul Sunico performed yesterday with cellist Renato Lucas, tenor Lemuel de la Cruz, guitarist Ruben Reyes and soprano Joy Abalon Tamayo a program of classical, Filipino Broadway, contemporary music and Christmas carols. Some numbers were arranged by Sunico and Reyes. The SSS’ renovated Ramon Magsaysay Hall is the newest cultural venue where earlier, the SSS coffeetable book was launched.

Tonight at 7:30 in the F. Santiago Hall, don’t miss “Christmas Liszt” which will feature Sunico and the MMCO under Chino Toledo.