Gerhardt, Licad: Dazzling! Yatco: The third Titan / UST All-Wagner concert

At the CCP concert last Sept. 15, the compositions were evenly divided between German cellist Alban Gerhardt and pianist Cecile Licad: Ligeti’s Sonata for Gerhardt; Chopin’s Scherzo in C Sharp Minor for Licad, with the rest of the program featuring the two as a duo.

They seemingly inspired and ignited each other, playing with one mind and spirit, one impulse and impetus, producing impeccable rapport, perfect balance in infinitely varying dynamics and expression. Accordingly, what exquisite music was heard in Janecek’s “Fairytale” sequences from the Firebird Suite, the melodic themes and constant rhythmic changes in Beethoven’s Sonata in A, the arresting atonalities and dissonances of Shostakovich’s Sonata in D Minor!

A test of vitality, zest, spirit, audacity and, above all, virtuosic skill was offered by Ligeti’s Sonata, and Gerhardt’s rendition showed consummate, superlative musicianship. His burnished, luminous tones, vigorous thrusts and swift, nimble maneuverings created an almost atomic outburst, his overwhelming performance giving total credence to the description of him as “one of the great cellists of our time.”

Chopin’s Scherzos demand enormous strength, a bravura technique and what a musicologist terms as “an understanding of musical Byronics”. Licad exhibited all these in full measure. Further, she combined speed and energy with the most eloquent artistry in Scherzo No. 3 in C Sharp Minor.

The duo responded to audience uproar with pieces by Rachmaninov — his characteristic lyricism here surfacing — and Prokofiev. And for a show of singular versatility, Gerhardt, taking the bass part of the piano, played the familiar Hungarian Dance with Licad, vigor and gusto predominating, as the dazzling duo ended the evening.

The following night, Gerhardt was the soloist in Shostakovich’s Concerto No. 1 in E Flat Major. In its own distinctive style, the piece was as fast, furious and frenzied as Ligeti’s Sonata, bristling with labyrinthine, tortuous, demonic passages; the cadenza shift swift to slow, loud to soft, dramatic to lyrical. How amazingly Gerhardt proved a supreme master of his instrument!

Shostakovich wrote the Concerto for Soviet cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, who once performed at the CCP, and who gave the work its American premiere in Philadelphia in 1959 under Conductor Eugene Ormandy. The late Rostropovich was touted as the successor of Pablo Casal. Who knows, Gerhardt could be the successor of Rostropovich! In response to insistent clamor for an encore, Gerhardt played Moderato composed by Rostropovich who must have been immensely pleased with Gerhardt’s overwhelming interpretation.

Licad’s own solo was Prokofiev’s devastatingly percussive Concerto in C Major replete with lightning arpeggios, runs, trills and chords in strong staccato accents. Undaunted, Licad was incredibly brilliant and tightly focused throughout the fiendish work.

The lusty clamor brought on a Kreisler-Rachmaninov transcription, a Chopin piece and Buencamino’s Mayon, Licad’s emotional impulses, her finely graded and sustained pianissimos contrasting with thunderous chords magnetizing the audience.

For both concertos, Maestro Oscar Yatco wielded the baton over the PPO, conveying remarkably authoritative understanding and grasp of the challenging scores. His magnificent conducting made him the third titan of the concert which he opened with the Overture to Glinka’s opera Russlan and Ludmilla, infusing it with his characteristic passion and sweep.

All-Wagner program

Tomorrow at 7, the UST Symphony Orchestra under Herminigildo Ranera will interpret overtures and choruses from Wagner’s massive, lengthy operas. Featured will be bass soloist Jun Francis Jaranilla, Coro Tomasino under Ronan Ferrer and the Liturgikon Vocal Ensemble under Eugene de los Santos.

Tickets will be available at the CCP lobby.