Aitken: Awesome virtuoso / Sanso's 'Show of Shows'

Robert Aitken, Canada’s leading flutist, was the dominant figure in a unique flute concert which also featured eminent pianist Cristine Coyiuto, her flutist daughter Caitlin and the Philippine Society Flute Orchestra at F. Santiago Hall.

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s Hamburger Sonata in G Major for flute and piano opened the program. Bach considerably influenced Haydn and Mozart, his music remaining contrapuntal like his father’s. The contrapuntal dialogue between Aitken and Cristine was flawless, exquisitely fluid and smooth as it was in Georges Hue’s contemporary Fantasie for flute and piano with its fascinating trills and lyrical flute passages.

The rendition of Franz Doppler’s Andante et Rondo for two flutes and piano, with Caitlin on flute II, was marked by marvelously close ensemble work, Aitken’s impeccable performance complemented by that of Cristine and Caitlin. Forthwith, Aitken observed: “It was a great pleasure to perform with Caitlin in one of the most important two-flute and piano pieces in the repertoire. Caitlin’s technical command and flexibility were outstanding. She never missed a note in the wonderful performance. I felt entirely comfortable with her and her exceptional musical mother Cristine.”

“The leaps in melody, the disjointed harmonies, the sudden fluctuations from the naïve and the simple to the unexpected and the complex,” these qualities as noted by musicologists were eloquently delineated by Aitken and Cristine in Prokofiev’s Sonata in D Major, with the latter conveying her own sparkling artistry and brilliant technique in tremendously daunting passages. Flutist and pianist flamboyantly conveyed the piquant, witty, infectious tartness of Prokofiev’s sonata.

J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto in G Major, originally scored for strings and clavier, with polyphony of distinctly diverse rhythms, was arranged for the flute by John E. Davis. Local music lovers hear the flute only in brief solo passages in concertos, symphonies or operas (e.g., the Mad Scene in Lucia). The 30-member flute orchestra offered an entirely new and distinct auditory experience — gentle, soothing and utterly pleasurable, with the dynamic Ringo Chan conducting.

Among the orchestra’s leading flutists were German-trained Eric Barcelo, PPO’s principal flutist; Paris Conservatory award-winning Tony Maigue; Clarion Chamber Ensemble founder David Johnson, MSO flutist Raymund Sison, newest duo partner of Ingrid Santamaria, and Caitlin who took master classes under Aitken himself.

With varying registers, the ensemble acquired diverse tonal qualities resembling somewhat those of the strings and brasses, thus giving the impression of a more richly-hued, much larger orchestra than it was actually.

In Mozart’s Andante for flute and orchestra and Franz Doppler’s romantic Fantasie Pastoral Hongroise, soloist Aitken heightened listening pleasure a hundred-fold with his awesome virtuosity. His virtuosity was even more admirable in his own composition “Plain song” sans orchestra, with fluid and resonant sounds as well as strange, weird atonalities in a piece whose structure defied description, and had the incredible innovation of two notes being played simultaneously.

Lusty approbation led to a Fauré work which Aitken described as a test for sight-reading.

The concert, made possible by James Coyiuto and David Johnson, gained a deeper respect and admiration for the ancient flute. With the audience raving, Coyiuto justifiably hopes Aitken’s visit will lead to a flute renaissance.

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The invitation reads in part: “Juvenal Sansó, one of the country’s foremost senior artists and masters, opens “PREMIER SANSO: A Show of Shows” — an exhibit of more than a hundred rare works — today at 6:30 p.m., ending Nov. 24 (his birthday) at The Sapphire Ballroom, Araneta Center, QC.

“The master himself will share with art lovers aspects of his stellar career as painter, printmaker, photographer, set-and-costume designer for French opera houses. Another surprise: a treasure trove of rare landscapes, forays into theater and opera, and early sketches.”