Yatco-Tiu, Wong concerts, Ole!, Love Unspoken set

The Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra's 27th season resumes tomorrow Jan. 14, at the CCP main theater, 8 p.m., with Conductor Laureate Oscar C. Yatco wielding the baton over Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 in C Minor and Hindemith’s Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl von Weber, and virtuoso pianist Albert Tiu playing Chopin’s Concerto No. 1 in E Minor.

* * *

The Friends for Cultural Concerns of the Philippines, headed by Minerva M. Tanseco, as president, will present the dance company “El Nuevo Flamenco” in a fiery Ole! at the CCP Little Theater on Jan. 20, 7 p.m. Guests during cocktails will be entertained by flamenco dancers and singers.

* * *

UST Conservatory of Music faculty members, professional alumni artists and outstanding students will perform in “Love Unspoken” — an operatic setting of excerpts from operas, operettas and Broadway musicals — at the CCP main theater on Jan. 30 and 31 at 8 p.m. The extravaganza will be a year shy of UST’s 400th anniversary.

Giving media a brief peek at the show, US-based Andrew Fernando, baritone, sang an aria from Puccini’s opera Edgar; voice student Nohmer Nival, tenor, rendered an aria from Lalo’s Le Roi d Y’s; voice professor Elisanta Cortes, soprano, sang an aria from Puccini’s La Wally; Nival and Cortes sang the duet “All I Ask of You” from Weber’s musical “Phantom of the Opera.”

The three singers impressed the audience in varying degrees: Fernando, with his tremendous power; Cortes, with her controlled high register and fine nuances; singer-in-progress Nival, with his rich promise. Their excellent assisting artist was Mary Ann Espina.

CCP v-p and artistic director Raul Sunico announced that “Love Unspoken” will offer such favorites as the sextette from Donizetti's Lucia, quartets from Verdi’s Rigoletto and Puccini’s La Boheme, arias from Puccini’s Tosca and Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana, songs from Romberg’s The Student Prince and Bernstein’s West Side Story.

Costumes, stage sets and light effects will enhance the show, with singing complemented by acting. Voice students will form the chorus. The UST Symphony Orchestra under Herminigildo Ranera will render overtures to Rossini’s La Gazza Ladra and Strauss’ Die Fledermaus.

Direction is by Floy Quintos; light effects by Ruel Beronio; set design by Ricardo Cruz. Leading soprano Rachelle Gerodias heads the seasoned singers who include Clarissa Ocampo, Thea Perez, Naomi Sison, tenors Lemuel de la Cruz, Randy Gilongo, Ronan Ferrer and Eugene de los Santos, mentors Irma Potenciano, Gloria Coronel.

*   *   *

Dutch-born pianist See Siang Wong, internationally awarded and much sought-after soloist, chamber musician and accompanist, will give a special concert with the PPO under Herminigildo Ranera at the CCP main theater on Jan. 23 at 8 p.m. Wong will render Haydn’s Concerto in D Major and Beethoven’s Concerto No. 3 in C Minor.

Described by the Swiss Neue Zurcher Zeitung as “a subtle painter of sound,” Wong made his debut at age 12 with the Dutch Radio Orchestra, and has since performed across Europe, Asia, Central and South America and the Middle East, in such prestigious venues as Tonhalle Zurich Lucerne, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, St. Martin in the Fields London, Salle Olivier Messiaen Paris, Bertrama Prague, Marble Hall Budapest and St. Petersburg Philharmonic Hall.

Highlights of his career are concerts with top-ranking conductors including Pierre Boulez, Ralf Wiekert and Howard Griffiths, and collaborations with leading composers. His recordings of concertos by Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Messiaen’s Oiseaux Exotiques were given the “Swiss Classical Highlight” Award.

Wong’s 2010 season will feature two Decca releases: Beethoven’s Pathetique, Moonlight and Waldstein sonatas accompanied by the Winterthurt Symphony, Switzerland’s oldest orchestra. Wong, who teaches at Zurich U., holds master classes in Switzerland and abroad, and is with the exclusive Steinway and Sons Artists.

Affordable tickets for his concert are at P400 and P300.