Caces, Esmilla featured in riveting concert / Neni receives Pax award

Unfortunately, the invitation from the French Embassy and the Alliance Francaise to Dana Ciocarlie’s concert arrived on the day of the concert itself at which time I had already another commitment.

Cecile Licad’s concert at the Ayala Malls coincided with the one I am reviewing hereunder. At any rate, Don Jaime Zobel de Ayala should be highly commended for widening the audience for classic music, particularly among those who cannot afford concerts in regular venues. Don Jaime has set a worthy example for other mall owners to follow.

*      *      *

All the orchestral works played by the PPO last March 18 were thoroughly familiar. Yet Aries Caces, setting aside his pianistic skills and wielding the baton, made them sound vividly fresh and vastly different from other renditions. This observation applied to Beethoven’s Egmont Overture, Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 1 in D Major and Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy.

As soon as Caces ascended the podium at the CCP theater, he immediately engaged audience attention, his body language exuding high energy, zest and boundless spirit. He would crouch, bend forward, extend and briskly wave his arms to stir the orchestra toward crushing fortissimos or keep his fluttery fingers down to indicate feathery pianissimos.

Beethoven based his Overture on Goethe’s play portraying the Count of Egmont’s fierce resistance against the Duke of Alba’s despotic oppression. Solid, firm, assertive tones made for a grand majestic opening, the loftiness of the music conveyed throughout with meticulous care.

In the Romeo and Juliet selection, the orchestra reflected the composer’s melodic spontaneity, his feeling for large, intense climaxes — e.g. the clashes between the Montague and Capulets delineated by the brasses and percussions — the subtleties and nuances in the quivering, haunting melodies of the Romeo-Juliet love theme, the subdued string dolefully signalling the lovers’ tragic death. Indeed as a master of orchestration, Tchaikovsky was at his descriptive best, this interpreted by Caces with moving expressiveness and magnificent eloquence.

Prokofiev is known for his great dramatic power, sensitively projected emotions and moods. There was an unmistakable stamp of authority in Caces’ rendition of the composer’s Symphony, conveying sweep and vigor in the modulations and turns of phrases through brasses and percussions, the string bringing the profusion of melodic lines into incandescent life.

The rapturous applause led to one of the most familiar of Brahms’ Hungarian dances, its beautiful melodies so breezily etched in dramatically contrasting rhythms that the piece was an invitation for the audience to rise and whirl about.

The young virtuoso Joseph Esmilla opened the first movement of Sibelius Violin Concerto in the softest, almost inaudible strains, then startled and amazed as he unravelled the mysteries of the diabolically challenging and tortuous yet fascinating cadenza. The ensemble stayed in the background while Esmilla rendered lyrical passages, stupendous bravura dominating in the intense, stirring conclusion.

For encore, Esmilla played “Tango No. 3” (whose composer escaped me), again giving listeners reason to marvel at his delicate artistry and technical expertise in the unaccompanied piece.

The riveting concert, the PPO’s first under Caces as its resident conductor, and Esmilla’s second after a 17-year absence, was extremely gratifying, inevitably demonstrating the superior qualities of both baton wielder and soloist.

*      *      *

Distinguished columnist Mrs. Flor Marie (Neni) Sta. Romana Cruz, outstanding alumna of St. Scholastica’s College, received the PAX award, the highest given to SSC alumnae. Dr. Jose S. Sandejas, chairman of the SSC board of trustees conferred the award, with SSC President Sr. M. Angelica Leviste, OSB, in attendance. After the rites, Neni delivered the commencement address.

SSC is known throughout the country for its music department, now headed by Sr. Mary Placid. In 1907, Sr. Baptista Battig, a nun from Tutzing, Germany, abandoned her auspicious concert career to introduce Western classic music in the Philippines, imparting what she had studied under Ludwig Deppe, the last pupil of Liszt.

Virtually, all local music schools trace their roots back to Sr. Battig and the significant college of music she established.