It was the very first time music lovers heard works solely by composers of one country — Argentina. This was at the recital of Argentine pianist Emilio Peroni at the CCP Little Theater.
In the recent past, our own celebrated pianist Reynaldo Reyes exclusively interpreted, at each recital, works by only one composer — Beethoven or Chopin, or Schumann or Bach, etc. For his part, Peroni, a trim man with an engaging personality, regaled the audience with compositions by his compatriots from early to mid-20th century, prefacing his renditions with enlightening comments on the composers in a widely diverse and fascinating program. Many of them were prolific, with Peroni declaring that most had turned out from 300 to 500 works!
The pianist opened the recital with “Ballecito” by Carlos Guastavino, an avant-garde selection that sounded atonal, its thick clusters of notes dissonant and strange to the many whose orientation hewed to the classic music of Bach, Handel or early Beethoven, and to the romantic music of Chopin, Schumann, Mendelssohn or Brahms.
Composers Alberto Williams and Julian Aguirre were more conventional but Williams’ “Nubes Tempestuosas” was technically very demanding. Alberto Ginastera is familiar to many of us. His “Danza de la moza donosa” and “Malambo” were replete with the frenetic, driving, dynamic rhythms of Argentinian dances evoking passion much like Spanish dances (e.g., the Flamenco) do.
Indeed, we Filipinos, often mistake Argentine music for Spanish, owing to the great similarities between them. Also, owing to our long, constant exposure to Spanish airs.
Certain works in the second portion of the program, in fact, were highly familiar to the majority in the audience; e.g., “La cumparsita” (tango) by Gerardo Matos Rodriguez and “El Chioclo,” the second encore piece — both of which we have always assumed to be by Spanish composers, as also Astor Piazzolla’s “Verano porteno” (tango) and even more familiar to our ears, his “Adios nonino” (tango).
Likewise, Carlos Gardel’s “El dia que me quieras” (tango-song). Decades ago, I used to listen to Gardel singing (on records), and I thought all along he was Spanish! (According to Peroni, Gardel, singer-composer, was also an accomplished pianist.)
Ironically enough, the selections identified as tangos are not “danceable” at all except “La Cumparsita” and “El Chioclo”. Piazzolla’s tangos are rhythmically too forbidding, his notations far too complex to be followed gracefully on the dance floor.
In the recital of Argentinian comtemporary classic and popular music, Peroni demonstrated total technical command — his runs seamlessly covered the entire keyboard, his contrasting dynamics were arresting — as he brilliantly expressed, with striking eloquence, the spirit, the soul of Argentina.
CCP president Raul Sunico, himself an outstanding international concertist, and Argentine Ambassador Joaquin Otero, denoted, each in his fashion, the significance of Peroni’s recital, the first of its kind in the local scene.
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Instituto Cervantes cultural officer Jose Ma. Fons Guardiola arranged a forum for visiting Javier Galvan, former IC director in Manila and now IC director in Madrid’s central office. The forum, presided over by Galvan, discussed Philippine and Spanish cultures as well as the teaching of Spanish in the Philippines.
Incidentally, architect Galvan designed the IC building, the beautiful annex to the Casino Español. During his stay in Algeria, Galvan realized that Philippine culture had become very much a part of his life.
Forum discussants were Cookie Feria of the Philippine Consulate in Madrid where she lived for 11 years; Rafael Castellano, Benito Legarda Jr., Spanish professor Beatriz Alvarez, Gemma Cruz among others. Legarda observed that although there are schools teaching French, German, Italian, there is no school teaching Spanish. Gemma sadly observed that historical sites — most of which were built during the Spanish era, are slowly being demolished or destroyed in violation of the Constitution. Some of Guillermo Gomez’s students in Spanish are Chinese, proof of the widening dissemination of the language. F. Sionil Jose was conspicuously silent throughout the forum.
After 300 years, Spanish culture is here to stay. But relations are no longer between colonizers and colonized but between friends and friends, brothers and brothers. Galvan graciously if incredibly observed that the Philippines is now helping Spain’s economy!