OPM: Matchless lyricism turns to unmelodious pop at concert / A Tribute to Thomasians

Last Saturday's concert presented jointly by the Bel-Air and Salcedo Villages might be likened to a huge family gathering.

Rodel F. Colmenar was conducting the Manila Philharmonic Orchestra in a program of OPM as waiters were serving or taking orders from members of the audience who had come both to eat and listen to music at the Jaime Velasquez Park. Children romped and played, and at my table, two women were enjoying their dinner and a father-and-son were likewise enjoying their ba-on while a man two tables away, was spiritedly discoursing — certainly not on music!

Unmindful of all these, Colmenar wielded the baton over old songs which are now regarded classic and matchless in their distinctively Filipino lyricism: Sarungbanggi arranged by Angel Peña, himself a highly talented composer and instrumentalist, Dahil sa ’yo (I think by Mike Velarde) and, to a lesser degree, Kalesa by Ernani Cuenco and Ikaw by Louie Ocampo and Willy Cruz.

The first part of the program appealed to me most, belonging as I do to the older generation.

Medleys of familiar songs by Jose Mari Chan and the Apo Hiking Society followed and unmelodious Pinoy Pop which seemed to simulate foreign, primarily American, Pop in style, pattern and composition. (This assertion could be contradicted by the Filipino composers themselves.)

Anna Fegi, a mezzo-soprano, rendered four songs, appearing each time in a different, ravishingly elegant gown. Her impressive credentials state she has performed extensively abroad.

It was rather difficult to gauge her timber and volume because she performed with a microphone (singers of Fegi’s caliber and stature generally do not use a microphone), but her extremely long, sustained high notes were amazing, and the audience lustily applauded her.

Colmenar’s vigor and vitality remained undiminished throughout as he conveyed conversance with both “old” and “new” music. Indeed, the concert was a vivid exposure to all forms and genres of OPM, a pleasurable way of imbibing them. The program concluded with a fast and furious arrangement of Colmenar. Predominantly percussive, the orchestra piece featured a wind instrument and maintained a rapid, tremendously rapturous rhythm from start to finish. The encore was likewise fast and furious, very much in the manner of Colmenar’s arrangement.

Weaving my way through the thick crowd, I saw youngsters swaying to the music. Onstage, Constancia “Nene” and Sylvia Lichauco thanked the audience for its presence, and announced future concerts for its further delectation and illumination.

UST Symphony Concert

“Tribute to the Thomasites” will be rendered by the UST Symphony Orchestra under music director-conductor Herminigildo Rañera on Feb. 10, 7 p.m. at the CCP main theater. UST classical artists, tenors Lemuel de la Cruz, Eugene de los Santos, Randy Gilongo and Ronan Ferrer, and bass Jun Francis Jaranilla will be soloists for Romberg’s “Stout-Hearted Men” from the film “New Moon”, and Nessum Dorma from Puccini’s Turandot. Joy Allan de la Cruz will be the bass soloist for Concerto in G Minor by Cecil Forsyth. The orchestra will play Verdi’s Overture to Nabucco and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 in C Minor.

Founded in 1927 by Dr. Manuel Cases of the UST Faculty of Medicine, the UST Symphony Orchestra has produced many of the country’s leading artists, and is now a resident performing group of the CCP while also serving as a pool for additional players of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra.

The UST Symphony Orchestra of 70 members not only serves the liturgical and ceremonial needs of the university but also trains future orchestral and band musicians as well as conductors. CCP President Raul Sunico says: “As a resident orchestra of the CCP, it is also a constant source of new members in the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra roster while performing its own symphonic programs with the highest standards of professionalism.”

US auditions for Medel

Accompanied by his mentor Mauricia Borromeo and mother Dr. Ruth B. Medel, upcoming virtuoso pianist Lorenzo B. Medel will leave mid-February for the US where he will audition with the following prestigious schools: Juilliard, Curtis, Eastman, Manhattan, New England and Oberlin Conservatories.