Japan-Fil music festival/Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte used as graduation recital

The two Japan-Fil contemporary music festival concerts might indeed be rightly termed ‘contemporary: dissonances, atonalities, irregular beats and rhythms, intermittent contrapuntal passages abounded in the compositions performed, first at the Philamlife auditorium and second, at the Philamlife auditorium and second, at the CCP main theater.

Two of the opening works were an exception, Santiago’s Nocturne in E Flat Major and Buencamino’s Maligayang Bati. Gratifyingly, pianist Ayumi Hirahara retained the pieces’ traditional essence, substance and style.

La Dance Suite Pour Piano by Yasushi Akutagawa and North-Silver Night (Winter) by Maki Ishii were in the modern idiom.

Composer-conductor Herminigildo Ranera and pianist-composer Manuel Maramba, OSB, exchanged musical ideas with their Japanese counterparts T. Kubo and M. Ishida.

Woodwind Boogie by Hal Goodman and Violen Tango by Astor Piazzolla used dazzling contemporary devices, both selections performed by the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra Woodwind Quartet consisting of violinists Dino Decena and Joanne Livioco, violist Joy Allan dela Cruz and cellist Herrick Ortiz. Piazzollas Tango was far removed from the tango introduced decades ago by Argentina to the world including the Philippines where it is still a popular ballroom dance. Piazzolla’s had touches of jazz and abundant dissonances and contrapuntal passages.

Toru Takemitsu’s Entre Temps for oboe and strings and Tadashi Kubo’s String Quartet (Elegy) were in the modern idiom as well as Maramba’s String Quartet rendered by the PPO String Quartet.

Takemitsu, the internationally-known composer of Entre Temps (Between Times), is a recipient of several awards, e.g., the Maurice Ravel and Glenn Gould and the medal of Arts and Culture from France.

Abelardo’s Nasaan ka Irog made for an exquisite inter-action between the Japanese and Filipino instrumentalists — the aforementioned PPO String Quartet and the PPO Woodwind Quintet consisting of flutist Rosemarie Poblete, clarinetist Ariel Sta. Ana, bassoonist Jose Samonte, horn player Ernani Pascua, the Japanese pianist Ayumi Hirahara, oboe player Hiroshi Shibayama, the string quartet consisting of Takashi Hamano and Naoru Komiya, violinists I and II, violist Go Tomono and cellist Kenichi Nishiyama.

I missed Symphonic Poem by Maki Ishii which opened the second festival concert. Symphony No. 1 by Masashi Ishida, played by the Orchestra Nipponica Tokyo under conductor Tatsuya Shimono, was rousingly spirited with tremendous, soaring tuttis.

Herminigildo G. Rañera’s Philippine Symphonic Folksongs, built around Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao folk songs, likewise in the modern idiom, had recognizable melodic interludes reminding the listener of the work’s basic material.

Buenaventura’s “By the Hillside” was conducted in the expected traditional manner, Shimono unwaveringly delineating the prolonged, extended pianissimo lines, contrasting these dramatically with fiery fortissimos shortly before the orchestra returned to the rustic stillness of the hillside.

The Ainus being the aboriginal inhabitants of Japan, the finale, Akira Ifukebe’s Sinfonia Tapkaara, projected the energy, vibrancy and vitality of this ethnic people through brisk, electrifying orchestral outbursts and thunderous percussive beats.

The concerts strengthened cultural ties between the two countries whose instrumentalists rendered each other’s works.

The UP Conservatory of Music, veering away from the norm, presented Mozart’s comic opera “Cosi Fan Tutte” as the graduation recital of soprano Tanya Vanessa K. Corcuera. As Fiordiligi, the full-figured soprano sang in a stunningly powerful, resonant voice, her admirably sustained high notes soaring above those of the cast even in fortissimos! She also projected remarkable acting talent. A minor qualifying observation is that her pant suit in Act II somewhat negated the portrait of a very feminine, very flirtatious woman. In any case, an auspicious future awaits Tanya on the international stage.

Nicole Roxanna Aldiosa as Fiordiligi’s sister Dorabella impressed both as singer, with her ringing, solid voice, and as most eloquent actress although her repetitive hand gestures somewhat  intruded. Gladys los Pobres was amusing as the scheming, mischievous maid Despina and, later, as notary public, her voice secure and well-modulated.

The male singers were a most worthy contingent. Ivan Nicolo Nery, Dorabella’s lover Fernando, gave a strong delivery. In total command, particularly in Act II, he projected a firm, unwavering and deeply expressive voice; he emoted in a moving, persuasive manner. Tenor Carlo Angelo Falcis, Fiordiligi’s lover, made his presence unmistakably felt as did baritone Roby Malubay as the old, meddling Don Alfonso.

The locale, converted into a 1940 gangster-land, had the sisters and their lovers (in disguise) alternately toting guns. The small Solair auditorium was imaginatively maximized for easy, effective entrances and exits. The lovers’ disguises were colorfully descriptive.

Eminent soprano Camille Lopez Molina excellently directed the fine cast — the comic vein maintained throughout. She further served as flawless assisting artist on the piano, proving versatility. What an immensely delightful surprise the opera, i.e., Tanya’s graduation recital, turned out to be!