J. Esmilla as conductor/Listening to Pagasa rather than to pianist Panganiban

As a reviewer, I have heard violinist Joseph Esmilla in solo recitals and occasionally, as member of a trio performing with pianist Rudolf Golez and cellist Victor Coo.

At the recent concert presented by Filfest (headed by president Vicky F. Zubiri) at the Insular Life auditorium in Alabang, Esmilla took on the roles of violinist and conductor of the relatively new, 23-member Chamber Players of Manila. The ensemble consists of young professionals pursuing undergraduate and graduate studies in various conservatories while also serving as instrumentalists with the Philippine Philharmonic, ABS-CBN, Manila Philharmonic and Manila Symphony Orchestras. It was these serious, intense and avid young musicians who played under the baton of Esmilla.

For his part, the outstanding violinist Esmilla earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Juilliard under Dorothy Delay, and took post-graduate work in violin and chamber music under Felix Galimer at Mannes College. Esmilla has performed in concerts and prestigious international festivals abroad.

At the filfest concert, the interpretation of Vivaldi’s Concerto in B Minor for Four Violins by Esmilla and Jonathan David Livioco, Joseph Brian Cimafranca and Dino Decena, was virile yet refined, individually and collectively, Esmilla and Cimafranca standing out in particular. Each movement was etched with glowing force, the final allegro ending in a brilliant salvo.

Under Esmilla’s baton, in the lively, spirited movements of Suk’s Serenade for Strings in E-Flat, as also in the finale of Bloch’s Concerto Grosso No. 1, the required clarity, cohesion, precision and expression were admirably conveyed in the allegro movements, these infused with briskness, vitality, robustness and intensity. Esmilla was in his element in them.

However, the slow, gentle, pianissimo passages — the Andante con Moto and Adagio in the Serenade, as well as the Dirge: Andante Moderato in Bloch’s Concerto Grosso were rather wanting in nuances, and thus did not sustain as much audience attention and interest.

Shortly after Esmilla began playing Astor Piazzolla’s “Ave Maria,” I tried to determine what impression it was making on me. I was still figuring it out when the soft strains ceased. The selection was altogether too brief.

The Chamber Players of Manila should be heartily welcomed by the other orchestras. On the whole, under the acutely perceptive and dynamic guidance of Esmilla, the young musicians performed with grace, refinement and elan. Incidentally, their smiling faces throughout the concert enhanced every piece they interpreted.

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Two weeks before the piano concert of Artemio Panganiban at the RCBC auditorium, the Asean Law Association of the Philippines sent me a formal invitation and background material on the pianist, both of which I published in my column. Three days before the concert, Avelino V. Cruz, president of the Association, sent me another invitation and a long letter graciously inviting me to the same concert.

On the day of the concert itself, Pagasa predicted incessant torrential rains. A report in the papers informed readers of flooded streets in many areas including Quezon City where my driver lives, and of passengers being stranded in their vehicles for four hours owing to the floods.

Prior to these announcements, I had fully meant to be at the concert; I even informed lawyer-music lover Diane Franco of my intention. Pagasa’s prediction, however, changed my mind, it having led me to think of the risk and danger to health and safety, and the great inconvenience going and coming from the theater.

I regretted staying home. A few years ago, I heard Panganiban in a recital and was duly impressed. Atty. Franco told me that Atty. Cruz could evaluate the recital, being a pianist. (Shall I await his opinion?) I could have written the review myself had I listened to Panganiban rather than to Pagasa whose prediction did not turn out to be wholly accurate. In my area, the weather was clear throughout the night!

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Erratum: In my previous column, Ramon Pedrosa was erroneously listed as the director of Instituto Cervantes. Carlos Palomo is currently IC’s acting director.