Simon, Salonga electrify/ Santamaria, Molina amaze

With snarled traffic, owing to rain and an apparent vehicular accident on EDSA, I missed Weber’s and Mendelssohn’s Overtures as played by ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra under outstanding conductor Gerard Salonga.

Heinrich Barmann’s brief Andagio for Clarinet and Orchestra was interpreted pianissimo throughout in flowing, languid style by phenomenal soloist Andrew Simon. Debussy’s Premiere Rhapsody had long forceful, sustained passages and short  ones, both conveying widely diverse tonal timbers, Simon’s breath control startling; his fingers, incredibly dexterous.

Manilans have yet to hear another clarinetist like Simon, his virtuosity fully emerged with Salonga’s admirably versatile ensemble. The unaccompanied encore “Summertime” overwhelmed. Earlier Simon charmed with remarks on failing to shake hands with Benny Goodman at Juilliard as his only life’s regret and on unheard notes in Rhapsodie, likening the piece to a Renoir painting,“which is there and isn’t,” leaving much to audience imagination.

Bernstein’s Dances, “a fresh blend of symphony, jazz, pop and Coplandesque Americana” – electrified, the continuously varying rhythms marked by vigor and vitality; the fiery, robust, tumultuous third dance “ripping” the theater.

Ingrid Sala Santamaria is justifiably the most “romantic” pianist, her over 500 “journeys” with Reynaldo Reyes introducing and interpreting more romantic composers than any other pianist. At the Ayala Museum, Ingrid breezed through two romantic concertos effortlessly, with masterful ease.

Though familiar Tchaikovsky’s Concerto remains a formidable, daunting, challenging piece even for the virtuoso; as one, Ingrid produced cascading sounds in swift chords; through sweeping rhythms, her runs were nimble; her cadenzas, exquisitely lyrical.

Distinctly authoritative, Arturo Molina conducted the Manila Symphony Orchestra with remarkable vibrancy, creating a wide range of colors, from the darkest to the most delicate.  Reaching tremendous climaxes, soloist and orchestra adroitly delineated the composer’s robust, fiery intensity; in-between, his glowing melodiousness.

Shumman’s opening allegro was a fantasia, its harmonious melodies befitting a supreme romantic. The cadenza retained the movement’s mood; the intermezzo was subdued and restrained. Ingrid was “ingridible” and Molina amazed, with the allegro vivace finale turbulent, frenzied and rhapsodic.

The standing ovation led to Schumann-Liszt’s “Dedication” for piano as encore, dedicated to Cecilia Manalo who recently passed away. She was the wife of Billy Manalo, one of MSO’s conductors.