CCP presents first National Orchestra Festival

After he had listened to Swiss composer Arthur Honegger’s “Pastoral d’Éte" (Summer Pastoral), celebrated French poet Arthur Rimbaud scribbled on the edge of the opus’ music score an epigraph of exultation. It roughly translates to: “I have embraced the summer dawn." “Pastoral d’Éte," written by a young Honegger while vacationing in the Swiss Alps sometime in 1920, opens with a soaring languorous theme on the horn, which is subsequently taken up by the strings. A livelier, more colorfully orchestrated middle section follows, and then the main theme finally returns to bring the opus to a close in the same serene manner in which it began. On Sept. 21, anyone who wants to experience Rimbaud’s “embrace of the summer dawn" should attend the inaugural rites of “Magnitude 7 on the Orchestra Scale" at 8 p.m. Also known as the 1st National Orchestra Festival 2010, the event is sponsored by the Cultural Center of the Philippines and runs until Sept. 25. All performances will be staged at the CCP Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo. The Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO), under its music director Olivier Ochanine, and the Festival Orchestra, specifically formed for the five-night event, opens and closes “Magnitude 7" with unprecedented performances. The PPO performs “Colas Breugnon Overture" by Dmitri Kabalevsky, Pastorale d’Été, H. 31" by Honegger and “Symphony No. 40 in G Minor" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The Festival Orchestra will render “Symphony No. 5, Op. 64 in E Minor" by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. “Magnitude 7" features concerts by seven of the country’s notable conductors and top orchestras: the FILharmonika, the Manila Symphony Orchestra, UP Orchestra, Angono Chamber Orchestra, the UST Symphony Orchestra, the PREDIS Chamber Orchestra, and the PPO. More than 100 selected members from the seven participating orchestras will comprise the additional Festival Orchestra. One of the highlights of the grand finale on Sept. 25 is the presence of all the conductors alternately wielding their batons in leading the Festival Orchestra. Democratizing classical music In a press conference attended by the seven conductors, UP Orchestra’s Edna Marcil Martinez said that as far as her student-musicians are concerned, “It is a special privilege for us to perform at the CCP because exposure-wise, this is one of the best that we can have." Martinez, the only female of the seven participating conductors, considers herself “one of the boys." She said her students will learn a lot from the other orchestras they will interact with during the festival. Members of the UP Orchestra are limited to music majors enrolled at UP Diliman’s College of Music. Ochanine, who was also appointed recently as the principal conductor of the PPO, explained that the gathering of more than 100 musicians from seven orchestras “gives a chance to people coming from different backgrounds to play together and to discover their different styles." Dr. Raul M. Sunico, CCP vice president and artistic director, added: “The festival was organized to answer the need to democratize the musical atmosphere in the Philippines." There are many Filipino orchestras that direly need the support of the CCP apart from the PPO, one of the resident companies of the CCP, said Sunic, an internationally renowned pianist who remains active in the global circuit despite his CCP duties. “We (the CCP) cannot give the young musicians the proper compensation, but the chance for them to perform at the CCP is more than enough. We invited them to the CCP, open our doors to them, expose them to other orchestras, and generate interest in them," he said. FILharmonika’s conductor Gerard Salonga, meanwhile, said the orchestra festival allows student-musicians to work and interact with professional musicians and thus, “get immersed with and have a taste of professional life." On classical music’s lack of popularity among Filipinos, Salonga said this problem could be overcome if the strong tendency of Filipinos to be “personality-driven" is put into good use. Salonga noted the seeming disdain among the classically-trained circles toward cross-over artists in the Philippines. However, he said many artists who were able to blend popular and classical genres are well-received and have a strong following abroad. “There is something hip about these (cross-over). We need personalities who can generate enough interest for classical music in the Philippines," he said. Children must be exposed to classical music at an early age, Salonga said. “We have to do young people’s concerts and get people to go to concert halls." Festival highlights On Sept. 22, the PREDIS Chamber Orchestra under conductor Jeffrey Solares executes Wolfgang A. Mozart’s “Divertimiento in D Major, K 136," Antonio Vivaldi’s “Concerto Grosso in A Minor," Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor," Edvard Grieg’s “Suite from Holberg’s Time," and Bela Bartok’s “Rumanian Dances." The Manila Symphony Orchestra under conductor Arturo Molina will perform Angel Peña’s “Philippine Festival Overture," Tchaikovsky’s “Tempest," and Igor Stravinsky’s “Firebird Suite." On Sept. 23, the UST Symphony Orchestra led by Herminigildo Ranera, plays the “Rienzi Overture" by Richard Wagner, the “Piano Concerto No. 6 in B flat Major K 238" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Najib Ismail on the piano, and “Finlandia" by Jean Sibelius. Meanwhile, Salonga’s FILharmonika performs “Terry’s Theme" from “Limelight" by Charlie Chaplin, with arrangements by Salonga himself, “Night on a Bald Mountain" by Modest Mussorgsky, “Yerma" by Francisco Feliciano and “Symphonic Dances" from “West Side Story" by Leonard Bernstein. On Sept. 24, the UP Orchestra under Martinez plays “Overture to the Impressario" by Mozart, “Serenade for Strings" by Tchaikovsky, and “Mindanao Sketches" by Antonino Buenaventura. The Angono Chamber Orchestra under Agripino Diestro stages Francisco Buencamino’s “Pizzicato Caprice," Antonio Vivaldi’s “Violin Concerto in A minor, KV356, Op. 3 No. 6," with violinist Mikhail Ivan Ramos, and Lucio San Pedro’s “Katutubong Awitin" and “Jubilate" arranged by Diestro. The Orchestra Festival’s grand finale on Sept. 25 features Bernstein’s “Three Dance Episodes from On the Town," Richard Wagner’s “Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral from Lohengrin," Johannes Brahms’ “Academic Festival Overture," Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet Overture," Ralph Vaughan William’s “Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis" and selected movements from the “Gayane Ballet Suite" by Aram Khachaturian. – YA, GMANews.TV For more information, please call the CCP Box Office at 832-1125 local 1409 or direct line 832-3704.