Toyota Classics tackles Viennese operetta
Toyota Classics marked its 13th year concert recently at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Main Theater with Viennese operetta music taking center stage interpreted no less by the formidable Vienna Operetta Orchestra under the baton of Siegfried Andraschek, its founder and artistic director. Featured artists are tenor Michael Suttner, soprano Izabela Labuda, and dancers Klaudia Baluch and Harald Baluch. Philippine vocalist Julia Duncan was the featured local vocalist.
According to Toyota Motor Philippines Corporation (TMPC) president Hiroshi Ito, the concert was the corporation’s way of saying “thank you” as it celebrates its 20th year of operation in the Philippines. George S. K. Ty, chairman of TMPC said that Toyota Classics is the testament of TMPC’s commitment to help promote culture and the arts in their excellent forms to more Filipinos.
The concert fulfilled both artistic as well as social concerns of the corporation in its effort to build a “world of harmony.” The mega sum of P1M that was raised from the proceeds of the concert was donated to three beneficiaries, namely: the Philippine National Red Cross, Mariano Marcos State University and Miriam College.
It was a fine evening of savoring Viennese operetta music expressed in various forms: arias, duets, dances such as waltz, polka and march.
Familiar tunes were heard such as the songs from a medley of Franz Lehar’s The Merry Widow. Tenor Suttner and soprano Labuda did a fine duo in the well-loved song Though Lips Fall Silent. Soprano Labuda was the toast of the evening as she crafted fine vocal texture cut perfectly for the operetta, and projected well-supported high notes. Her rendition of the familiar aria, Vilja, was simply ravishing.
The dancers, on the other hand, essayed arresting choreography. The high point of the dancing was in Siegmund Andraschek: Car Polka, a work written exclusively for this concert, which is a disclosure of life’s greatest pleasure, dancing a polka and riding in a Toyota car. Other highlights were the orchestral rendition of the Voices of Spring by Johann Strauss ll. His other piece, In Krapfen Woods, a slow polka, entertained the audience with the varied birdcalls but most especially by the cuckoo, played eloquently by an orchestra member, that punctuated well the bouncy beat of the polka.
All throughout the classical portion, conductor Siegrfried Andraschek did away with the scores and wielded the baton from memory. Rapport was well kept between him and the orchestra that resulted in a spirited and glorious moment of fine music making. Suave melodic lines, sensitive balancing and emphatic punctuations characterized the orchestra’s manner of playing
A Viennese touch was invested in the playing of the Philippine National Anthem. The orchestra crafted debonair cantabile lines built on a slow martial beat, all to the delight of the audience that gave hearty applause at the end.
After the intermission Lito Aligada called on TMPC officials to officiate the awarding of the checks out of the concert’s proceeds to the beneficiaries. Dr. David Go, president of Toyota Motor Philippines Foundation; Hiroshi Ito, and Alfred Ty, president and vice chairman of TMPC respectively, took turns in handing the check to Corazon Alma de Leon, secretary general of the PNRC, and her deputy, Gwendolyn Pang; Dr. Mirriam Pascua, president of Mariano Marcos State University, and Donna Paz Reyes, executive director of the Miriam College. Their Excellencies, Ambassador Makoto Katusra of the Embassy of Japan and Ambassador Herbert Jager of the Embassy of Austria witnessed the awarding ceremony.
The last part of the program featured vocalist Julia Duncan. With the orchestra collaborating, she rendered two songs, namely, Say You Love Me, and Sweet Love. The rendition did not get the same enthusiastic response from the audience like it gave classical performance done previously. “Toyota Classics” transformed itself into ”Toyota Fusion.” The rendition was an oblique coda: the tone suddenly became pop. Duncan sung with a microphone, and the conductor was now reading scores.
After the first song some people started to leave, perhaps sending the strong statement Toyota Classics must stick to its original intent of presenting nothing but the classics all for the timely call for cultural literacy in the country. After all, popular music no longer needs any boost as it is literally all over.
