Standing ovation for Arthur Manuntag, et al at Sinatrology

Almost a month after he came back from Europe where he represented not only the Philippines but also Asia in Sinatrology, the musical celebration of Frank Sinatra’s 100th birthday, Arthur Manuntag has remained on Cloud 9 to which he was lifted by the standing ovation in the seven venues where he performed memorable Sinatra songs from Dec. 9 to 13 at Moravia, BRNO, Ostava, Prague (three shows) and Jablonec City.

“I never had that kind of experience back home,” Arthur recalled to Funfare. “Doon lang ako nakatikim ng ganyang klaseng standing ovation, hahahaha! During the meet-and-greet, feeling ko para akong si Alden (Richards).”

“And I felt like I was Yaya Dub (Maine Mendoza),” added Arthur’s wife Kathryn, his traveling companion.

According to the Sinatrology website, “The author of the idea of Sinatrology and the great musical celebration of Frank’s 100th birthday is Jan Smigmator, Czech swing singer, whose musical journey has been heavily inspired by Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Bobby Darin and other swing aces. Nowadays, he is among respected European singers who transmit swing music in a lively interpretation for the future generations and give the genre a whole new dimension….

“…The performers will introduce the Czech audience to Sinatra with an original concert show made up of the most famous Sinatra songs in classic and also brand-new arrangement…like Night And Day, Fly Me To The Moon, I’ve Got You Under My Skin, All Of Me, For Once In My Life, All The Way, Something Stupid, Come Fly With Me, The Lady Is a Tramp, New York, New York, My Way and many more.”

Representing  Czechoslovakia, Smigmator himself was among Arthur’s co-performers together with Tom Gaebel (Germany), vibrophonist Ludmila Stefanikova (Paris), Tereza Cernochova (Prague), Martina Barta (Berlin), saxophonist Marketa Smejkalova (Prague), violinist Pavel Spocl (Prague), Felix Slovacek Jr. (Prague) and flautist Jiri Stivin (Czech Republic).

After Arthur sang his first song, For Once In My Life, at the grand gala night at the Smentana Hall in Prague, he introduced himself and asked the audience if he could have a selfie with them.

“I said, ‘Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. It is such a great honor to be a part of this wonderful event as the representative of Asia and my country, the Philippines. Thanks to my buddy, Jan Smigmator, the author and host of Sinatrology, for inviting me here. Let me take this opportunity to do a selfie with all of you beautiful people.’ Everybody laughed so hard, even the conductor joined the selfie.”

Famous for sounding like other singers (Sinatra included), an “act” well-applauded in his concerts, Arthur easily won the heart of the audience.

Before doing his next song, How Do You Keep The Music Playing, Arthur told the audience, “Every time, I sing this song I dedicate it to my beautiful wife who is somewhere in the audience tonight. Where is my wife? Then the 10 violinists stood up, raised and waived their violins, pretending to be my ‘wives.’ The audience laughed again.”

Arthur noted that the audience was composed of “mostly whites from different parts of Europe” and the only Asians were he and Kathryn.

“I was honored when Czech Ambassador to the Philippines  Jaroslav Olsa Jr. flew from the Philippines to attend the gala night,” said Arthur. “We might do another tour middle of this year, called ‘Eurasian Ratpack’ composed of Jan Smigmator, Tom Gaebel and me.”

More reasons for Arthur to be so blessed: He won an Awit Award for 2015 Best Jazz Recording (Hindi Magbabago, written by Tats Faustino, arranged by Arnold Buena and originally sung by Randy Santiago); and chosen by the Gawad Amerika as the 2015 Most Outstanding Artist in the Field of Solo Performances.

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