Singing for pleasure

Last Sunday afternoon, the First Monday Music Club, whose members are in various non-musical professions, sang for a small group of friends in an informal recital at the Le Soufflé Bistro in Ortigas Center.

Allan Cosio opened the program with a spirited rendition of Lara’s Granada, following this with no less than daunting arias for the lead tenor: The Flower Song of Don Jose in Bizet’s Carmen and Salut! Demeure chaste et pure as sung by Faust in Gounod’s Faust.

If Allan had studied singing earnestly and early enough, he might now be a full-fledged professional opera singer rather than a painter. His voice is firm and powerful, and he sang with flair and expression, reaching the high notes remarkably and sustaining then with increasing volume. His technique seems to need further polishing and refining; his stage manner, more sophistication. But his over-all performance was a delightful surprise, and an exciting one in a fashion.

Columnist Nestor Mata has been singing in public much earlier than Allan. His fine vocal equipment stood him in very good stead as he sensitively essayed Ti Voglio Tante Bene by De Curtis, Herbury’s Give Me This Day and Ponce’s popular Estrellita. He articulated the lyrics clearly and eloquently.

Ivi Avellana-Cosio, painter and actress, was likewise a surprise like husband Allan. With her sweet, cherubic voice still developing, she interpreted with feeling Poulenc’s Les Chemins de l’Amour and Voi Che Sapete from Mozart’s opera Marriage of Figaro.

Mimi Sison, a lawyer by profession, rendered Morriconne’s Cinema Paradiso (Se) and Doncieux’s Pour un Baiser. In due time, she will overcome her timidity, and her voice will expectedly grow in volume.

Stella Cristobal-Arenas, daughter of columnist-publisher Adrian Cristobal, was the lone professional singer in the group, demonstrating a voice that had received the most training. She started with Romberg’s One Kiss then sang Musetta’s Waltz with ease, fluency and aplomb, and Cilea’s Io Son L’umile Ancella, hurdling its technical complexities with grace.

As climax, Stella and Allan vibrantly sang the duet Un Di Felice from Verdi’s Traviata, with the other First Monday Music Club members joining in, ending the recital again in full force for If I Loved You by Rodgers and Hammerstein.

It was a pleasantly intriguing Sunday afternoon as the audience listened to varying degrees of talent and competence, with enthusiasm and spirit serving as common denominators.