Shimono, Cruz, Takagi make marvelous music/ Composer Ching amazes

Japanese Tatsuyo Shimono wielded the baton over the Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra at the CCP main theater in a straightforward and spirited manner, displaying firm command, eschewing exhibitionism and eccentricity as he conducted Mozart’s Overture to Don Giovanni, assisted Jovianney Emmanuel Cruz in Mozart’s Piano Concerto in D Major and Ayako Takagi in H. Otaka’s Flute Concerto, rendered Humperdinck’s Prelude to Hansel and Gretel, selections from Bizet’s Carmen and Wagner’s Prelude to Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg.

From the foregoing, one assumes Shimono’s predilection for operas: the orchestral compositions he chose for the Toyota Classics program, except the piano and flute concertos, are from operas.

Humperdinck’s Prelude evidenced superior craftsmanship and powerful orchestration, much of which were purportedly learned from Wagner. The qualities, in any case, were reflected in the Philharmonic’s clear articulation and expressive sweep.

Mozart is admired for his infinitely rich musical ideas which he expressed with utmost discipline. He is also admired as the greatest musical technician of all time. We will really not know how amazing his virtuosity was or how facile were his youthful improvisations, but pianist Cruz gave us an eloquent idea of Mozart’s total command of the resources of his time.

In a manner of speaking, Cruz might have been playing even better than Mozart because the early piano was not comparable in sonority, volume and flexibility to the modern one.

The Mozartian palette produces predominantly light hues. With this firmly in mind, Cruz kept his tones flowing and rippling, the melodies deliciously delicate, the staccatos crisp and clear. Indeed, the notes rippled throughout the piece, the runs even-and-featherly light, as though the pianist’s fingers were skimming over the keyboard. The allegro and allegretto sparkled, the larghetto glowed with lovely restraint.

How Cruz captured the Mozartean spirit, encapsulating and encompassing it to an incredible degree! I venture to add, his was the best local interpretation of Mozart I had heard to date; Mozart himself must have been pleased with it! Rapport between conductor and pianist was seamless.

One instantly noted the ease, fluency, indeed, virtuosity of the attractive, winsome, slim-as-a-reed flutist Ayako Takagi. She performed flawlessly, highlighting the rapid, complex curliques of sound assuredly. Brilliantly. Composer Otaka’s flowing style in the Western idiom betrayed subtle traces of Oriental (Japanese) music, and the fusion resulted in a charming, fascinating piece.

Mozart reportedly completed the Overture to Don Giovanni – the concert’s opening number –only the night before the final rehearsal. Mozart’s wife, Constanze confessed that he was so tired she had to freshen him with many glasses of punch and the reading of fairy tales. Notwithstanding, as played, the overture sounded fresh and spontaneous.

The selections from Carmen exuded color, vigor and tremendous vibrancy, thus proving that Carmen if marvelously played, can stand on its own as orchestral music. As elsewhere, the winds and brasses were admirable, as were the string and percussion sections – all these in close ensemble work.

In the finale, Shimono readily grasped the large dimension of Wagner’s Prelude, mirroring the great moments in the opera proper, while presaging its concluding power and intensity. The full house roared its approval; many rose to their feet. The encore piece was directed to the peanut gallery, with the audience growing even wilder. Ambassador Ruichiro Yamazaki and ADB chairman Kuroda and his wife Kumiko headed the listeners.

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The following announces the performance of the newest work by Jeffrey Ching, that amazingly protean composer who continues to gain international acclaim.

On Nov. 17 at 7:30 p.m., a new orchestral work by Filipino composer Jeffrey Ching will receive its world premiere at the Shanghai International Arts Festival. Ching’s Fourth Symphony, entitled "Souvenir des Ming", will be performed by the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra under Russian guest conductor Dmitri Jurowski. The programme also includes Schönberg’s Notturno for strings and harp, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7.

Dmitri Jurowski, the talented son of the distinguished Russian conductor Michail Jurowski, has conducted widely in Italy, and made his Komische Oper debut in Berlin with Rimsky-Korsakov’s "The Golden Cockerel" this year. In December he will conduct Rimsky-Korsakov’s "Mozart and Salieri" at the Teatro Massimo of Palermo. For 2007 he will work with the Teatro Carlo Felice of Genoa, Rome Opera, and Opera Tokyo.

The SPO performed with Isaac Stern during his last tour of China. It has also given concerts with Pavarotti, Domingo, Yo-yo Ma, Tan Dun, Lang Lang, Ying Huang, among others. This season’s concerts feature international celebrity artists including Alexander Dmitriev, Lan Shui, Gerard Poulet, Yo-yo Ma, Jose Carreras, Vladimir Krainev, Sharoun Ensemble (soloists from Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra), Bertha Granados, Dante Alcala, Mikhail Svetlov, and Ballet de L’Opera National de Paris. The SPO has toured Korea, Italy, Switzerland, and France.

Ching describes his Fourth Symphony thus: "The symphony, in a single large movement of about 35 minutes, is a passacaglia and fugue based on fragments of Ming dynasty temple hymns. It is pervaded by fractal number series, which scientists inform us occur organically throughout nature. For example, each variation is equal in length to the combined lengths of the previous two. Fractals also govern the subdivisions of the fugue, the eventual accretion of fugal parts from one to fifty-four, the tonal relationships of the whole work, and many of its harmonies and rhythms. On another level, the symphony is a conceptual dialogue between Zhu Zaiyu (the Ming musicologist who first discovered equal temperament) and J. S. Bach – the kind of intellectual conversation to be found in many of my recent works, in which historical figures exchange ideas who could never actually have met or known of each other’s existence."

The Fourth Symphony is Ching’s second world premiere this year, his Fifth Symphony "Kunstkammer" having been premiered in Berlin last March by Dmitri Jurowski’s father Michail, who will repeat the work at the prestigious Ruhrtriennale in August 2008.

Ching holds degrees with honours in music, philosophy, and sinology from Harvard, Cambridge, and London Universities. Malacañang Palace named him a TOYM in 1998, his "works having expanded the scope and quality of Filipino musical literature; no other Filipino has achieved such depth, dimension, and volume of work at so young an age". In 2003, he was conferred the Rizal Award for Excellence (in the category of Art, Literature and Culture). He now lives in Berlin with his wife, the eminent soprano Andion Fernandez.