Amazingly Yang

The voice of George T. Yang may not be as powerful, resonant or rounded as Pavarotti’s. Nevertheless, he enthralled listeners who filled the auditorium and gave him a standing ovation after the Jan. 29 Yang Klassics concert. Prefacing every song with candid remarks, Yang confessed: “I did not dream I would be giving a concert at the Cultural Center main theater someday.”

The reason for his resounding success lies in the incredible and incomparable story behind his vocal career. Indeed, no other singer’s background matches his.

After decades of running a vast business empire that includes a food chain, Yang abruptly left it when he discovered his God-given talent. Leaving the management of his empire to a son, he then devoted his entire attention to nurturing his voice under leading soprano Rachelle Gerodias and, in her absence tenor Lemuel de la Cruz. Thus the tycoon amazingly turned tenor virtually overnight, later performing with some of the country’s top tenors.

The recent concert consisted of operatic arias, light classics, Neapolitan and popular songs, its wide diversity offering something for every musical taste. Magnanimously, Yang shared the limelight with his mentor Rachelle, celebrated international pianist Raul Sunico, Yang’s granddaughter Kristel Ashley Yang, pop singer Kuh Ledesma, and the scholars of the Klassic Music Foundation which Yang chairs.

In Una Furtiva Lagrima (A furtive tear) from Donizetti’s L’Elixir d’Amore and La Donna Emobile from Verdi’s Rigoletto, Yang’s voice was firm, his high notes unwavering, his expression moving. Scholars — Carl Trazo, Fiona Galliano, Joseph Carillo, Elainne Vibal, Cipriano de Guzman, Jr. and Joy Ann Cacayan — sang passages of Non Ti Scordari with Yang, pleasingly augmenting volume; the three male scholars robustly accompanied Yang in the zestful Finiculi Finicula.

Gerodias provided a gripping highlight in Un Di Felice and Sempre Libera from Verdi’s Rigoletto, and the duet Libiamo (Drinking Song), this with Yang. Superior musical intelligence, refinement, restraint, masterful dynamics repeatedly going from pianissimo to fortissimo and back in quick succession, luminous, gloriously sustained top notes reaching the rafters — these characterized the performance. In her desperate gaiety, Gerodias was a great Violetta, passionately expressing the drama implicit in the throbbing music.

In the duet, Gerodias must have felt immensely proud of Yang and his ringing eloquence.

I shall never cease to be amazed that Yang, in such a brief period, has learned to sing in Italian, Tagalog (Bituing Marikit) this to the piano accompaniment of Kristel), and, particularly, in Spanish (Granada and Amapola). Have you heard any other Chinese sing in Spanish?

Yang asserted his ancestral roots in Ching Hsiang Tze Ke, discernibly Westernized, and his close family ties in “No Other Love” (based on a Chopin piece), with photos of the Yang family being flashed on a giant screen. Brilliant Kristel conveyed considerable promise in Chopin’s Revolutionary Etude. After assisting Yang in “No Other Love”, Sunico stunned and awed listeners in the “Minute Waltz” which Chopin himself might have played in Sunico’s dazzling fashion.

Earlier, a flamenco interlude entertained dance aficionados. Towards the end, Ledesma’s vibrant voice rang in “People” and “Somewhere”, after which Yang demonstrated his versatility by singing “The Prayer” with her, then concluding the program with his solo interpretation of O Sole Mio and Conte Partiro.

The concert was a crowning achievement for Yang. Astonishingly, despite his age, he is still a “work-in-progress”. Thus, one might presume that the tycoon-turned-tenor will reach even greater heights in the future.

Rodel Colmenar directed the Manila Philharmonic Orchestra in a clear, precise, vibrant manner infused with a sense of drama in the Overture from Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, the Suite from Bizet’s Carmen and a Broadway medley. Yang imaginatively conceptualized the program, with classification and sequencing of the songs by director Freddie Santos who was behind the spectacular arrangements and stage setting.