The captivating Coyiutos / R. Sunico performs in US

Once again, eminent pianist Cristine Coyiuto and her brilliant flutist daughter Caitlin Alisa fascinated and captivated music lovers, this time at the Rotary Club of Alabang-sponsored concert for the benefit of Tuloy Foundation.

Cristine opened the program with Mendelssohn’s Songs without Words about which the composer declared: “Only song can cause the same feeling in everyone — a feeling that cannot be expressed in words.” Indeed, it would have been impossible to inject words into the music’s rapid, often changing tempo and swiftly altering moods.

What rare pleasure it was to listen to Cristine’s clarity of tone in every measure, every phrase, every passage! Indeed, tonal clarity predominated throughout, as also a refinement of touch that emanated from a sensitivity of spirit and a delicacy of feeling.

The songs’ “freshness and poetic elegance” were delineated as the pianist magnificently expressed diverse emotions — anxiety, tranquility, expectancy, sadness and ecstatic joy (in the Presto), emotions surfacing from Mendelssohn’s distinctive melodies in dramatic or lyrical passages.

The listener readily believed that Cecile Chaminade composed the Concertino for Flute and Piano in her desperate wish to lure her lover back, having filled the composition with every conceivable labyrinthine and complex passage that would daunt even the most seasoned flute player. With immense inherent talent and the mentoring of some of the best flutists in Europe and America, Caitlin rose to the challenge in glittering, indeed, virtuosic manner, her tones firm, assured and finely nuanced, her fingers deft and nimble.

Rapport was flawless and impeccable, the pianist matching the flutist’s every legato or spritely note with seamless precision. The duo glided through the Concertino with charm and buoyancy, in supreme togetherness.

In Claude Bolling’s Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano, pianist and flutist shifted to an entirely new musical discipline that fused jazz (predominantly the blues) with classic, revealing in the process the performers’ delightful versatility, both playing the unique idiom with obvious enjoyment, ease and aplomb.

Cristine conveyed infectious verve and spirit, her robust, energetic style and eloquent body language “jolting” the listener and commanding attention. One noted the same zest and vibrancy in Caitlin. Bass player Joji Magadia and percussionist Jorge San Jose considerably enlivened and enhanced the music but pianist and flutist remained the dominant figures throughout the five movements.

Lusty applause erupted, giving the players a tremendous lift. We anxiously look forward to another concert by the Coyiutos who have established themselves as a highly impressive, outstanding formidable duo.

Rotary president Nelson Mendoza gave individual awards to Cristine, Caitlin and the very supportive James Coyiuto. Tuloy president Fr. Rocky Evangelista revealed that starting with 12 street children, Tuloy is now training 500! (Jojo Perez assists Fr. Rocky.) The mixed Tuloy sa Don Bosco choir sang two songs with gusto before the concert proper.

Our celebrated international virtuoso Raul Sunico, newly appointed CCP v-p and artistic director, gave two concerts in Chicago’s St. James Chapel of the Archbishop Quigley Pastoral Center, co-chaired by Mr. and Mrs. Francisco Juan, and sponsored by the Cathedral Filipino Network to raise funds for the repair of the Holy Name Cathedral.

Sunico keeps being invited abroad because he draws large audiences. His two challenging programs follow. I: Six Preludes by Rachmaninoff; two Etudes and a Polonaise by Chopin; two Sonnettos and Sonata Fantasia après une lecture du Dante by Liszt.

II: Schumman’s Fantasiestucke, Evenings Soaring, Why?, Whims, In the Night, Fable, Dream Visions and End of Song/Epilogue, Debussy’s Le Plus Que Lente and L’isle Joyeuse. Each concert included Filipino compositions, some arranged by Sunico.

Both programs were drawn from Sunico’s vast repertoire of over 500 works!