Magnetic music-making by Salonga and Bamping / Keeping up with Ingrid

Tall and standing ramrod straight, Gerard Salonga was an imposing presence on the podium as he conducted the young, remarkably disciplined and energized members of FILharmoniKA.

Rimsky Korsakov’s Scheherazade Op. 35 was his choice for the evening concert at the Philamlife Theater. Based on the “Arabian Nights”, the symphonic suite tells the tale of a Persian sultan who, believing all women feckless and unfaithful, puts his wives to death after the first wedding night — all except Scheherazade. She keeps herself alive night after night, for a thousand and one nights, by fascinating the sultan with her stories to such a degree that he decides to keep her as his wife permanently.

In a robust, zestful and fervid fashion, enhanced and heightened by towering climaxes, Salonga depicted the powerful, dramatic story-telling while creating widely diverse moods, emotions, pictures and images in the splendidly descriptive suite.

The concert master Rachelle Alcances eloquently introduced every episode or scene, each having its own musical character, with a solo instrument — flute, oboe, double bass, bassoon, etc. —taking the spotlight with engaging brio. The musical persuasiveness, exquisitely largo passages and rich sonorities made the rendition striking — indeed exciting, the orchestra under Salonga mesmerizing music lovers through the rapturously eventful story.

There was a freshness, a crispness in FILharmoniKA’s assisting the eminent London-based cellist Richard Bamping in Dvorak’s Concerto in B Minor. The legatos were beautifully etched by him; the complex, labyrinthine passages demonstrated skill and technical brilliance, particularly in the cadenzas. Occasionally, the orchestra “drowned” the soloist in fortissimo end notes but he held his own most of the time vigorously and vibrantly.

The audience was rapturous over the interpretation of the Concerto, the cellist graciously giving an unaccompanied encore. In sum, it was an evening of magnetic music-making by Salonga and Bamping.

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The following music events in Cebu and Batangas involved the celebrated pianist Ingrid Santamaria.

Hewn out of raw talent in a ten-year music development program (1991-2000), and spearheaded by the Salvador and Pilar Sala Foundation, Inc., the Cebu Youth Symphony Orchestra (CYSO) materialized in 1995 and evolved into the Peace Philharmonic Philippines (PPP) in 2000.

Training and performance initiatives continued throughout the following years while many of the original members reaped honors both in Manila and abroad.

Last April 10, the PPP alumni led by sisters Hazel Magdadaro Sanchez and Hannah Magdadaro Go, and coordinated by Sala Foundation president Susan Montenegro Sala, performed a homecoming concert as a tribute to its founding chair, Ingrid Sala Santamaria, at the SM Cebu Theater.

A dozen PPP alumni flew in for the event, led by its original conductor Rodel Flores, now based in the US. Others came from Australia, Brunei, Japan, The Netherlands, Subic, Dipolog and Manila.

An electrifying PPP performance conducted by Flores and former PPP faculty members Jeffrey Solares, Ariel Perez and Roberto del Rosario, as also by the PPP Junior Ensemble (PPPJE) led by Rodelio Glodove, imbued the SRO audience with nostalgic memories. Masterpieces by Offenbach, Mascagni, Bizet, Sibelius, Rossini, Barber, Green and Mozart were played with singular vibrancy, elegance and youthful gusto.

Highlight of the evening was the Chopin Concerto No. 1 in E Minor as interpreted by Santamaria who was assisted by the PPP conducted by Solares to the lusty applause, soloist and orchestra responded with the third movement of Mendelssohn’s Concerto No. 1 in G Minor.

Cebu’s cultural ambiance has doubtless been enriched by the CYSO, PPP and the PPPJE since 1991, thanks to a community that recognizes and treasures their worth.

From Cebu, the indefatigable Ingrid went to Batangas with her daughter Crispy and Crispy’s husband Arsenic Laurel who is running for Congress. Ingrid then performed at the Laurel Ancestral Home Gardens in Tanauan City, giving a solo recital April 16, and a flute-piano duo recital with Ray Sison April 21. Ingrid and young piano virtuoso Rudolf Golez are scheduled to give a duo recital on April 28, also in Batangas, stronghold of the Laurels.

One presumes Cocoy Laurel, well-loved icon, has already thrown Batangueños into frenzied admiration with his singing.