Luca Fornari, A. Yuchengco: Envoys as music patrons / Lisa, 45, portrays Giselle!

To celebrate Italian National Day, Ambassador Luca Fornari and his charming, vivacious wife Silvana will present Italy’s leading violinist Uta Ughi in an invitational concert on June 2 at the CCP main auditorium, the concert to be preceded by a buffet dinner. Pianist Alessandro Specchi will be the assisting artist.

The program will consist of Preludio e Allegro by Pugnani-Kreisler, Beethoven’s “Kreutzer” Sonata, Wieniawski’s Fantasia, Paganini’s La Campanella and Saint-Saens’ Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso.

Ughi has played with some of the world’s major orchestras. Invitations for more concerts keep pouring from the US, Canada, Russia, Australia and Japan. He has performed with the London Philharmonic, the London Symphony under the late Mtislav Rostropovich, the NY Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta, the BBC Orchestra, at the Salsburg and Vienna Festivals, and in the “Italia 2000” celebration in Russia, where he played with the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra.

Ughi’s Guarneri violin dates back to 1744 and many argue it is superior to a Strad.

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Ambassador Alfonso Yuchengco has solidly established himself as a patron both of art and of music. The exhibits at the Yuchengco Museum are his proof as the former the recitals he sponsors proclaim him as the latter.

Not too long ago, music lovers heard the eminent pianist Ingrid Santamaria and the richly talented flutist Raymond Sison in a duo recital at the Yuchengco Tower. Followed another recital of Ingrid, with the Manila Symphony Orchestra assisting, at the Yuchengco Museum.

Last week, the personable envoy presented former prodigy Nena R. Villanueva and the seasoned Carminda L. Regala in a duo recital at his elegant Makati residence. The selections, originally for orchestra or solo piano, were Wagner’s Prelude to Die Meistersingers, with its unceasing vitality, Rachmaninoff’s Romance for Two Pianos, Chopin’s Fantasie Impromptu, Piazzolla’s Adios Nonino and Liebertango and Liszt’s Second Hungarian Rhapsody.

More than any other composer, Liszt depends on a virtuoso performance to arouse or compel attention. His Second Hungarian Rhapsody — really Gypsy and not Hungarian — is no exception for its fury and bombast.

The two pianists retained much of the fury and bombast.

Applause was lusty, particularly after the Chopin piece, reaching its peak after Liszt’s Rhapsody.

Villanueva and Regala, who have been duo pianists for some time now, showed the close harmony evolving from the partnership. They played as one, inter-acting in lyrical and dramatic passages, in chords complementing runs, the duo conveying charm, energy and musicianship, while consistently ending each piece on the same precise beat.

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I once saw a film clip of ballerina assoluta Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev dancing in Giselle  at London’s Covent Garden. Fonteyn is not a bravura dancer but her impeccable technique, utmost elegance and refinement, as she floated on air, made her the reincarnation of a Willi (spirit). When Fonteyn danced at the CCP, she was already 53; again the technique was unassailable; the interpretation, sheer poetry.

Decades ago, Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin, both English, performed at Manila Hotel. Formerly known as Alice Marks, the dancer made her name sound Russian so she could find acceptance in the world of ballet then dominated by the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. Markova’s lightness and ethereal quality were truly astounding.

The country’s leading ballerina Lisa Macuja is undaunted by her forthcoming role as Giselle on May 29 and 30. At 45, she appears to be dancing better than ever!