Superlatives are in order: Uto Ughi, 66, still stuns / A concert, a Nippon exhibit

Presented by the Italian Embassy on its National Day, Uto Ughi, 66, one of Italy’s leading violinists, magnetized his listeners from the start.

He gave Beethoven’s “Kreutzer” Sonata, a reading that hewed to the form, content and sentiment of the score, the first two movements superior in structure to the finale (Presto) but the movements differing stylistically from each other.

In Ughi’s impeccable playing, every phrase, line and note sang, the tones of his Guarnieri rich and resonant, particularly in the robust passages, communicating the passion or mood of the music. The violinist was by turns rhapsodic, dramatic, or lambent.

Replacing Wieniawski’s Fantasia with Bizet’s Fantasia of excerpts from Carmen arranged for the violin, Ughi, fingers incredibly nimble, the bowing hand secure, hurdled the technical challenges masterfully. His own subjective feelings surfaced in the lyrical portions, while he rendered the swift ones with unparalleled fury and bravura, the episodes from the opera coming splendidly alive.

Liszt borrowed the opening and closing of Paganini’s “Campanella” for his own piano arrangement (played by Paderewski among others), and in the original “Campanella”, Ughi again enthralled the audience with his astonishing dexterity which left the impression that he had more in reserve!

The last piece, Saint-Saens’s “Introduction and Capriccioso” had its own share of daunting phrases, its lyricism throwing light on the violinist’s emotional expressivity which reached the heights.

The encores proved there was no limit to the intensity and artistry as well as the stamina of Ughi as he interpreted in succession Fritz Kreisler’s Caprice Viennois — a phenomenal violinist himself, Kreisler made his piece immensely tricky — Sarasate’s “Gypsy Airs”, “The Dance of the Ghosts” by a student of Paganini, and Massenet’s “Meditation by Thais”. Except for this latter, which ended serenely and solemnly— the finest threads of pianissimo extending to infinity — Ughi had turned each work into a virtuoso piece. Indeed, the first movement of Beethoven’s Sonata already so impressed listeners that they violated the rule of no applause after each movement, excepting the last. Lusty clamor erupted after each dazzling number, and in the end, a richly deserved standing ovation ensued.

Pianist Alessandro Specchi was an excellent assisting artist whose skill and emotive talent rose to the demands of the program. Ensemble work was as close as possible, resulting from years of duo-playing, Specchi taking a most distinguished part.

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The stunning performance of Uto Ughi enhanced his country’s national day celebration which was preceded by a cocktail reception at the CCP lobby hosted by Ambassador Luca and Silvana Fornari.

Among those present were Ambassadors of South Africa, Switzerland, Israel, Bangladesh, the Deputy Head of Argentina, FA USec. Erlinda Basilio, CCP President Isabel C. Wilson, Nedy Tantoco, Consuls Fortune Ledesma and Mellie Ablaza, Mita Rufino, Bambi Harper, Edouardo and Severine Mialhe, Marivic Rufino, Minerva Tanseco, Rachelle Gerodias, George Yang, Evelyn R. Garcia, Becky Garcia and George Sison.

MSO Concert

An indisposition prevented me from attending the MSO concrt which featured Arturo Molina, a conductor of considerable consequence, the immensely talented MSO concert master, violinist Gina Medina, and pianist Virginia Laico-Villanueva.

Nippon photo exhibit

The Japan Foundation and the Metropolitan Museum of Manila, in cooperation with the Japanese Embassy, will present at the Met Museum from June 22 to Sept. 30 a Japanese contemporary photography exhibit “Out of the Ordinary/Extraordinary”.

This will feature the works of eleven Japanese photographers who reflect an increasingly complicated world with new forms of expression: pictures of young women with heavily tanned faces, light-colored make-up and bleached hair; strangers standing in their own homes with the windows open, and young people who resort to tattoos, body-piercing and strange hairstyles to express their individuality.