Licad, Salonga overwhelm

De Falla’s works, described as “fastidious, rich in poetic beauty, evocative of the colorful personality of Spain, interpret its background and subjects through techniques, methods and styles of Spanish folk music, particularly Andalucian”.

His music encapsulates the essence of Spain, its people, its culture, in a word, its soul.

One cannot listen to De Falla’s “The Three-Cornered Hat” – heavily flavored by the cante hondo (deep song of the Gypsies) and flamenco dances – without imagining the choreography of Leonide Massine and his dancing with Karsavina for Serge Diaghilev’s Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.

In “The Miller’s Dance”, the composition’s most familiar, fiery and exciting portion, FILharmoniKA closely hewed to the keenly perceptive cueing of conductor Gerard Salonga, reflecting the miller’s brisk steps, dizzying twists and turns, zapateados and taconeos through the thundering percussions and brasses.

“Nights in the Gardens of Spain”, consists of “Night in the Generalife”, “A Distant Dance” and “The Gardens of Sierra de Cordoba”.

The composer did not leave any description of “Nights” and herewith, W.R. Anderson fills the gap.

In the first nocturne, Granada, with its fountains and cypresses, overlooks the city below. The fountains, dreamy patios, melancholy thickets and flowering pomegranates surround the palace of the Moorish sultan with its sense of mystery and ghosts of the past.

In the second nocturne, amidst orange trees, myrtles and palms and splashing waters, mandolines and guitars play Oriental-sounding tunes, coming nearer in the gentle wafts of tone now upborne, now falling on the light breeze.

In the last piece, the Gypsies are playing, singing and dancing with the music growing wilder, more deeply rooted in the East, in impassioned feeling and primitive power.

In interpreting “Nights”, pianist Cecile Licad and conductor Salonga eloquently evoked sights, places, impressions, images, emotions and sensations. The first nocturne opened with a shimmering viola supported by the harp; string and brass chords followed. Licad dramatically entered with an inversion of the opening theme embellished with striking arpeggios.

Flute and English horn announced the principal melody of the second nocturne; flute and strings joined. In the concluding nocturne, vitalized by pounding, throbbing Gypsy dance rhythms, Licad playing and Salonga conducting vigorously, vibrantly and powerfully, exchanged fire with fire, thunder with thunder, the orchestra’s climactic tuttis and the piano chords reaching electrifying intensity.

The stirring brasses that opened Sibelius’ “Finlandia” at once announced the Finns’ fierce, determined call to arms against Russian oppression. The angry voices kept rising throughout the tone poem, and Salonga sustained the defiance with tremendous force. The aspiration for liberty was interrupted by a melody from the woodwinds, these sounding an appeal, a prayer for peace. Forthwith, Salonga led the FILharmoniKA in a tumultuous finale proclaiming victory over tyranny.

Formidable as the program was thus far, Saint-Saens’ Concerto No. 2 in G Minor capped it as the piece de resistance. Saint-Saens, himself a virtuoso pianist, composed his concerto for a virtuoso likewise. Licad immediately proved herself one in the ponderous opening as well as in the other diabolically challenging sections, while conveying tonal clarity and exquisite fluidity in the melodious passages.

The composer’s supreme command of orchestration was magnificently translated by Salonga, the cohesive, resonant, vibrant tuttis melding later with the piano’s mighty tones in an overwhelmingly glorious finish.

A standing ovation, lusty cries of approbation ensued. Licad acknowledged the deafening applause but the unassuming Salonga stayed in the background although he richly deserved the ovation too. With the clamor for encores, Licad played three.

Summing up, Licad performed with unmatched heart, mind and soul, pouring all she had in the music. Salonga, a kindred soul and now one of our top conductors despite his youth, will soon supersede many of his peers.