An electrifying Ochanine / A Filipiniana Francisfest

With wooden panels covering the walls of the CCP stage, there was a discernible acoustical improvement. Likewise obvious were the more solid sounds emanating from the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra owing to the re-positioning of its members by music director-principal conductor Olivier Ochanine.

The French-American baton-wielder, wishing to further acquaint the audience with French music, offered “La Musique Francaise” in the PPO’s latest concert. Berlioz’s romantic masterpiece, Harold in Italy was alternately abstract and descriptive, the first movement being scenes of Melancholy, Happiness and Joy, with solo violist Sayaka Kokubo of the Seattle Symphony enhancing luminously the ensemble’s haunting wistfulness.

The second movement, “March of the Pilgrims Singing Their Evening Hymn” was solemn and somber. The third, “Serenade of the Abruzzi Mountaineer to his Mistress” had the winds infusing tenderness to the episode. Ochanine, whose fragile frame belied his fiery and dynamic conducting, produced in the fourth movement, “Orgy of Brigands”, robust, explosive sounds which sent sparks flying while the viola remained silent.

In Milhaud’s Le Boeuf sur le Toit (The Ox on the Roof), composed for Jean Cocteau’s ballet, the orchestra rendered in a spirited, charming, spontaneous fashion Brazilian dances in tango and samba rhythms, with the melodies predominating. In this regard, Milhaud once declared: “The important thing in a musical work is the vital element — the melody — which should easily be retained, hummed and whistled in the street. Without this fundamental element, all the technique in the world can only be a dead letter.” Through the brisk, danceable rhythm, the melodies surfaced eloquently, with Ochanine in masterful command.

Arthur Honegger’s Pastorle d’ete (Summer Pastorale) was interpreted by a much-reduced orchestra which consisted of strings and a few wind instruments. These reflected the work’s bucolic character — Nature at its calmest, most passive and peaceful, the cohesive strings seamlessly inter-acting with the emphatic horn and clarinet.

Ravel’s Bolero, a compositional tour de force, climaxed the concert proper. The single theme grows and progresses through harmonic and instrumental innovation and inventiveness. The piece begins with two cellists gently plucking their instruments, a percussionist faintly beating on his drum, and a wind player intoning the melody.

A few string and wind instruments quietly join them, while other instruments follow suit almost imperceptively. Eventually, the entire orchestra plays with gradually increasing volume, force and sonority, maintaining the bolero rhythm steadfastly until the fullest volume is attained — rousingly.

Ochanine’s remarkably firm, authoritative grasp of the work’s technical demands astonished the listeners more and more, the final tumultuous sounds electrifying and yes, overwhelming them. Momentarily petrified, they later broke into deafening applause. Ochanine returned to acknowledge the curtain calls, then responding to the clamor, wittily prefaced the encore thus: “Because the weather cooperated, we’re playing Strauss’ Thunder and Lightning.” Indeed, gripping thunder and lightning the piece turned out to be! Followed the Intermezzo from Mascagni’s opera Cavalleria Rusticana, its glowing, ethereal lyricism ending a highly fascinating, enchanting and illuminating evening of music.

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As a parishioner of the Santuario de San Antonio church, headed by Fr. Joel Sulse, I can do no less than help publicize the forthcoming feast of its patron saint, Francis of Assisi. “Sayá at Sayá, the Timeless Filipino” will be the theme of the annual fund-raising dinner concert which will be at the Rizal ballroom of the Makati Shangri-la Hotel on Thursday, Oct. 7 at 7 p.m.

“Sayá at Sayá” is the fusion of Filipino culture, history and nostalgia expressed through song (kundiman), dance (contemporary Filipino ballet) and fashion (Filipiniana attire will be worn by the women parishioners). The fusion will span six decades from 1949, the year the church was completed, to the present. The evolution of arts and culture is seen through the eyes of the parishioners, many of whom have witnessed, first-hand, the growth and metamorphosis of their beloved parish which has remained virtually unchanged and timeless as the Filipino soul and spirit.

Parishioners are urged to join the Oct. 7 celebration. Tickets may be had through Bernadette at the parish office, tel. 8438830 or 38.