O. Salonga virtually makes each work a virtuoso piece/Tonite: Filfest's Flamenco!

The 26-year-old Oliver Salonga (no relation to Lea) went on a musical “journey” most pianists would regard arduous, its destinations being the widely diverse and mostly demanding work of Beethoven, Schumann, Liszt, Scarlatti, Chopin and Rachmaninoff. The “journey” began and ended at the Santuario de San Antonio Parish Center social hall.

To change metaphors, Salonga virtually turned every selection into a virtuoso piece.

Musicologists regard Beethoven a “universally cherished composer, his works as enduring as man himself, leaving a universal language in music.” Salonga's choice, Beethoven’s 32 Variations in C Minor, was of the most solid craftsmanship, with form and melodies brilliantly commingling, rendered with sureness of touch conveying spirit and passion. Depicting Beethoven as “the emperor of Sturm und Drang”, Salonga fervidly expressed anxiety and restlessness throughout the Variations.

Analysts concur that the best pages of Schumann’s music are in his Fantasies tucke, Op. 12, each of the striking selections likewise interpreted with tonal clarity so typical of the pianist’s style. A dramatic sweep was felt in In Der Nacht; warmth charming humor and grace surfaced in Grillen, with exquisite sensitivity characterizing the entire series.

One of the 18th century’s most distinguished composers, Scarlatti was represented with sonatas in G Major, B Minor and G Major, these interpreted in severe, restrained, distinctively classic fashion.

The Concert Paraphrase on Gonoud’s Faust Waltz by Liszt, as to be expected from this showman, was filled with stunning, effective, showy devices, Salonga rising to the score’s challenge with utmost brio and bravura. The listener felt like dancing to the infectiously surging rhythm of the familiar waltz.

With Chopin knowing the technical resources of the piano more than any other composer of his time, he created a style so unique, so original that after the first few bars, his compositions are quickly identified as his own. Chopin’s glowing artistry creates in the Polonaise widely-ranging, lofty moods which only the most virtuosic pianist can fully express. The Polonaise-Fantasie in A Major was no exception and Salonga made the piece vastly exciting, its fortissimos and sforzandos reaching one of the most powerful of Chopin’s climaxes.

Chopin is a composer of inexhaustibly innovative devices that demand a sure-fire technique. This Salonga demonstrated in the Polonaise-Fantasie as he did in Rachmaninoff’s Piano Sonata No. 2 in B Flat Major, the pianist delineating the lyrical expressiveness and harmonic beauty typifying the composer’s works.

Audience response was thunderous, and Salonga obliged with a brief encore. The recital, titled “Contrasts,” had the selections contrasting with each other but all of them interpreted masterfully.

The venue proved acoustically excellent. Salonga was presented by the New Musicians Guild composed of various musical artists “for each other, the Philippines and the world,” Michael T. Puyat, son of Victor Puyat and Nanette Tiongco — among the evening’s sponsors — served as emcee.

During the intermission, Michael told me that Oliver is the only remaining Filipino contender in the Van Cliburn International Competition regarded as the Olympics in Piano. The two thousand original contestants have narrowed down to a hundred.

Salonga, I was informed further, is currently considering several options. The most dominant is returning home and staying home permanently. I do hope he will remain abroad, there to continue making a name for himself and his country, visiting the native hearth only for occasional concerts.

The Philippines sorely needs to elevate its stature in the international scene, there being very few Filipinos known the world over, one of them being Pacquiao. How tragic!

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Flamenco! Cuerdas de Fuego (Strings of Fire) will be presented tonight at 8 in Alabang’s Insular Life Theater by Filfest chaired by Vicky F. Zubiri. All dancers are from Spain.