Met Opera stars remembered/Arthur Espiritu at Filfest/ ‘Bel Canto’ at Ayala Museum

My late parents, both doctors of medicine, were avid music lovers whose predilection for opera music could be traced back to that of their forbears. My father’s father, a ship captain, was reputedly the best guitarist of Taal, Batangas, and visiting singers from Manila would not have any other accompanist but him. My mother’s mother, from Batangas, Batangas, played operatic arias on the harp. It was therefore understandable that my parents, early in their marriage, would accumulate operatic records, particularly of New York’s Metropolitan Opera House singers for the family.

As a child, I listened to Enrico Caruso, the world’s greatest tenor in his time, and arguably unmatched to this day.  There were also records of soprano Amelita Galli-Curci in the Mad Scene from Lucia di Lammermoor, — I still hum the scene fairly accurately! — baritone Lawrence Tibbet and tenor Beniamino Gigli.

Through the years, Metropolitan Opera sopranos Helen Traubel, Eleanor Steber, contralto Marian Anderson, Montserrat Caballe, Lucine Amara and tenor Jan Peerce sang in Manila.

Peerce performed at St. Cecilia’s Hall under the auspices of Impressario Alfredo Lozano. I recall arriving late at the press conference and Peerce could see I was terribly embarrassed. Days before Peerce left, Lozano told me that upon the tenor’s request, he scoured the length and breadth of Escolta looking for a record Peerce wanted to gift me with. I received the record, incredibly enough, with a lovely dedication from him!

At the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, I heard baritone Leonard Warren and tenor Jussi Bjorling whom I heard again at the Swedish Royal Opera, and I thought that of the early Met singers, his voice came closest to that of Caruso. It was also in Sweden that I was enthralled by the Met Swedish Wagnerian soprano Birgit Nilsson whose voice had extraordinary floating power, ringing quality and resonance that filled the auditorium to the rafters.

In Manila, opera lovers heard The Three Tenors —Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras, listed here to my mind, in the correct order of merit. Domingo, way back in 1980, starred in Tosca at the CCP Main Theater.

Our international tenors are Otoniel Gonzaga who may still be singing in Germany’s opera houses, and Arthur Espiritu. Herewith is the official announcement of his concert in November.

“ Arthur Espiritu is a singer who possesses an exceptionally beautiful lyric voice, that’s capable of conveying a broad range of characters and emotions, and perform them with great ease. He sings superbly with beautiful legato. A regal tenor”— Opera News

Join us and experience the superb artistry of tenor Arthur Espiritu in the Filfest Cultural Foundation 2013 series’ final offering sponsored by Insular Life entitled “Opera Gala” on Saturday, November 9, 2013 at the Insular Life Auditorium, Insular Life Building Filinvest Corporate City.

Tenor Arthur Espiritu was the first Filipino to conquer major opera companies in the world including the prestigious Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Opera Fuoco in France, Piccolo Teatro di Milano, Theatre St. Gallen in Switzerland, Theatre des Champs-Elysees in Paris, Israel Opera in Tel Aviv, Opera North of England, Connecticut Opera, Austin and Santa Fe to name a few. More major opera companies are scheduled to be conquered in the next three years.

A graduate of Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Arthur Espiritu won the Grand Prize in the distinguished 2009 George London Award, the La Scala award from the prestigious Belvedere Vocal Competition in Vienna, the Irene Dalis Vocal Competition and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Audition.

Some highlights of his operatic career were his portrayal of Don Ottavio opposite soprano Sara Hershkovitz as Donna Anna in the Tel Aviv Opera production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni and opposite Rachel Waiters in Rossini’s Cinderella.

Joining him are three of the country’s premiere artists headed by the 2012 Aliw Awardee for Best Actress in a Musical and grand prize winner of the Jovita Fuentes Vocal Competition — Soprano Myramae Meneses, the renowned singing actress Ana Feleo returning after her critically successful performance as Carmen in Lyric Opera Production of Bizet’s Opera “Carmen” early this year. The country’s foremost bass baritone and the assistant conductor of the famed UST Singers-Noel Azcona. Distinguished collaborating pianists Najib Ismail and Mary Anne Espina will accompany the artists performing excerpts from some of the best loved operas including Carmen, La Boheme, Samson and Delilah, L’ Elisir D’ Amore to name a few. The concert will be performed with Supertitle, an English translation projected above the stage.

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The Manila Chamber Orchestra Foundation will present An Evening of Bel Canto on October 26, 7 p.m., at the Ayala Museum. Bel Canto literally means “The Art of Beautiful Singing.”

The concert will feature internationally-acclaimed Filipino tenor — Arthur Espiritu, considered as the country’s premiere tenor today, soprano Elainne Vibal, a Jovita Fuentes Vocal Competition winner; soprano Myramae Meneses, the 2012 Aliw Awardee for Best Actress in a Musical and the top winner of the National Competition for Young Artists; and soprano Stephanie Aguilar, last year’s third prize winner of the Jovita Fuentes Vocal Competition. Performing with them will be most a sought-after collaborating artist — pianist Najib Ismail.

This concert is for the benefit of children with cancer. Call Ticketworld at (891-9999), COEA at (782-7164 or 0918-3473027) and MCO Secretariat at 750-0768 or 0920-9540053.