By PABLO A. TARIMAN
MANILA is extremely lucky with excellent cellists as it is with great artists performing in its leading temple of the arts.
In the 70s, Manila’s music lovers heard the great French cellist Pierre Fournier, the “aristocrat of the cellists”; in the early 80s, it had the great Russian cello icon Mstislav Rostropovich with the Philippine Philharmonic in the Dvorak cello concerto; in the late 80s to the mid-90s, it heard the gold medalist of the Tchaikovsky Competition, Brazilian cellist Antonio Meneses then married to pianist Cecile Licad who in 2009 teamed up with sensational German cellist Alban Gerhardt in a well-received recital and with the PPO.
In 2010, the cellist of the year in Manila was no doubt Chinese cellist Qin Li Wei who teamed up with Filipino pianist Albert Tiu in a very revealing recital at the Philamlife Theater.
A silver medalist in the Tchaikovsky Competition, Qin instantly won music lovers opening his recital with Mozart’s “Magic Flute’s Ein Medchen ohder vaibchen” and later Chopin’s Sonata in G Minor for Piano and Cello, Op. 65.
Now based in Singapore, Qin is referred to as the next Yo Yo Ma — not just by a member of the jury of the Tchaikovsky competition – but by avid cello enthusiasts.
When then 14 year old Chinese cellist Guo Qiele saw Qin on TV, he was instantly mesmerized. “His beautiful playing totally moved me,” he admitted.
Gou auditioned for Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (in Singapore) where he was full scholarship by Qin to study with him and becoming his student.
It was a case of a brilliant student meeting an equally brilliant teacher.
Gou said,“Li Wei is a fantastic musician and cellist. He is so creative and unpredictable on creating music. As a cello teacher, he was the most influential in my life. As a person, he is full of passion and energy where we treat each other like good friends more than just teacher and student. As an artist, he is always very responsible for the music he created. He thinks that it’s his duty to put love and attention to every note he played and I think as a musician, it is admirable to have this kind of musical mind-set. I admire my teacher Li Wei not because his playing but also he taught me many things more than just being a musician, but also how to be a great human being. On the other hand, I also admire YoYo Ma because he is so successful that people couldn’t define him as a cellist only but a musician, an artist, a symbol of his time. He is the cellist that changed the musical world a lot.”
Guo isn’t just an ordinary young musician. In China where the population is in the billion categories, he was named one of the top ten talents. Two years later, he joined a national cello competition and placed second!
The good news is that Guo Qiele will debut in Manila on March 6 in an MCO chamber music series featuring pianist Mary Anne Espina and violinist Gina Medina in the Dvorak Third Trio and Piazzolla’s “Four Seasons” at the Ayala Museum.
Quo comes from a very musical Chinese family. His father is a cellist himself, his mother is a Chinese folk musician and his uncle is also a cellist playing with the Singapore Symphony.
Before he was born, his parents gave him the name “Qiele” which is pronounced as “cello” in Chinese.
Being named one of China’s top young musicians is no big deal for the young cellist. “At that time, I didn’t really know what that honor meant. The one thing I was sure of was that I love to perform cello in front of audience and share my music with them. I went through three stages of competition with all kinds of the talented young artiest all over the country and won the award in Shenyang, China.”
One of the top prize-winners of China’s national cello competition, Guo doesn’t believe he has to compete to be a good artist.
“In my mind, there is no way people could define you as good musician or bad musician depending on the music you created. As long as you put all your passion and love inside, the music will become touching and alive.”
Gou says it is a special challenge playing Piazzolla and Dvorak with Espina and Medina in Manila.
“I think it is an interesting experience for me playing chamber music with Filipino musicians in Manila. I can’t wait to meet the audience and share my music and love with them!”