Thomas Demenga with Filipino pianist Charisse Dumlao. Manila debut on
October 10.
When Swiss
cellist Thomas Demenga performs in Manila on October 10 with Filipino
pianist Charisse Dumlao, he shall have completed a cycle of great
cellists who have performed in Manila.
In the 70s,
French legendary cellist Pierre Fournier performed at the CCP while
in the early 80s, the great cellist and conductor Mstislav
Rostropovich was soloist in the Dvorak concerto with the PPO under
Oscar Yatco. (He turned conductor in another CCP concert with Cecile
Licad as soloist in the Saint-Saens piano warhorse.)
Fournier was
often referred to as the “aristocrat of cellists” on
account of his elegant musicianship and majestic sound.
Demenga told Vera
Files before flying to Manila that he heard Fournier for the first
and only time in his home town Berne in Switzerland when he was a
young boy of maybe 10 years. “Later I heard his recordings – an
incredible noble and stylish artist! Today I believe that his Lalo
cello concerto is still the best recording ever made!” he related
with enthusiasm.
Cellist
Thomas Demenga in performance. Photo from University of Southern
California.
He also studied
with Rostropovich in Basel for about six weeks when the Russian
cellist gave his only master class in Europe. “Although we had a
great pianist who accompanied all the 40 cellists in this master
class, Rostropovich would also sit at a grand piano and proved that
he knew the whole cello repertoire by heart including pieces like the
orchestra part of the Sinfonia Concertante by Prokofiev. Later on,
when I studied at the Juilliard School in New York, I met him and his
daughters quite often on a friendly basis.”
It was another
coincidence that Demenga met Cecile Licad, who used to live in Basel
with cellist Antonio Meneses. “When Cecile and Antonio got married,
they lived in Basel where I still teach. We were very good friends
then. I met them earlier at Gidon Kremer’s festival in Lockenhaus
where Cecile and I played Schubert’s Arpeggione sonata. We lost
contact when she moved back to New York.”
Pianist Dumlao
who hails from Tacloban, Leyte first saw Demenga perform Bernd Alois
Zimmermann’s Sonata for Cello. She remembered it was a very intense
experience as he immersed the audience into different colors of
sound. “Although modern music is not always easy to appreciate,
Demenga has a way of involving his audience. You don’t need to
understand the music if you allow yourself to be carried away by his
performance and of course his very presence. At the time I saw him,
he was not playing for us; he was playing with us which made it very
special.”
The Swiss cellist
points out the importance of listening to New Music which he used to
improvise and compose since age 16. “New Music is an important part
of my musical life. Every music was at one point modern and new.
Nowadays when people hear music which was written a hundred years
ago, they still think it’s modern. We just have to compare new
music with everyday life. Everyone has a smart phone/computer and
other modern things that they are all so fond of. But when it comes
to art and music, they prefer works which hundreds are of years old —
strange, isn’t it?”
For him, playing
chamber music is the best there is for any artist. “I think most of
the composers’ best works are to be found within their chamber
music. That makes it a pure joy to play it – just together with a few
people instead of with an orchestra of 100 members. It’s a very
personal and challenging way to communicate.”
He feels much
honored that he will follow the trail of Fournier and Rostropovich in
his coming October 10 Manila concert with Dumlao. “I’m curious to
see a country and a culture I’ve never seen before, and having the
chance to perform in Manila with a Filipino pianist is very
exciting.”
Dumlao can only
agree: “Playing chamber music for me is very exciting – the wide
repertoire, the different coloring in sound and constant dialogue
with co-musicians. A piece is never the same with different players,
and it’s never better or worse. Just different! That for me, is
exciting enough!”
Mstislav Rostropovich congratulating model Crispy Santamaria during a Malacanang fashion show in the early 80s. With Mrs. Marcos, Cecile
Licad and Noel Velasco. Photo from Pablo Tariman collection.
For his Manila
concert, Demenga will use his Andrea Guarneri 1669 Cello named “The
Soyer.” Its previous owner is David Soyer, founding member of
the famous Guarneri Quartet.
The recital
program at the Carlos P. Romulo Hall (RCBC) includes Brahms’ Sonata
in E minor, Opus 38, Faure’s Après un Rêve, Liszt’s La Lugubre
Gondola, Dvorak’s Waldesruh ́ and Rondo in G minor and Schubert’s
Sonata in A minor (Arpeggione).
Apart from the
October 10 concert, Demenga will also conduct a masterclass on
October 8. They will also be heard at the Casa San Miguel in San
Antonio, Zambales on October 13. On October 14, pianist Dumlao will
be guest lecturer in Tacloban in a lecture series called “Pasundayag:
Teaching and Enhancing Cultural Education in Eastern Visayas.”
The October 14
lecture will be capped by a mini-concert featuring flutist Raymond
Sarreal at 2 pm. The program: Concertino by Chaminade, Undine Sonata
by Reinecke and Kataka-taka for Flute and piano.
For inquiries,
call Jem Tangalin at 0945 724 6741.