Friday night (Nov. 22) at the Samsung Theater in Circuit Makati, violinist Diomedes Saraza, Jr. wore many hats in the ecstatically received Music Movies Magic concert of the Philippine Philharmonic under Gerard Salonga.
One could safely conclude the PPO has risen to high expectations with Richard Strauss’s tone poem Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40, which elicited a screaming standing ovation.
PPO new music director Grzegorz Nowak: They are responsive, they connect very well musically and they are more than willing to raise the level of musicianship of the PPO ensemble.
Music sources noted the first performance of Handel’s Messiah took place on April 13, 1742 in Dublin’s newest concert hall at the time. How come it is still the most performed choral masterpiece during Christmas time all over the world until 2022?
In a program that came as a mild shock to Iloilo City’s seasoned music lovers, the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra under Herminigildo Ranera highlighted its recent Iloilo outreach concert with pop and disco music sending its audiences cheering and stomping feet with VIP guests swaying on their seats Friday night at the Iloilo Convention Center.
By sheer will and determination, young classical musicians still find a way to survive a pop-dominated musical milieu.
Manila is Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff country judging by the number of times you hear Concertos No. 1 and No 2 of said composers.
Many events in both local and foreign history came to mind as pianist Hiyas Hila took center stage as soloist of the Philippine Philharmonic Sunday afternoon in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major, K. 488.
Manila’s ballet scene bristled with excitement last weekend when three sets of Filipino Odette-Odiles took to the CCP stage for their baptism of fire in the world’s favorite ballet warhorse, Swan Lake.
Founded in 1973 as an accompanying orchestra of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the Philippine Philharmonic -- as it was known since 1982 – has evolved since the time of its first music conductor, Maestro Luis Valencia.
