Watching young musicians make absorbing symphonic music is a gratifying treat.
These young musicians that now constitute the Manila Symphony Orchestra (MSO) recently played their third concert, featuring an equally young soloist of virtuoso caliber, violinist Diomedes Saraza Jr., before an appreciative audience that braved the monsoon rains and almost filled up Philamlife Theater.
The concert is in celebration of MSO’s 10th year of “rebirth” since its resurrection from the old Manila Symphony Orchestra, founded in the 1920s and which folded up in the ’80s.
The main fare was Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 5 in D Minor, which actually was the No. 2, reckoned in the order the composer had written his symphonic works.
Since it was published last, it was labelled his fifth symphonic work. It is referred to as “Reformation” as it celebrates Martin Luther’s approval of the tenets of the Protestant faith in the 16th century. The work, therefore, has a religious connotation, and it is hoped that MSO’s “rebirth” has completely no allusion to it for obvious reason.
Meditative grandeur
Be that as it may, the MSO sounded gloriously, rendering the work with solid dispatch. The ensemble work among the instruments, from the strings to the woodwinds and the brasses was carried with finesse, bringing out the meditative grandeur of the piece.
Eagerly awaited was the finale, the Lutheran chorale “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” The flute warmly intoned it, followed by the other wind instruments and the strings, until the chorale was majestically sounded, bringing the work to a close.
Maestro Arturo “Toti” Molina was never relentless in asserting the baton, all with consummate authority. The downbeat was clear, cueing precise, and dynamics vibrant.
As has always been its practice, the MSO always includes a Philippine work; thus, the rendition of National Artist Antonino Buenaventura’s tone poem “By the Hillside.”
A contemporary Philippine work, it is noted for its superb orchestration, indeed, a solid contribution to Philippine symphonic literature. The piece never fails to allure. At the end, the audience greeted the MSO a very hearty applause.
Smart presence
Violinist Saraza’s entrance was greeted with much applause, prompting the young scholar of the Juilliard school of Music to reciprocate with warm smile. He cut a smart presence that showed a virtuoso stance; he oozed with confidence.
Khatchaturian’s Violin Concerto was not composed for the dilettante. Scored in modern idiom, it has scored the solo instrument in the typical virtuoso manner.
The instrument was allowed to soar with intense vitality, and vibrant colors were woven in festive mood to prove the mettle of a virtuoso.
David Oistrakh, for which the piece was composed, had the singular opportunity to have premiered it in 1940. Since then the piece has become a staple for concert repertoire.
Saraza played with tremendous sagacity. Even then, he was sincere, never a stunt. It was his sincerity in bringing out the integrity, wrapped in the virtuoso import of the piece, which was astounding, of course, given his dexterous fingers.
After his cordial duo with the clarinet in the first movement, he soared magnificently in the long cadenza which did not exhaust his dynamism.
He painted a rich tonal spectrum in the second movement. In the finale he stamped his playing with engaging vitality. Saraza is definitely a virtuoso to watch.
