The good news for opera-starved music lovers is that Verdi’s La Traviata will be mounted at the CCP  with Filipino lead singers on March 3.



                As I write this, I got the information that this is going to be a CCP-Korean production and that  March 3 will see  an all-Filipino lead  singers.



                Rachelle Gerodias will debut as Violetta and Arthur Espiritu, the first Filipino tenor to sing at La Scala di Milan, will also debut as Alfredo. I knew it was a formidable team-up when local audiences got excerpts from Traviata in their October 8 CCP engagement last year.



                Filipino Violettas are few and so are the Filipino Alfredos in this opera.

                Maestra Mercedes Matias Santiago sang it at the Manila Metropolitan Theater in the 1940s as a last-minute substitute for an indisposed Filipino soprano who lost her voice from crying over her mother who passed away less than two weeks before opening night.

                I think Fides Cuyugan Asensio sang it in full or probably some excerpts but I have no record of this. Someone told me she sang Addio del pasato (from Traviata) in the indie film Nino and did pretty well.

                Another Traviata was seen at the CCP in the 70s with Remedios Bosch Jimenez (mother of Baby Arenas) in the title role. The same opera returned at the CCP n the early 90s with the Violetta of American soprano Donna Maria Zapola in a controversial CCP production  directed by National Artist for Theater Rolando Tinio. Her Alfredo was no other than Filipino tenor Nolyn Cabahug.

                Italian diva Taziana Fabriccini sang one performance of Traviata at the Manila Metropolitan Theater  in the mid-90s but lack of finances hounded the production.

                One of the greatest Violettas of  this generation – Romanian diva Nelly Miricioiu – sang at the CCP in 1980 and returned in 1984 to great acclaim at the Manila Metropolitan Theater. Both American and European critics compared her to the great Maria Callas and when she guested in a Malacanang soiree in the 80s, Mrs. Marcos said La Miricioiu even sounded better than Callas.

            Her Violetta  in the US and Europe was second to none. She was the Violetta of Jose Carreras in Spain and Alfredo Kraus in Frankfurt Opera and Placido Doming in San Francisco Opera as last minute substitute of soprano Katja rRcciarelli. She sang 14 performances of Traviata in Sydney Opera and Australian critics were one in saying La Miricioiu had nothing to fear from both Dame Joan Sutherland Kiri Te Kanawa.      Now   57,  La  Miricioiu has world-wide engagements that continue to baffle and charm  critics.

                She just sang Tosca in Covent Garden,  Norma  and Adriana Lecouvreur  in Rome, London and Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater. She was in Semiramide in Lisbon, Tosca in Frankfurt.  A decade earlier,  she debuted at the Metropolitan Opera as Mimi in Boheme and returned a decade later as Elena in Il Vespri Siciliani.  Nelly debuted at the New York City Opera in Handel’s Agroppina three years ago and the New York Times noted: “Nelly Miricioiu, a Romanian soprano making her house debut, sang the title role with an appealingly dark tone and imperious manner."

                  In between engagements, she had televised master classes in Guildhall School of Music in  London and was also in Athens  as  a member of the jury  of the Maria Callas Grand Prix  of which she was a previous grand prize winner (with no second or third prize winners).

                 Of her recent performance  at the Teatro  Verdi Di Trieste  in the opera  Roberto  Devereux in Italy,  a critic wrote, Nelly Miricioiu was very moving in the role of Elizabetta……..from the very beginning it was beyond doubt that her artistic interpretation in the role was out of the ordinary and  included  an excellent technique.

                  As Lady Macbeth in a concert version in London, Clare Colvin of the London Sunday Express wrote: “"In the dominant role of Lady Macbeth , Romanian soprano Nelly Miricioiu was not going to allow a concert performance to impede some full-blooded acting as she wandered through the violins in sequined chiffon, reading Macbeth’s letter.  Verdi envisaged the role as requiring a singing actress of extraordinary character and Miricioiu, a prima donna to her fingertips, fits the bill. “

                   The most acclaimed Filipino Alfredo abroad is no other than Otoniel Gonzaga although several tenors tried the parts namely Noel Velasco, Frankie Aseniero and down to Nolyn Cabahug.

                   As I recall the great Violettas and Alfredos of our time, I certainly will look forward to the Violetta of  Rachelle Gerodias, the Alfredo of Arthur Espiritu and Germont of Andrew Fernando on March 3 at the CCP main theater.

Here and There

                   The announcement of the Cecile Licad-Lea Salonga-Lisa Macuja Elizalde one-night only concert on March 17  in this paper caused a  virtual tsunami of early ticket buyers at the TicketWorld (tel. 8919999), I guess a concert featuring the superstars of classical music and dance with the country’s  only reigning Broadway  star is a tough act to follow. The concert is clearly headed for a sold-out less than two months before opening night.

                    For those left out in the March 17 box office stampede, they can still see Licad in solo recital at the Holy Angel University in Angeles City on March 22 and Cebu City on March 27.  Her provincial solo program: Chopin’s  Polonaise-Fantaisie in A-flat major, Op. 61; Three Mazurkas op.56;. Andante spianato et grande polonaise brillante in E-flat major, Op. 22 and Liszt’s .Miserere du "Trovatore" de Verdi – Paraphrase de Concert and Après une Lecture de Dante: Fantasia quasi Sonata  Call (02) 7484152 or 09065104270.

                    Cellist Wilfredo Pasamba  who received a rousing standing ovation in his maiden  appearance at the Balay Kalinaw Intimate Concert Series  is back and will be heard at the UP Theatre (Feb. 17) and Philamlife (Feb. 25) and a series of cello masterclasses at UP college of music, (Feb. 7-23).


                 Of course the  chamber music treat not to be missed on February 25 is the team up of cellist  Pasamba, violinist Gina Medina and pianist  Mary Anne Espina at the Philamlife Theater. Program includes Arensky’s  Piano Trio no. 1 and Chausson’s concerto for  piano, violin and string quartet.

      Call 782-7164 / 0918-3473027

 

 

Munting Nayon News Magazine