MEDIUM RARE
Jullie Y. Daza
Are we the only people celebrating a Valentine’s Month because one day is not enough to express feelings of love, romance, more love?
Cecile Licad, all the way in New York, treated us in Metro Manila to a virtual “Amore” piano recital on the century’s most auspicious day, 2-22-2022, with romantic selections by Chopin (who was in love with the novelist George Sand, scandalously), Beethoven (who went through life loveless), and Rachmaninoff (who married his first cousin in defiance of Russian Orthodox church law – how romantic can you get?).
The pianist, introduced by host David Dubal, himself a pianist, chose familiar pieces such as Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven, No Other Love and Scherzo by Chopin, and four preludes by Rachmaninoff. With Nedy Tantoco and the sponsors she collared -- Store Specialists, Ramon Ang, Kevin Tan, Danny Dolor – exactly 286 music lovers and fans of Ms. Licad enjoyed a delightful sunset soiree for the benefit of Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra Society.
For 90 minutes, the zoom audience followed “the world of Cecile Licad’s hands” (in the words of Mr. Dubal). Ten fingers that roamed the keyboard like a thundering herd, at turns a moth and a cloud floating over the black-and-white. Alone with the piano in what looked like a drawing room, she was at home, without an audience, without the trimmings of a concert stage.
Cecile wore a long black and gold cheongsam, green earrings, and nothing on her arms and fingers. Thanks to the digital technology, we saw her face and her hands in extreme closeup. For long stretches, she played with her eyes closed, whether it was a passage crashing like a tsunami of chords or a drizzle of pianissimo notes too sacred to be touched by a shadow.
During the intermission, Cecile answered David’s questions about her musical family, including her uncle Francisco Buencamino and cousin Willy Cruz, both composers, and the path that she took from childhood to fulfill a vocation that has musicalized her fame and destiny.
As a solo instrument the piano is also the most eloquent, and in Cecile’s hands, her world, it has allowed her to play with soloists of other instruments like Wynton Marsalis, trumpet, and to be spotlighted in ballets, movies, and other collaborations. Three cheers!