MEDIUM RARE

Fast and furious. That’s how she was.

Cecile Licad on piano, playing Tchaikovsky in a slightly faster tempo than I’ve ever heard before, her fingers racing up and down the keyboard to empower her glittering glissandos and thunderous chords. Her audience was struck by lightning as it were, gasping for breath.

Cecile Licad was nothing if not herself, all ten fingers on the pianoforte and two feet on the pedals, bursting with characteristic kinetic energy, throwing an arm or two up into the air or lifting her bottom inches from the bench for purchase, more power, bring it on! Tchaikovsky’s piano concerto no. 1 at the Metropolitan Theater Manila never felt more fun, more Russian!  

After the concert, at a Japanese dinner hosted by fellow New Yorker Lin I. Bildner, the pianist confirmed that, yes, the slightly faster tempo for the concerto was her decision, her choice. If you know your Licad, she won’t play the same piece twice, and, what are those 88 keys for, if a pianist couldn’t inject a fresh element into whatever music is on the agenda.  

At the dinner, I observed how she indulged her vices: Marlboro and a very dry martini. What some of Cecile’s fans may know is that daily she devotes 13 hours to run her scales and such. What they may not know is that she’s actually, truly adept at sneaking into that schedule the laundry, the “walis walis” (sweeping the floor with an old-fashioned broom), and other imported-from-the-Philippines chores. As for her fingers, yes, she can’t help it, her nails are not manicured, not even touched by colorless polish. She remembered to remind me that I once asked if her hands were insured; no, they’re still not.    
Over the years, as her audience and the pianist gain in age, her concerts seem to grow younger, more agile, seasoned by experience but with lots more salt and pepper (and maybe wine) added to the brew. Two hours after last Tuesday’s concert, Cecile paid tribute to the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Grzegorz Nowak: “They were a joy to work with. I love Maestro Nowak.”

She left Manila yesterday to return to New York, where a recording project will keep her busy for several weeks.