The 2011 PPO Season Concert VIII: Poom and Mahler I

-
For the closing concert of the 28th concert season of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) theater, Maestro Olivier Ochanine and the orchestra welcome pianist Poom Prommachart, 1st Prize winner in the 2010 Isidore Bajik International Piano Competition to perform Rachmaninoff's 3rd Piano Concerto. Also on the programme, which rounds up Maestro Ochanine inaugural season with the orchestra, the First symphony of Gustav Mahler will be performed. Mahler was nearly thirty years old by the time he finished his very first symphony, and the work shows musical maturity and expertise at orchestration quite well. This work is a rousing finale for the end of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra season.

Gustav Mahler (7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was a late-Romantic Austrian-Bohemian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer, he acted as a bridge between the 19th century Austro-German tradition and the modernism of the early 20th century. While in his lifetime his status as a conductor was established beyond question, his own music gained wide popularity only after periods of relative neglect which included a ban on its performance in much of Europe during the Nazi era. After 1945 the music was discovered and championed by a new generation of listeners; Mahler then became one of the most frequently performed and recorded of all composers, a position he has sustained into the 21st century.

The stamp above features Gustav Mahler issued by Austria in 2010.

Popular posts from this blog

Rodolfo S. Cornejo on Stamp

-
Image
Rodolfo S. Cornejo is the first Filipino composer who received an honory degree from a government recognized music school in the United States . He is also remarkable for his pianistic and compositional know-how by improvising a piano composition at the spur of the moment.   He was born on 15 May 1909 in Singalong , Manila . At the age of six, he had his formal piano lessons. After 2 years, he played fourteen pieces and six encores for his recital. In that same year, he became the organist of the Pasay Catholic Church when they moved in. When he was ten, he composed a piano piece entitled, " Glissando Waltz ". He became so keen and inspired about music by his mother's genuine support.    At 13, he composed the "Salute", a military march that was also published. He also composed the Philippine Suite: Paalam sa Pagakadalaga , Okaka Variations , Paalam na Sinta , Oriental Fantasy , Nocturne in G, Piano Concerto no. 1 , and the Moro Wedding Dance . At 14, tw...
Read more

The Kudyapi- The Philippine Two-Stringed Lute

-
Image
The kutiyapi or kudyapi, is a Philippine two-stringed, fretted boat-lute. It is the only stringed instrument among the Maguindanao people, and one of several among other groups such as the Maranao and Manobo . It is four to six feet long with nine frets made of hardened beeswax . The instrument is carved out of solid soft wood such as from the jackfruit tree.   Common to all kutiyapi instruments, a constant drone is played with one string while the other, an octave above the drone, plays the melody with a kebit or rattan pluck (commonly made from plastic nowadays). This feature, which is also common to other related Southeast Asian "boat lutes", which were influenced by varying degrees by Indian concepts of melody and scale via the Malay archipelago .   Among the T'Boli , Manobo and other Lumad groups, the instrument (known as Hegelung, Kudyapi or Fedlung) is tuned to a major pentatonic scale . Among groups like the Bagobo , the Kutiyapi (Kudlung) is also used as...
Read more

The Great Filipino Series- Antonio J. Molina on Stamp

-
Image
Antonio J. Molina was called the "Dean of Filipino Composers". He was a prominent violoncellist, conductor and teacher. He wrote 500 compositions in his lifetime.   He was the last of the musical triumvirate, two of whom were Nicanor Abelardo and Francisco Santiago , who elevated music beyond the realm of folk music. At an early age, he took to playing the violoncello and played it so well it did not take long before he was playing as orchestra soloist for the Manila Grand Opera House . Molina is credited for introducing such innovations as the whole tone scale, pentatonic scale, exuberance of dominant ninths and eleventh cords, and linear counterpoints. As a member of the faculty of the UP Conservatory, he had taught many of the country's leading musical personalities and educators like Lucresia Kasilag and Felipe de Leon .   Born into a musically inclined family, he raised his own family as music lovers as well, as three of his children pursued careers in music, ...
Read more

Glimpses of Old Cebu: Images of the Colonial Era

-
Image
" Glimpses of Old Cebu: Images of the Colonial Era " is a 276-page coffee table book of nearly 600 of the best photographs, postcards , stereoviews and lantern glass slides of Cebu and its many towns taken between 1870-1945. More than just a mere showcasing of rare, never-before-seen images, the book also provides a treasure trove of information accompanying nearly every picture. The author, Lucy Urgello Miller has been collecting vintage Philippine postcards and photographs for over 20 years, the thrust of her collection being Cebu . She acquired 90% of her Cebu collection in the United States where she is living with her husband Richard "Rick" Miller. Most of the collection was bought at antique postcards shows. Lucy has about 1,000 pictures and postcards on Cebu but she selected only the best and most interesting for this book. Mommy Gingging, Lucy and my wife Grace A blue-blooded Theresian, Lucy spent her entire education from kind...
Read more

Vicente Fabella on Stamps

-
Image
Vicente F. Fabell a (1891-1959). Educator, economist, civic leader and the first Filipino certified public accountant . He was the founder of Jose Rizal College .  He was born on May 7, 1891 in Pagsanjan , Laguna , the third of six children of Juan Fabella, who served as mayor of Pagsanjan during the Spanish and American regimes, and Damiana Fernandez.    He obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of the Philippines in 1912 and then continued his studies in the United States, obtaining concurrent degrees of bachelor of philosophy from the University of Chicago and diploma in commerce from Northwestern University in 1915. That same year, he became a certified public accountant in the state of Wisconsin .   In 1916, upon his return to the Philippines, he became a professional lecturer in accounting and auditing at the University of the Philippines . At the same time, he opened the accounting firm, Vicente Fabella and Company.   He was inst...
Read more

Cebuano Artists Painting Collection- Celso Duazo Pepito

-
Image
The Will to Live 2021, ( Autostereogram )     When we look and appraise a painting by color deficient   Master artist Celso Duazo Pepito , one will immediately come face to face with a brilliantly made work of art.    He was born 54 years ago on the 22nd of November in Daan Bantayan , Cebu . He plunged into the world of art as a young man who showed special skills in lettering . He was surprised when he steps into the halls of the University of the Philippines that the fine arts course was after all about painting. His painting career soon took off soon after college.    There were years of facing struggles hurdling one trial after another. But, like college education, experience is considered as the best teacher. His paintings are known to contain imagery that is brought to life by crisp and clear lines, bold strokes and his usual usage of bright color scheming. But deep within his subjects are personal motives and intentions that come from hi...
Read more

Great Achievers in Philippine Art- Honorata "Atang" de la Rama on Stamp

-
Image
Honorata “Atang” de la Rama (January 11, 1902 – July 11, 1991) was a singer and bodabil performer who became the first Filipina film actress.   Atang de la Rama was born in Tondo, Manila on January 11, 1905. By the age of 7, she was already starring in Spanish zarzuelas such as Mascota, Sueño de un Vals, and Marina. At the age of 15, she starred in the sarsuela Dalagang Bukid, where she became known for the singing the song, Nabasag na Banga .   During the American occupation of the Philippines , Atang de la Rama fought for the dominance of the kundiman , an important Philippine folk song, and the sarsuela , which is a musical play that focused on contemporary Filipino issues such as usury, cockfighting, and colonial mentality.   Generations of Filipino artists and audiences consider Atang de la Rama's vocal and acting talents as responsible for much of the success of original Filipino sarsuelas like Dalagang Bukid , and dramas like Veronidia .    She has...
Read more