Filipino talent and European genius in fourth PPO concert

Filipino talent and European genius in fourth PPO concert | Daily Tribune

The Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO), the country’s leading music ensemble of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), kickstarts the new year with the fourth installment of its 40th concert season, Europa, on 17 January, 7:30 p.m., at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater in Makati City.

PPO’s Concert IV: Europa features world-class violinist Aylen Pritchin. He performs the elegant and diverse sounds of European classical music, playing works by master composers Zoltan Kodály, Peter Tchaikovsky and Antonin Dvořák. Among the world’s most sought-after violinists, Pritchin is known for his versatility in contemporary music performances of both period and modern instruments.

Under the baton of PPO music director and principal conductor, Maestro Grzegorz Nowak, the concert will open with Kodály’s “Dances of Galánta,” bringing audiences on a melodic journey to Hungary. A homage to the composer’s hometown, the 1993 folk-inspired masterpiece “Dances of Galánta” allowed Kodály to display his extensive skills as an ethnographer and musical pedagogue through its spiritual tunes.

Pritchin will also perform Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto No.1. This masterpiece successfully held Tchaikovsky’s burning love for Russia through its majestic Canzonetta. When Tchaikovsky finished composing the piece, it was to be performed first by Leopold Auer and Karl Davydov in a concert at the Russian Musical Society in St. Petersburg in 1879. But the performance didn’t push through after the musicians declared it too difficult to play. For years after its composition, the concerto gained a reputation as unplayable (following failed attempts by Iosif Kotek and Emile Sauret) until violinist Leopold Damrosch successfully performed it in a New York concert in 1879.

Concert IV: Europa will conclude with Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8, an inspiring composition celebrating the beauty of nature. The surroundings of Dvořák’s country house in Vyoská inspired his masterpiece in 1889. In merely 18 days, he completed the symphony’s sketch and finished its scoring in Prague. With its striking and colorful thematic ideas with varying Czech flavors, Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8 premiered in 1890 as part of his induction into the Czech Academy of Science, Literature and the Arts.

The concert season runs until April. Tickets for PPO concerts are priced at P3,000, P2,500, P2,000 and P1,500, available at TicketWorld. Be a PPO subscriber and enjoy up to 25 percent discount. To purchase a PPO’s 40th concert season subscription and other inquiries, email salesandpromotions@culturalcenter.gov.ph or call the CCP Box Office at +63931-0330880.