The audience, with ultimate anticipation to witness and experience the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO) in Preludi, Concert V of its Versatile 41st concert season, were clearly curious — make that utterly confused. However, it was not the usual scene of just the orchestra, as they tuned their instruments and reviewed their music sheets.

Present at strategic points all over the auditorium were music stands — the same home of music sheets — in spots where we would never expect them. One was behind all the seats. Another was in front of all the seats to the left. On the center, below the stage, were two pedestals. And on the right, another stand. We were all befuddled by the setup. “Are they ready for the performance? It seems they are still setting up,” one viewer whispered to their seatmate. But Maestro Grzegorz Nowak, steady and unhurried, took his rightful place at the podium and signaled the start of a program with the Philippine national anthem.

The evening proceeded with Fenghuang Singing composed by Jeffrey Ching, the PPO’s composer-in-residence. Jeffrey has studied in Harvard, Cambridge and more, embarked on cultural missions to China, led operas and symphonies performed across Europe, and received awards from Malacañang. Yet it was his obra which commanded the room!

Commissioned in 2019 to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, Fenghuang Singing incorporates symbolic elements from two cultures: German hymns interspersed with Chinese ideographs from The Chairman Mao Zedong’s calligraphy.

The soprano lines were entrusted to his muse and spouse Andión Fernández Ching. Born in Manila and trained in Berlin under Karan Armstrong and Aribert Reimann, Andión has graced some of the world’s most coveted stages. On this particular evening, she did not remain fixed in one spot — she even roamed the stage, its edges, and travelled from one music stand to the next. Her voice emerged from unexpected angles, at times close, at times distant, as though tracing the piece’s themes of rupture and rebirth.

Taking turns with her was trumpet soloist Glober C. Calambro, assistant principal trumpet of the PPO. Glober cut through the hall with clarity, then softened into something almost conversational. He, too, moved across the space, responding to the soprano’s lines, advancing, retreating, and reshaping how sound occupied the theater.

For her encore, Andión obliged with an aria entitled “Wuxingming lao huashi,” straight from her husband’s upcoming opera to be performed in Shanghai come March, “The Butterflies,” which is based on the Chinese legend The Butterfly Lovers, one of China’s Four Great Folktales.

After such a charged opening, the arrival of Szymon Nehring at the piano brought a different focus. Szymon, widely regarded as the most gifted pianist of his generation in Poland, was the only Pole to win first prize at the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition. He approached Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 Op.11 in E minor with fervor, as if the old master possessed his fingers. Written when Chopin was twenty, on the eve of his departure from Warsaw amid national uncertainty, the concerto carries a personal undercurrent of longing and resolve — and perhaps, even served as his calling card towards stardom.

Szymon shaped the first movement with a singing touch, never forcing the line, allowing the orchestra room to breathe around him. The Romanze unfolded with inward lyricism, while the finale danced with youthful confidence. His collaboration with Maestro Nowak felt second nature to both — seamless passages between piano and orchestra.

The crowd couldn’t have enough of him. So for his reprise, Szymon then took to the piano for an unforgettable rendition of Chopin’s Grande Polonaise Brillante in E-flat Major, Op. 22, a powerful piece which exuded a strong and heroic façade, but is likewise elegant with its soaring melodies.

Throughout the night, Szymon traced the shifting moods with precision, letting motifs reappear altered yet recognizable, until the final pages rang with affirmation.

Following the intermission, the PPO returned with their own offering: Franz Liszt’s “Les Préludes.” Composed in the German city of Weimar during Liszt’s years as Kapellmeister — chapel master to you and me — the work reflects on life’s unfolding stages through thematic transformation. Les Préludes was then unleashed in its full symphonic form to a resounding finish.

Applause throughout the Samsung Performing Arts Theater followed swiftly and sincerely. As the orchestra stood, bowed, and acknowledged the hall, they were drowned with more cheers and praises.

With the various influences which spanned multiple continents, it was definitely a complete immersion — and yet, the title Preludi hints at more to come. We can’t wait!

Bravo, Jeffrey Ching, Andión Fernández Ching, Glober C. Calambro, and Szymon Nehring!

¡Enhorabuena Maestro Nowak, and the PPO!