Violinist Shlomo Mintz headlines PPO’s season opener
World-acclaimed violinist Shlomo Mintz will make his Philippine debut Sept. 27, 7:30 p.m. as soloist of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO) under the baton of music director Gregorz Novak.
The concert at the Samsung Theater for Performing Arts in Makati City will feature him as soloist in the Bruch Concerto which he has earlier recorded with the Chicago Symphony under Claudio Abbado.
“I met Maestro Novak in a famous cruise ship where famous international musicians perform. He also conducted me in my first performance of Bartok’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in Copenhagen. I’m very much looking forward to our renewed relationship and sharing music on stage with Maestro Novak!” Mintz said.
Cecile Licad told Inquirer Lifestyle that she first performed with Mintz at age 15 during her Marlboro Music Festival days. At 16, she performed a Mendelssohn Trio with him, which was memorable because it was marred by a one minute-brownout. “I was performing with much, much more mature musicians and nobody in the trio got lost when the lights went off.”
Playing with Licad
Mintz remembers Licad as a “wonderful little kid” whom he first met when they rehearsed together a Mozart Trio along with “a fine cellist.”
“She showed up just like that and I was skeptical as I was not sure that she could play such a difficult work. But she immediately showed me her technical skill and I realized she was a wonderful player and a wonderful, talented musician.
“I remember we worked on a lot of details and a lot on timing of how to play this music properly. At that time, we were all relatively inexperienced players and we spent many hours rehearsing. And I remember also that the performance went very well. She always struck me as an extremely one-of-a-kind gifted pianist. Now, of course, we have all matured and all those memories still look very fresh as if they happened yesterday.”
Mintz added that the Bruch concerto is very special to him. “First of all, I have studied this concerto with the great maestro, Isaac Stern, when I was a very much young and around the time when I actually met Cecile.
“I studied that concerto with him. That concerto was also the first big recording that I did for for Deutsche Gramophone at the time with Claudio Abbado and the Chicago Symphony. I remember the very fond support that Maestro Abbado gave me for that recording, and I still think this is a very, very fine recording and a good sample for a starting artist.
“This concerto is, well, very melodic, very beautiful, very harmonious, very emotional, and it’s a work that is very, very much liked by audiences worldwide.”
Passion
A winner of several international competitions, Mintz said there are many things in an artist’s life that are more important than competing with fellow artists.
“I think that what is important is to have passion for music, and the passion should be transferred to the audience because the audience is there to be emotionally moved and impressed, and it is the task of the performer to do so. I’m looking forward to interacting with Manila audiences for the first time, and to work again with Maestro Novak and the PPO.”
A recipient of prestigious international prizes including the Premio Internazionale Accademia Musicale Chigiana, the Diapason D’Or, the Grand Prix du Disque, the Gramophone Award, the Edison Award, and the Cremona Music Award, Mintz was born in Moscow and emigrated to the United States where he studied with Ilona Feher, who introduced him to Stern, who became his mentor. He was also a student of Dorothy DeLay in New York.
Apart from the Bruch concerto, the Sept. 27 opening concert of the PPO’s 40th season will also feature Jeffrey Ching’s “Fiesta Contrapuntistica” and Strauss’ “Ein Heldenleben.” (For inquiries, contact the CCP Box Office at 0931 033 0880.)
MSJO concert
The concert of cellist Damodar das Castillo and pianist Mariel Ilusorio last Sept. 19 at the MiraNila Heritage House in Quezon City went very well. Next concert is on Oct. 1 featuring the Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra.
