The PPO goes to the movies

1 of 5

THE PHILIPPINE Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO) will hold a fundraising concert that will showcase timeless cinematic pieces of music on Nov. 22, 7:30 p.m., at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater in Circuit Makati.

The concert aims to support various PPO initiatives, like the training and development of its members, the promotion of international performances, and the expansion of outreach programs throughout the country.

“The prime consideration is to be able to transport the audience to a kind of world which is magical, using iconic pieces that never seem to die since they are classically popular and still existing in the modern times,” said the orchestra’s creative director Alexander Cortez at a press conference in Makati City on Oct. 1.

“How can you have a show without a Michel Legrand medley, and a Thomas Courtenay? I think all these songs will be very familiar to you, to kind of a more senior age demographic. Anyway, seniors are the ones who can pay.”

The concert, titled Music, Movies, Magic, is presented by the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) and the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra Society, Inc. (PPOSI).

It will star theater and musical luminaries such as the Alice Reyes Dance Philippines (ARDP), the Philippine Madrigal Singers (Madz), and the PPO, led by the show’s music director and conductor Gerard Salonga.

The concert will open with Johann Strauss II’s Die Fledermaus Overture, famously featured in the 1938 film The Great Waltz. The PPO will also perform Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake; Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations: IX. Nimrod from the 1981 film Chariots of Fire; and Ennio Morricone’s Se from the legendary 1988 film Cinema Paradiso.

Opera singer Camille Lopez-Molina will deliver a rendition of Umberto Giordano’s “La Mamma Morta,” from the 1993 film Philadelphia. Concert violinist Diomedes Saraza, Jr. will perform Jules Massenet’s Thaïs: Meditation, a piece famously featured in the film Titanic. Award-winning soprano Lara Maigue will enchant with the aria “Queen of the Night” from Mozart’s The Magic Flute from the film Impromptu.

Cris Villonco will continue with a medley of Michel Legrand’s classics from The Thomas Crown Affair, The Happy Ending, and Yentl. Then, Arman Ferrer will pay homage to homegrown compositions with a medley of George Canseco’s “Paano Bang Mangarap” and “Gaano Kadalas ang Minsan.”

The Madz will take on Ryan Cayabyab’s “Iduyan Mo,” from the film Aguila. A notable collaboration will be between the PPO with Mr. Ferrer, Ms. Lopez-Molina, and Ms. Maigue, alongside choral conductor Jonathan Velasco and the ARDPH, to present “Tonight (Quintet)” from Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story.

The show will conclude with festive cheer as the PPO and Madz will perform pieces from the Home Alone soundtrack by John Williams.

“I think it’s a very balanced program because, in terms of composition, we have enough classical pieces in it like Tchaikovsky, but also contemporary composers,” said Nestor Jardin, PPOSI vice-president, at the press briefing.

It is the lack of funding in Philippine arts and culture that makes fundraising events such as this so important, said CCP president Margie Moran-Floirendo.

“One part of it is audience education,” she said. “We have a lot of talented people. If you watch the PPO, there are about a hundred musicians on stage and it’s really a delight to watch these top performers.”

Music, Movies, Magic will take place on Nov. 22, 7:30 p.m., at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater in Circuit Makati. Tickets range in price from P500 to P8,000. They are available via TicketWorld and the CCP Box Office. — Brontë H. Lacsamana