The sixth of this month will linger long in the head and
hearts, like the “last song syndrome,” of those who watched tenor Arthur
Espiritu as he breathed life into the lyrics of poets and the music of
the masters.
 |
| Princely Arthur Espiritu |
The Ayala Museum lobby in Makati City was filled with sparkling
anticipation as the perfumed set and casually dressed culture vultures
took unnumbered seats. The glass-walled, tall-ceilinged museum had been
there for some time as venue for launchings of Jaime Zobel de Ayala’s
de luxe books; it has hosted fashion shows of the likes of Josie Natori
and Inno Sotto and similar worthy endeavors that enrich the city’s
cultural life. But as venue for a concert like MCO Foundation Inc.’s
“The Poet Speaks?” Now we’re talking!
The US-based Espiritu has consistently enthralled the operatic and
fine music crowd with his prince-like stance, his “beautiful legato”, a
critic once wrote. These qualities were present that enchanted evening
when he interpreted art songs and cycles of poetry. Handel’s music from
the opera Semele comes with lyrics of besotted god Jupiter
offering his mortal lover Semele all the loveliness that his powers could
execute for her: “Wher’er you walk / Cool gales shall fan the glade /
Trees where you sit / Shall crowd into a shade …/ Where’er you tread /
The blushing flowers shall rise / And all things flourish…”
His performance echoed past romances that overcame barriers like that
of Robert and Clara Schumann (she was herself a composer but was bogged
down by the bearing and raising of eight children). In “Liederkreis,
Op. 24”, the interpreter in Espiritu swung from mood to mood as the
songs required: sleepless lover fretting over an absent sweetheart, the
same man focused on himself, his grief, sorrows, longing.
The German language is no barrier at all in understanding the agonies
and ecstasies of love, something Espiritu, on his honeymoon stage with
his wife, can relate to.
 |
| Pianist Najib Ismail and Espiritu hug after their performance. |
Complementing
Espiritu’s fascinating performance was Najib Ismael’s virtuosity on
the keys. Music critic Pablo Tariman said, “On the whole, the recital of
tenor Arthur Espiritu with pianist Najib Ismail gave us a clear magic
relationship between the four elements of a song recital: the poet,
composer, singer and accompanist.”
The producers thoughtfully provided a complete program with the
original German, Italian, Filipino and French lyrics side by side with
English translations apart from projecting the lyrics up on one wall,
the words superimposed on images from the Romantic era.
Liszt’s “Trei sonetti del petrarca”, a set of sonnets with lyrics by
no less than Petrarch, tackles again the subject of love, its
complications, especially its torments.
When Espiritu turned to National Artist Lucio San Pedro’s “Sampatak
ng Hamog” (text by another National Artist, Bienvenido Lumbera), the
melody is instantly familiar (Filipino music has a pull on racial
memory), it came as a whiff of fresh air from angst-wrought European
passion.
 |
| In performance |
When
Espiritu said “Sa Ugoy ng Duyan” was his Valentine to mothers in the
audience, everyone quieted themselves, stifled coughs or the clearing of
throats. Many in the audience, not just women, felt themselves tearing
up to the sway and lullaby in the tenor's voice. At that moment in that evening,
he became everyone’s son.
More European songs by von Gluck, Gounod and Delibes followed in the
same vein of tortured declarations to a beloved. Despite the subject,
Espiritu soared high till the audience was putty in his hands.
He and
Ismail received prolonged standing ovations, and they obliged with two
encores. One was “Cessa di piu” from Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Seviglia
that Joseph Uy, one of the concert organizers, said “was cut from the
opera on its premiere because the stated singer cannot sing it due to
its difficulty that requires immense agility.”
The second encore was “O del mio amato ben” by Stephen Donaudy from a
song cycle that captured emotions of happiness, heartbreak, hope and
healing.
Espiritu said when he sings something more serious or tragic or
romantic, he allows the text to transform him so he could totally embody
the character he plays: “I try to revisit personal experiences, whether
something heartbreaking or something disappointing. I try to place
myself back in that moment. Of course, I make sure that I don’t get too
sucked into that moment that I forget that I’m on stage.”
He continued, “I try not to put a stamp on any characters that I do.
The idea is to interpret the work as written and intended by the
poet/lyricist and the composer.”
Of the major tenors worldwide, Alfredo Kraus has left a mark on him
for Kraus’s “longevity and technique [that are] just remarkable.”
That Wednesday night, Espiritu made a mark on music lovers’ hearts.
More of Espiritu’s music at www. arthurespiritu.net--Text and photos by Elizabeth Lolarga
Originally published by Vera Files/Yahoo Philippines, Feb. 8, 2013
No comments:
Post a Comment