AS I was leaving the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino, I told Spanish Ambassador Luis Antonio Calvo that I just experienced a great night of music.
You see, I was at the one-night-only performance of Filipina soprano Andiòn Fernàndez and Spanish pianist Alberto Urroz for the Embassy of Spain and Instituto Cervantes’s “A Tribute to Granados,” which also featured some of the arrangements of composer Jeffrey Ching.
I was a bit lost for words during my conversation with Calvo, because opera and classical music is still very much an undiscovered world for me. Growing up, I avoided the music almost completely, thinking that it is music made for those in the upper echelons of society.
It only got me interested, when out of nowhere, Luciano Pavarotti started doing those series of concerts with rock stars. I thought to myself that it was an honest attempt at a crossover.
Then I saw this performance of Pavarotti with Simon Le Bon aired years ago in a local channel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irqRht0Qy_8) and I was slowly getting hooked to the idea that classical music might be really good.
When Calvo was telling me about the whole body of work of Enrique Granados and Spanish music, all I can do was nod in appreciation.
For the whole two-hour performance, with the first part the piano performance of Urroz and the second half with Fernandez, I was asking myself why I have been avoiding this music for so long.
I guess, maybe, as we age, our musical preferences slowly changes. We tend to move from the loud, hip and what is on regular radio rotation to slowly gaining an appreciation of indie music and yes, classical and opera. I mean, look at Paul McCartney and Sting. They have delved into classical music as they grew older.
The music that I heard that evening, even if I cannot read notes or have forgotten almost all of what I have learned in my Spanish classes, was truly unbelievable. It was really good music that you do not get to hear on radio.
I have read about Fernandez in the past. But it was the first time I saw her performing live. She was marvelous. Obviously, she has aged, like we all do. But during her 17-song performance, I felt a whole range of emotions.
Together with the piano accompaniment of Urroz to some of the music of Granados, Federico Mampou and Manuel de Falla, there were instances where I felt like dancing. Nope. Make that picking a girl from the audience and dancing with her.
Actually, this is still one of the questions I have when watching such performances. Why cannot we stand up and dance during the performance? Why do we have to reserve the applause only after one of the compositions has been played? Why cannot we clap along to the songs? Why do we have to be so formal?
Anyway, the concert just showed why Fernandez is such a great soprano. She knows what it takes to grab the audience and enthrall them with her performance. Her face is also very expressive and can convey the emotions of a song to even those who cannot understand Spanish, just like me.
Adrian, a friend of mine, told me before the show that Fernandez, who is now based in Germany, schedule is so packed that for those wanting to have her perform must book at least two years in advance. So, we, in the audience that evening, were all lucky in a way to see her live.
For those who are unfamiliar with Fernandez, she has already worked with numerous distinguished conductors, including Lawrence Foster, Michail Jurowski, Leopold Hager, Christopher Hogwood, Kent Nagano, Christian Thielemann, Marcello Viotti and Alberto Zedda.
She has sung in major concert halls and opera houses in Europe and Asia, and was also the soloist of the Deutsche Oper Berlin from 2001 to 2010.
As for Urroz, I just love the way his fingers gently glides across the piano. He makes everything on the piano look so easy, even as the music really sounds so complicated and layered. His performance live is so much different as to how I have seen piano players perform during a rock concert.
And just like Fernandez, Urroz also has a long list of accomplishments listed under his name. He is the founder and artistic director of the Mendigorria International Music Festival and professor of piano at the Alfonso X University in Madrid and at the Arturo Soria Madrid Conservatory.
He is also a founding member of the European Piano Teachers Association and records exclusively with the Spanish record label IBS Classical.
Oh, and before I forget, there was a third person on stage that evening. When I asked Adrian on how I would identify that person, he told me that person is called the page turner. Yup, there is such a job called the page turner.
So I started wondering what it takes for someone to become a page turner. Does it take some sort of formal training? Is there a college course for it? Where does one find employment? What are the compensation packages for such a job?
I looked at the guy on stage and there seems to be a lot of class to what he does. He wears fashionable clothes. He walks with a purpose. He gets to look good on stage. He gets to seat beside a piano virtuoso. And he changes the music sheet from page to page.
Looking for answers, I searched for the page turner during the postevent cocktails. I found out that his name is Paolo Perez and he is from the CCP’s marketing department.
I was also pleasantly surprised to find out that he was not at all snooty and aloof as I thought he would be. He was very much down to earth. He was very accommodating.
Perez told me that he became part of the performance because the CCP’s performance and exhibition department knew that he could read notes. There you go. That is the main criteria for one to become a page turner.
But here is the surprise in it. Perez, who has been with the CCP for four years and six years with Tanghalang Pilipino, told me that what he has is a degree in psychology from the Far Eastern University.
Ah, so I thought then that any college graduate can become a page turner? Well, Perez said most of the page turners that he knows are students of the University of Santo Tomas and University of the Philippines conservatory of music.
And as far as the compensation for page turners, Perez is keeping his lips sealed. So I guess, I will leave it at that.
But what I would really love to happen is for this form of music to be taken and performed live in schools and all the barangays across the country. It does not need to be Fernandez or Urroz. The music will speak for itself. This kind of music needs to be heard by the masses.
For comments, suggestions and reactions, e-mail raalzona@yahoo.com.
Image credits: Roy Domingo