ETUDES (French), or studies, are a series of works that serve as practice and/or demonstration pieces for a musical instrument. For Cecile Licad’s case, it was the piano she used in her welcome series of Iloilo recitals in three separate venues: Nelly’s Garden, St. Anne’s Cathedral in Molo district and SM City Iloilo.
Much like a vocalizing for singers and to extend the analogy, warmup stretches for athletes, the etude pushes the limits of an instrument, not only in terms of its physicality but the musician’s skill in manipulating its range as well. Many composers have written etudes for various instruments but it is Chopin that made it go beyond the technical and raise it to an emotional level, from an exercise & demonstration form to an art form, so to speak. It is said that many a casual listener have been moved enough by them to take up piano lessons. And as with anything we adopt an affinity to, nicknames have been given to specific pieces of Chopin’s two sets of twelve etudes, though the composer himself has been known to be especially not fond of them, continually referring to them by their opus and number up to the very end.
When I first got news that Licad was coming to town for as many as three concerts in three different venues, the scramble for tickets started, including some phone calls to the Manila “impresario.”
Two of the concerts were free, and of course, we wanted to get into those, but “free” also meant being friends with the SM management (for the third evening) and the family of a certain, very well-connected construction magnate (for the second). I don’t count myself in those circles unfortunately, so there I was, shelling out some hard-earned money as ‘donation to a worthy cause.” Which it arguably was. <wink>.
But enough of that whining. A mate said he was more excited about the venue than the concert itself, it being a famous, historical residence that has attained almost mythical status. The former home of the son of a former vice president, coming from the family of successful business magnates, Nelly’s Garden was Filipino peso and pedigree in their most elevated states, the kind of high-society that even the high-society people we are fascinated with look up to. Edith Wharton would probably get a migraine if she was to write a book about them – which reminds me of something someone told me about Crazy, Rich Asians. A friend’s friend’s friend (yes, that’s how “close” I am to the high-society crowd) was alleged to have said the lifestyle and antics of the book turned movie Singaporean rich are nothing compared to how the truly rich Filipinos live. So there.
The etudes were only on the second half of the evening’s program but they were what I was there for. This much my non-musical mind knows. In terms of combining melody, harmony & rhythm into a beautiful whole, there’s nothing like Chopin’s etudes. I will let musicologists analyze the pieces; there is plenty to chew on. One can approach the appreciation on a technical and intellectual level, it’s requirement for virtuosic playing, the way it demands the left and the right hands play in such contrasting manner they could just as well be playing different music of different composers, each one of the 12 pieces in two different sets (opus) “exercising” a different style and technique. Or you can just simply drop everything and get lost in its emotional appeals (plural, mind you). There is order and lucidity in its form, poetry and precision in a good performance. And Licad delivered. In pieces that are fiendishly difficult but sublimely beautiful, she played with the warmth and skill that justifies her several awards from Chopin societies.
Chopin’s music as played by an acclaimed pianist in an historic Ilonggo house. No aircon. The electric fans gave off a buzz nevertheless it was a recital worth the trouble. (Contributed by Michael P. Lim)
