A day after she received double standing ovation at the Manila Metropolitan Theater, Cecile Licad agreed to answer assorted questions from the media.
The questions are mainly on how she prepares for a concert.
On her interpretation of Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1 which she earlier played with the Chicago Symphony under Sir Georg Solti ate age 21, the pianist says she likes starting from scratch.
Says she: “I don’t like listening to other recordings. I start from scratch as though I am performing it for the first time. I study the notes carefully including the ones in between and from there I work on my own interpretation. After preparing technically, I rewind the concerto in my mind and prepare to tell a story to my audience. After all, I compare performing to telling a story. My audience should be able to follow me and that is the reason I try very hard to communicate to my audience and not just the notes through my hands. All my body should help me tell a story. I like to make music flow in all parts of my body and on to my audience. I experiment with what will work and what will be effective in communicating to my audience. Even if I have performed the concerto many times, I prepare as though I will play it for the first time.”
Speaking of legendary conductors, she has worked with from Zubin Mehta to Sir Georg Solti and Claudio Abbado, among others, Licad has a special heart in her heart for Maestro Eugene Ormandy of the Philadelphia Orchestra. “I was very young when I worked with that legendary Maestro. When I was told he has worked with Rachmaninoff himself, the more I was thrilled. It is a special honor to be soloist of Maestro Eugene Ormandy in my late teens. The first time I visited him, the first thing he told me was that he has a Filipino helper. I was his soloist in Variations on A Theme by Paganini.”
Ormandy passed away in 1985.
Veteran American critic Harold Schonberg ended his obituary for Ormandy thus: “Ormandy does not conduct with the overwhelming personality of a Furtwängler, or with the ferocity and clarity of a Toscanini, or with the immense knowledge and classicism of a Szell. But he has carved out an area for himself, and within it he is secure, a perfect workman and a sensitive interpreter. And it is an area that takes in a great deal more than Strauss waltzes.”
Licad said her friendship with the late Nedy Tantoco started way back. “My mother is close to her mother (Rustan’s founder) Glecy Tantoco.”
Glecy Rustia Tantoco is from Baliuag, Bulacan while the family of the pianist’s mother, Rosario Licad comes from the Buencaminos of San Miguel Bulacan.
“Nearly all my concerts in Manila was spearheaded by Nedy Tantoco who works very fast and solves problems fast. I see the same character and super efficiency in her son, Anton Tantoco Huang. In my first rehearsal with the PPO, I was concerned with the not so ideal acoustics of the Manila Metropolitan Theater. It was mainly due to those curtains which serve as backdrop of the stage and they absorb all the sound. The result is the sound doesn’t bounce back to the audience.”
The pianist asked her piano tuner, Danny Lumabi, to check how she and the orchestra sound like at the back of the theater.
Continued Licad: “Imagine Mr. Anton (Tantoco-Huang) produced an acoustics shell made of plywood in less than 24 hours!”
The result was the new look of the Met stage and a better acoustics on opening night. A member of the diplomatic corps once watched a concert at the newly renovated Met and deplored the theater’s bad acoustic.
The improvised acoustics shell was turned over to the NCCA under its director Ino Manalo just in time for the March `19 concert.
On the day she left for New York, Licad acknowledged her host, the Tantocos. “I live in a lovely house with a garden which is what I need to cope with stress.”
She loved the house pets and posted a picture of herself with the house cats noticing their huggable paws.
I commented with: “Cile I have a paw of a singer.”
A day after her first rehearsal with PPO, the pianist posted a photo of herself sweeping the Tantoco garden with walis tingting.
I commented on her FB post with: “I also sweep my Pasig garden but with Brahms Symphony No. 2 in the background.”
On the day of her departure for New York, she posted a photo of herself watering the well-trimmed garden.
I commented (sounding like the house owner): “Cile please don’t drown my orchids.”
After which Babeth Lolarga followed up with a comment. “Cecile please be careful treading on Pablo’s petunias.”
To all of which the pianist replied with guffaw emojis.
But the night at the Met was worth recalling.
The concert was graced by two National Artist for Literature (Virgilio Almario and Gimeno Abad) with all the living National Artists for Music absent (Ryan Cayabyab and Ramon Santos.)
Many of the country’s music teachers and students were in the audience.
Sen Loren Legarda took care of the invitations and indeed the country’s cross-section was well-represented.
Said she: “I am honored to have organized this special occasion together with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), and the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra Society, Inc. (PPOSI). I am grateful to my dear friend, Nedy, who started this project last year. This concert is a tribute to her life and legacy.”
The country’s most respected columnist and educator Randy David and his granddaughter Julia were in the audience and so were writers Jose Dalisay and wife Beng and actor Pen Medina and his son Seth all raving over the pianist after the concert.
All told, it was an evening of double standing ovations and three encore numbers and rock star treatment for the pianist from fans yelling her name from the balcony section to the theater lobby where she was mobbed by autographed seekers along with conductor Grzegorz Nowak. That concert also revealed that the PPO has finally acquired its best music director in 50 years!
Hear the cultural cognoscenti.
From painter-actor Ivi Avellana Cosio: “Brahms Symphony No. 2 was sublime. I have never heard the Philippine Philharmonic play so excellently and of course the reason is Maestro Nowak in full control. As for soloist Licad, I understood what she meant by being able to be free! (Because of a superb conductor) Her rendition of the Tchaikovsky was brilliant and all hers. I heard notes I had never heard from other performances of this concerto. I can’t remember who said this – (I’m paraphrasing here ‘I play exactly the same notes as the other pianists, but it’s the pauses between the notes that make the difference.’) As for her encore numbers, her Widmung by Schumann (dedicated to the late Nedy Tantoco) was so touching, (Francisco) Buencamino’s Hibik ng Puso was very personal and Chopin’s Minute Waltz was probably only 45 seconds long! I must also mention the rapport and respect between Licad and Maestro Nowak! Brava Cecile! Bravi, Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra!”
Deanna Ongpin Recto described her performance as “impeccable” while Mav Rufino said “it was spellbinding!”
The National Artist for Literature Virgilio Almario was so moved he posted in FB: “Tutula ako para kay Cecile Licad! (I will pay tribute to the pianist with a poem)”
Sen Legarda said the concert was the idea of her dear friend, the late Nedy Tantoco. president of the PPO Society, Inc. “Her passion for the arts was so inspiring, and I’m delighted we could honor her vision with this landmark concert. We invited teachers and students as our way of supporting and encouraging the next generation of Filipino musicians to pursue their passion and improve their musical skills.”
She concluded: “This wasn’t just a concert – it was a tribute to the power of women and the magic of music.”
From author-poet Susan Lara: “It was an unforgettable evening with ‘pianist’s pianist,’ Cecile Licad. And what a night! From soft and gentle passages to powerful crescendos, Cecile was so captivating, mesmerizing, we refused to let her go. She responded with three encores! The bonus was seeing familiar faces that made me feel I was in a literary event: National Artists Gemino H. Abad and Virgilio Almario, Jose Dalisay and my newly discovered cousin June P. Dalisay, Babeth Lolarga, Princess Nemenzo, Julie Lluch, Bibeth Orteza and many others.”
Licad herself was stunned by the new PPO music director and the orchestra.
She noted thus: “We were so super synchronized at the concert. It was a wonderful collaboration with the new music director of the PPO. I loved Maestro Novak’s rehearsal process. It makes the performance much more fun and enjoyable. The PPO that night was in top form.”
In a spirit of fun, she added an aside, “In that concert, nobody was sleeping.”
Maestro Novak admitted to this writer working with Licad was an exhilarating musical experience. “She’s a brilliant pianist with perfect technique and command of the instrument, as well as a passionate musician whose interpretations move the orchestra and the audience. Our orchestra eagerly and enthusiastically joined her deeply profound interpretation of this masterwork. We look forward to performing with her and to participate in her musical creations as often as possible.”
Then he pointed out the need for a new piano for the orchestra. “Licad’s art is one more reason why we need to have a superb quality Steinway piano. We will apply for a budget to get one. When we get the right piano, we could present Licad for our audience the full spectrum of her extremely rich palette of tone and color.”
Before her flight back to New York, the pianist handed me the biggest bouquet she received from her Met engagement. She also played for the media Chopin’s Revolutionary Etude which she performed in a New York Festival in 2021 with my late daughter in mind.
We had time for a glass of wine.
“Thank you for everything, Pablo,” said she.