The first members of the Manila Symphony Orchestra (MSO), founded in 1926 by Dr. Alexander Lippay are all gone now.
But a new generation of MSO musicians, nurtured by Prof. Basilio Manalo and Sr. Mary Placid Abejo, have more than filled that void with distinguished performances the last of which featured Diomedes Saraza Jr. and the MSO under Oliver Ochanine and cellist Damodar das Castillo with a Finnish conductor.
During the pre-war and post-war years, Manalo was MSO soloist in the Beethoven concerto.
Before the founding of the MSO, Manila was already awash with musicians and assorted ensembles. Bonifacio Abdon had a violin school in Quiapo, and music lessons could be had at San Agustin Church.
There was already the Women’s Orchestra of Pandacan, founded by composer-conductor Ladislaw Bonus; the Gruet Orchestra of Sampaloc founded by Pedro Gruet; and the Molina Orchestra founded by Juan Molina (father of National Artist Antonio Molina who is, in turn, the father of music critic Lito Molina).
Manalo was a natural MSO recruit. He grew up in a Nueva Ecija house surrounded by music. His maternal grandfather, Don Felimon Cajucom, the first civil governor of Nueva Ecija, had a daily regimen that included listening to opera and symphonic music at a certain time of the day.
As a boy, Manalo recalled seeing the late conductor Lippay training his students only in his sando (undershirt). His first teacher was Luis Valencia. Manalo was an MSO soloist under Lippay in Bach’s A Major Concerto, Brahms’ D Major Concerto and Paganini’s D Major Concerto.
When Valencia was sent by his grandfather to Vienna on a scholarship, Manalo commuted from Cabanatuan to Manila for violin lessons with Ernesto Vallejo.
To Manalo, Dr. Zipper was almost like a surrogate father. “My musical career took off because of him. I studied counterpoint with him. He was an extraordinary teacher. He taught slowly but thoroughly,” he said.
In his teens, Manalo, nicknamed Billy, often went up to Baguio. There, a neighbor, future wife Cecilia Mapa of Bacolod, heard him play Abelardo’s “Cavatina” accompanied by his maternal grandmother, Leonor Mur, a piano graduate of the Liceo de Barcelona.
Mrs. Manalo recalled, “I often saw Billy in those Baguio tea musicals, but I also saw him quite often in the MSO concerts where he was in the first violin section. The pieces that stay in mind to this day are Abelardo’s ‘Cavatina’ and Rossini’s Barber of Seville, transcribed for the violin.”
After his Juilliard studies where he played the Brahms concerto with the MSO at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum under Dr. Zipper, they got married.
During the post-war years, Manalo was MSO soloist in various violin concertos. He played a total of 25 performances of the Beethoven concerto for the US army troops in the ruins of the Santa Cruz church.
This post-war concert in the ruins of the church received worldwide publicity in such publications as Life and Time magazines.
Manalo became one of the resident conductors of the CCP Philharmonic Orchestra before it was renamed the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra in 1982.
In the past four years before the CCP Philharmonic became the PPO, my memorable concerts with the CCP Philharmonic consisted of its profound performance in the opera Tosca under conductor Kurt Herbert Adler of the San Francisco Opera, its intense and very reassuring accompaniment of Bolshoi Ballet’s version of Swan Lake Act II under Russian conductor Erik Clapton and its electrifying sonority in the performance of Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique under Japanese conductor Yoshinao Osawa.
Other concerts were equally memorable like the rendering of Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 under American conductor Miles Morgan and the full-grown maturity in the familiar Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 under Filipino conductor Oscar Yatco.
I set foot at the CCP for the first time in 1975 when Licad was the soloist in three piano concertos under the late Maestro Valencia.
From opera to ballet to full symphonic concerts, the range of the CCP Philharmonic Orchestra was prodigious. But if one looked closer, the orchestra was organized in April 1973 as a result of the musical vision of the former First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos when she named the late Prof. Valencia as its first music director.
The PPO’s birth was followed by an instant baptism that involved performing De Falla’s Nights in the Garden of Spain, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Kasilag’s Divertissement for Piano and Orchestra with the late Filipino pianist Benjamin Tupaz appearing as the concert’s soloist.
Hardly weaned from its infancy, the orchestra soon found itself face to face with the world’s greatest soloists, among them Van Cliburn, Gyorgy Sandor, Renata Tebaldi, Philippe Entremont, Franco Ferrara, Evelyn Mandac and the phenomenal Cecile Licad.
On the year the PPO was born, Manalo resigned, then spent the rest of his time training and coaching a new generation of MSO recruits.
The following are excerpts from an interview in 1981 when he was still associate conductor and concertmaster of the CCP Philharmonic, which became the PPO in 1982:
PAT: Can you give us an overview of the latest policies governing the operation of the CCP Philharmonic Orchestra after the retirement of the late Prof. Valencia?
Basilio C. Manalo (BCM): For one, the orchestra members were made to realize that orchestra playing is a serious and highly competitive profession. If one cannot keep up with the standard of playing, his/her contract may be cancelled to make way for better musicians. With this in mind, we retired 17 members in 1980, and notices have been served to five members to audition in August. We helped arrange scholarship opportunities for the orchestra members and likewise the same for seminars conducted by visiting artists brought here by the different embassies and cultural organizations. If any member thinks he can hold a higher position in the orchestra, he can always ask for an audition. The Artist’s Committee, composed of principal players of the different sections of the orchestra, will hear him or her out and subsequently give recommendations. The saying “a musician is only as good as his instrument” may not be entirely true, but certainly with a good instrument, half the battle is won. The CCP has replaced practically all the orchestra’s wind instruments. It has also ordered a new set of tympany together with other percussion instruments and a few special wind instruments not commonly found in the country but needed for the performance of modern symphonic works. The then CCP Philharmonic can be proud of its good music library. This is readily accessible to orchestra members for their study and use in performances.
PAT: During your time, were there plans for a regular concert season?
BCM: Plans were made for subscription concerts hoping that we can hold a series of four concerts between September and December. This could have been done a year or two earlier, but the busy schedule of the orchestra—ballet music, opera and accompanying visiting artists prevented this plan from being carried out.
PAT: What problems are usually encountered by a symphony orchestra?
BCM: Mainly financial. Nowhere in the world is the orchestra considered a profit-making organization. The financing of an orchestra in the United States depends on private individuals’ donations and patronage while in most cities in Europe, it is subsidized by the state. We in the Philippines today are lucky to have in the person of the Mrs. Imelda Romualdez Marcos, a patroness of the arts. With the current monetary crisis gripping the world, many orchestras especially in the US, have to close shop.
PAT: What plans were in the offing to project the existence of the CCP Philharmonic?
BCM: We have to have more concerts, featuring the orchestra alone. With the help of the Friends of the CCP, we did a lot of outreach programs. We played in Baguio, Vigan and Bluing in La Union. These concerts are important because few know that the CCP Philharmonic is, in fact, the best orchestra in the country today. I think we should also encourage school concerts to develop audiences for symphonic concerts.
PAT: How do you cope with problems arising from individual differences among orchestra members?
BCM: We have an orchestra committee composed of members elected from the ranks. This committee can handle most of the problems. If not, I try to help settle their differences. If worse comes to worst, we turn to Dr. Lucrecia Kasilag (former CCP president and now National Artist for Music).
PAT: How would you size up the state of music appreciation in the country in the early 80s?
BCM: As evidenced by our half-empty halls, not good.
PAT: In what way do you think can we promote the cause of classical music in this country?
BCM: When we speak of food, we can safely say, “what you never tasted, you cannot appreciate.” Same thing is true with music “What you never heard; you cannot appreciate.” More often than not, you have to hear a piece of music several times before you can fully appreciate it. We should be thankful for the two days a week we get Paco Park and Rizal Park concerts. These concerts give the people a chance to hear classical music for their gradual appreciation. But this is not enough. In many parts of the world where classical music is appreciated, one just has to tune in on the radio at any time of the day, and you’ll hear classical music. Try doing the same here and depending on the time of day, you will not get to hear classical music at all. As part of a common effort, I think all broadcast stations should band together to promote classical music by at least devoting an hour or two for serious music. First, there will be curiosity, then interest and before you know it, radio listeners have become classical music enthusiasts. In our recent tour, majority of our audiences heard a symphony orchestra for the first time in their lives. They were able to appreciate our playing and the kind of music we played. Going to the provinces for a concert tour is expensive, but this has to be done. Lately, we have been playing in different schools. Children of school age today will be the supporters, patrons and audience of classical music in the future. We should get these children to appreciate classical music as soon as possible.
PAT: Who do you think are the top five conductors the world has never known, dead or alive?
BCM: That is a difficult question because we have to consider many aspects before you can say the conductor is good. If we consider that aspect wherein that conductor, aside from being a good musician, is able to develop an orchestra as a teacher, one who can look after the needs of the members as a provider and at the same time is able to unify the orchestra as a leader while conscious of the deficiency of the orchestra and does something about it, I would name, among the many, Serge Koussevitzki. He was not a great technician with the baton. I happened to have played under him during my school days at Juilliard. But nevertheless, he was able to build the Boston Symphony Orchestra as one of the best, if not the best, orchestras in the US. The legendary Arturo Toscanini had his NBC orchestra. George Szell clearly is the one responsible for the Cleveland Orchestra’s position today, and the same thing is evident with Eugene Ormandy’s efforts with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Chicago never had it so good until the Chicago Orchestra’s Sir George Solti came along. Then as New York Philharmonic was losing ground, along came Leonard Bernstein. The choice is difficult, but I would also name Herbert von Karajan, Rafael Kubelik and scores of others.
PAT: What would you say is the secret of a good performance?
BCM: I believe that a performance is a good reflection of how well you rehearse. If you rehearse carefully, slowly and well, you should have no problem coming up with a good concert.