Genius has no country

             In that electrifying space between Juan  Luna’s
‘Spoliarium” and Resurreccion Hidalgo’s “Assassination
of  Bustamante”, the most eloquent and heart-rending 
masterpieces of Philippine art history, a concert was
held by three young and incredibly prodigious Filipino
musicians— Jovianney Emmanuel Cruz, pianist,  Alfonso
Bolipata, violinist and Renato Lucas, cellist. 
 
      That Sunday evening, at the Hall of Masters of
the National Art Gallery the “Spoliarium”, enshrined
there  after a perilous odyssey,  continued to strike
terror and  awe,  just as it had in Europe where it
was first acclaimed  in the XIXth century. Against
that  poignant backdrop,   Alfonso Bolipata rendered 
“ Chaconne” ,  an intricately Baroque  piece by Johann
Sebastian Bach; it was delightful, to say the least.
  
     Before he began playing  Amadeus Mozart’s Sonata
in C Major (K.330), Jovianney Emmanuel Cruz hinted
that we should try to detect the various
“international influences” evident in the three
movements, operatic Italian with Germanic precision,
which only Mozart could have melded in a refined
sonata. Jovianney almost always explains what he is
about to play so one’s appreciation for music grows,
the more one understands what the pieces are all
about.

     Renato Lucas’  choice “Souvenir de Song”  is
definitely older  than Bach and Mozart, more ancient
than  Philippine colonial history itself.  “Song “ is
what we know as the  Sung dynasty, during which time
Kublai Khan (or was it Genghis?) and his hordes
invaded China . Under such cruel tyrannical rule, a
court musician played melodies of silent protest on a
sitar andm centuries later,  those inspired  Jeffrey
Ching to compose “Souvenir de Song”. He is a
contemporary Filipino-Chinese composer who is  making
waves with his exotic but  modern  abstractions of
Chinese dynastic music.  I am glad Mr.  Lucas  took
pains to explain that through  his cello, we would
hear that rebellious spirit brooding through a
plaintive sitar; it gave meaning to his piece,
specially because we were wedged between Luna's
revolutionary allegory and Hidalgo's unconcealed rage.

     The finale was spectacular because all three
musicians joined forces to play Arensky’s   Piano Trio
No. 1 in d minor, opus. 32. Jovianney told the
audience that we had journeyed through  various
musical periods in one evening-- ancient China to Bach
and Mozart and now Arensky  who he described as a sort
of  transition because he was a pupil of the great
Tchaikovsky and the teacher of Rachmaninoff.

    The audience went wild after their astounding
performance  so the three virtuosos  obliged with an 
unrehearsed  encore.  Then Bolipata, the violinist,
had to dash to the Cultural Center for another
commitment.
 
     That Sunday evening  concert,  “Musiko sa
Museo”,  was a project of the Volunteer Corps of the
National Museum of the Filipino People. Ticket sales
(at Php 1,000 each)  will go to a sustaining fund for
the National Art Gallery renovation project and to the
Museum’s educational programs. There is more to come ,
an Opus fest is in the works and will be held
sometime in July.

      I hope our virtuosos perform in  a place
steeped with  history and heritage,  where one can
almost hear a euphoric Jose Rizal toasting ( like he
did when Juan Luna’s “Spoliarium” won the gold medal)
to Filipino genius “…that  blossoms everywhere.  like
the light, the air..” Genius  has no country , Rizal
said,  it is as international as space, life and God
Himself.