About the Event
Internationally acclaimed Filipino pianist Aries Caces, working with the Manila Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Grammy nominee Darrell Ang, will do the Philippine premiere of Medtner’s Second Piano Concerto on Aug. 15 at 8 p.m. at the Meralco Theater. The concert is a presentation of the Herietta Sydeco Tayengco Foundation in partnership with the Embassy of Singapore and the Singapore's Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth.
Russian composer Rachmaninoff once told Nikolai Medtner, “You are, in my opinion, the greatest composer of our time.” A younger contemporary of Rachmaninoff and Scriabin, Medtner wrote many compositions all of which included the piano (14 sonatas, three violin sonatas, three piano concertos as well as art songs). The second piano concerto was dedicated to Rachmaninoff who, in turn, dedicated his fourth concerto to Medtner.
The second concerto is described as an energetic and entrancing work. The outer movements are ebullient and very rhythmic, the slow movement is wonderfully lyrical and the third movement full of sweeping melodies, drama, virtuosity, introspective moments, rich orchestra and vivid interactions between soloist and orchestra. It is an exquisite work if only it wasn’t so incredibly difficult to play.
Soloist is Vienna-based pianist Caces, one of the most versatile Filipino concert pianists. Aside from being a chamber musician and repetiteur, he is also a conductor. He won first prize in the National Music Competitions for Young Artists (piano category) in 1980. Two years later, he was a runner-up in the Manila Symphony Orchestra concerto competition.
Caces came to Graz, Austria, in 1985 upon the invitation and arrangement of then Austrian Ambassador to the Philippines Friedrich Posch. He studied with Prof. Walter Kamper at the Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Graz. From 1986 to 1993, he was under the tutelage of world-renowned pianist Paul Badura-Skoda at the Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna. He finished his diploma in 1989 and obtained his master’s degree in piano performance in 1994 under Roland Keller. He was awarded the Prix Decouverte during the Festival International de Musique in Le Touquet, France, in 1991. He is the only Filipino professor at the Vienna Hochschule fur Musik.
Maestro Ang's triumphed at the 50th Besançon International Young Conductor’s Competition, where he took all three top awards: Grand Prize, Audience Prize and Orchestra Prize. This launched his international career, leading to the music directorship of the Orchestre Symphonique de Bretagne and numerous guest conducting engagements with Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre National de Lyon, Orchestre Philharmonique du Strasbourg, Orchestre National de Bordeaux-Aquitaine, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, to name a few.
Three years later, Ang was selected to join the prestigious International Conductors’ Academy of the Allianz Cultural Foundation and invited to take on residencies with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philharmonia Orchestra. He studied conducting with the legendary Ilya Musin in St. Petersburg, Russia and continued his studies at Yale, becoming its first conducting fellow under the tutelage of Lorin Maazel and Esa-Pekka Salonen.
The Aug. 15 program will also include Overture to Glinka’s Ruslam und Ludmilla and Rachmaninoff’s First Piano Concerto.
This concert is made in partnership with Cultural Arts Events Organizers, DZFE.FM 98.7 The Master's Touch, Marco Polo Hotel Ortigas, Steinway and Sons, Novellino Wines, Businessworld and The Manila Times
For tickets, call Ticketworld at tel. no. +632-891-9999 or CAEO at +63918-347-3027 or +632-782-7164.