About the Event
After enthralling audiences in Europe and Israel last year, Filipino tenor Arthur Espiritu returns to his homeland for a pre-Valentine concert, “A Night of Love,” featuring opera arias and duets about love, on Feb. 10, Saturday, at 7 in the evening, at the Ayala Museum, Makati Ave., Makati City.
Four of the country's top classical music artists (Espiritu, sopranos Stefanie Quintin and Mheco Manlangit and pianist Najib Ismail) will be together on one stage performing love arias and duets from Puccini’s La Boheme, Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette, Meyerbeer’s Les Huguenot, Bizet’s Carmen, Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, to name a few.
Nelly Miricioiu, one of the world’s finest sopranos, once said, “Arthur Espiritu is destined to achieve heights of important value. He is remarkable!” The year 2017 was a busy one for Espiritu who made his Australian Opera debut as Rodolfo in Puccini’s La Boheme and who played the extremely difficult role of the Shepherd in Szymanowski's King Roger. After the opening night, the critic of the Herald wrote: “Arthur Espiritu is a seductive Shepherd, wielding his high tenor with a sinuous beauty. I found no fault with his Polish.” The tenor flew back to Munich for more of Rossini’s La Cenerentola and Puccini’s La Boheme.
He ended the year with Israel Opera, reprising his highly acclaimed Rodolfo in La Boheme. This year, he will reprise the role of Cassio in Verdi’s Otello, Rodolfo in La Boheme and Gualtiero in Bellini’s Il Pirata.
Quintin possesses a wide repertoire that ranges from Renaissance Music to New Music. She has collaborated with various chamber musicians, performing works by John Dowland to new music of today. She has sung the main roles in Cimarosa’s Il Matrimonio, Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Donizetti’s L'Elisir d'amore, Bellini’s La Sonnambula, Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Coronation Mass and Requiem, Cayabyab’s Misa, Geon-yeong Lee’s Asian Mass, among others. She was invited to perform in various international festivals and is a recipient of the Delphic Lyra Award for Traditional Music. She continues to study with tenor Espiritu.
Manlangit made a artistic breakthrough as the sole winner of the Singapore International Festival of Music Competition held July last year in Singapore (no first or third prizes). She made her professional debut at Ayala Museum/CAEO’s Youth on Stage. A graduate of the University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music, she studied with Eugene de los Santos and was coached by Ismail. She participated in workshops conducted by Mirircioiu, Espiritu, Susan Walters, Abdul Candao, Sharon Rostorf-Zamir, to name a few.
Ismail is the most sought after chamber music and collaborating pianist. He performed in some historical concerts featuring soprano Sumi Jo, Miricioiu and Arthur Espiritu.
For tickets, call Ticketworld at +632-891-9999 or the Cultural Arts Events Organizer at tel. nos. +632-782-7164, +632-517-3763, +63920-954-0053, +63918-347-3027 or +63920-465-5725. The concert is presented by CAEO in partnership with Ayala Museum, Lyric Piano and DZFE.FM The Master's Touch.