“I was smelling adobo and lechon when I wrote me.” ---Nick Joaquin

SHE can play in the dark. While reading musical notes, she can already hear the music inside her head. Heaven forbid, but she can go deaf and blind and still give justice to the works of Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Rachmaninoff and other gods among composers. Their immortal music, she has committed to memory.

For those who have experienced any of her live performances—especially first-timers—there’s always that craving for more, not just an encore but a second and third and fourth night. The hair-tossing and madwoman-like pounding on the ivory keys could be an attraction, but far beyond that “action art” is the heavenly sound she creates from those immensely complicated music sheets that could give an ordinary pianist a monthlong migraine.

And so it goes that every time Cecile Licad is in town for a one-night-only concert, admirers of instrumental-classical-orchestra music can’t sleep at night and function well in the office if they can’t get a seat.

‘Rac h’ and Roll. Cecile Licad performs Rachmaninoff and Beethoven at the CCP.

Having based in New York for the longest time, Licad does one or two shows a year in the Philippines. The clamor created here is like that of an international rock star doing a homecoming concert, akin to U2 doing its native Dublin once again.

And every time she performs here, there’s always a “first.” Last year Licad performed with her equally talented 19-year-old son Octavio (a younger, better-looking version of Enrique Iglesias) at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP). It was the first time mother and child played together before a live audience.

For Josh Groban fans, Licad started playing the piano at age three, had her debut performance at seven and studied with pedagogues in the US at 12.

Talent, discipline (even now, she practices eight hours a day) and sufficient support from her parents in all aspects, the prodigy had no way to go but—for lack of better terms—virtuosity and world domination.

Genes may have something to do with that. Licad is the grand niece of Francisco Buencamino Sr., the widely respected composer-pianist-conductor who also started playing the piano at a very young age. 

The clamor for tickets to a Licad one-night-only goes on as she performs at 8 pm this Friday (March 28). Presented by the Francisco Buencamino Sr. Music Foundation (FBMF) and the CCP, with BusinessMirror as media partner, the show is meant to mark the 125th birth anniversary of Buencamino Sr. and the 40th anniversary of Licad’s debut performance with an orchestra at age seven (now we know her age). It will be held for the benefit of FBMF music scholars.

Licad will be joined in by the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of its former music director and principal conductor, the Germany-based Oscar Yatco. She will play Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in B Flat Major, Op 19 and Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No. 2 in C Minor for Piano and Orchestra Op 18.

Tuesday last week, as everybody hurriedly prepped for the long Lenten weekend, BusinessMirror and about three media people had a chance to sit down with what The New Yorker regards as “the pianist’s pianist.”

When you’re about to perform a new piece, do you listen to existing interpretations?

I don’t. I try to look at it as how it is written. And then, learn to play it. Get ideas another day. I don’t change what’s written but, of course, the mood changes. It always evolves. That’s why I still love playing music because it evolves. Like this morning, I was playing Rachmaninoff, I don’t get so happy just by playing the notes. I have to feel a certain tension, or how it can flow so that people can get it in a simple way. The swing of the music, I have to find. I have the sound in my head.  

So you mean you can go deaf and still play the notes?

(Laughs) Yes. I think so. I can even play in the dark. One time, there was a brownout and I continued playing.  

We heard that you were recently cited as a Beethoven interpreter in a show in Germany. Does that mean Beethoven is your favorite? Of course, aside from Chopin.

It’s not, but when I’m performing a particular piece, it becomes my favorite. You have to appear like you are really convinced at what you’re doing. Otherwise, you cannot reach the listeners. 

How about 20th-century composers, the atonal, dissonant, avant-garde, etc.?

I try to do these things. When I started learning these (Debussy, Ravel, Prokofiev, Bartok), I was a little bit scared because it’s harder. But you get into it. It’s my stubbornness. Kailangan matigas ang ulo mo. You have to search for the meaning. It actually makes the other pieces fresh. Even when I play pieces from the Romantic period (Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Schumann). Or even Beethoven, you’ll have a different view. And that’s what I mean by evolve. Because I’m open to learning any kind.  

What if someone anthologized the hits of The Beatles in a single instrumental piece for the piano, would you do it?

Yes, I will. As long as it’s nicely done.  

Apart from the piano, do you play any other instrument?

No. But there’s a keyboard at home and I practice on it. And then I put all these effects (mimicking a drum beat from a synthesizer).  

Have you tried singing with a choir?

No but I’ve tried karaoke. Just a few days ago a friend of mine brought me to a videoke bar. I sang “Moon River” and I enjoyed it. I might do it as a hobby. (Giggles) 

Did it ever occur to you to try other profession?

No. When I had my first concert, I was seven. It was held in Philamlife. When I saw the spotlight, it’s like, “This is what I’m gonna do.” It’s clear. I’m thankful I’m with the lucky ones. 

Can you remember some childhood memories that might have contributed to your love for music?

My father had this tape recorder that didn’t stop playing music. Naka-on ’yun. We stayed in the same room, and it played classical music even while I was sleeping and when I’m awake.  

Any memorable performances?

When I messed up! (Laughs) Thank God, it’s not too much. One time, the zipper in my dress came off. And I was playing the Mozart D Minor piece with my shoulders like this (demonstrating a hunchback). After the first movement, I went to excuse myself and ask somebody backstage to zip it back. But it didn’t affect the music.  

At this point, do you still listen to other types of music?

Yes, any kind, especially with my son. He involves me. He loves Radiohead (postgrunge rock band whose hits include “Creep”). I think they get a lot from classical music. I’m not a classical snob (laughter).   

What’s your favorite food?

Anything with vinegar or bagoong. I cook sinigang, except I don’t find bangus in New York. I use mackerel. Octavio loves sinigang.

* For tickets, call Nanet B. Sinco at 426-7690, 881-8097, or 0917-8583238; or Amelita D. Guevara at 810-3245. Or go to Ticketworld outlets at National Book Store (891-9999) or the CCP Box Office (832-3701).

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