AS I am writing this column, I am listening to Elvis Costello’s The Juliet Letters album. It was his one-time project with The Brodsky Quartet.
You could say the album is my reference point to that enchanting evening I had during the Swiss Embassy-hosted Guarneri Trio Prague performance at the Francisco Santiago Hall of the BDO Corporate Center in Makati City.
For those who have been following my column for awhile, you would know how I love music a lot and how I have been collecting them for years. If you are also sharp enough, you would know that there is at least one musical reference here every week.
And for those unfamiliar with Costello, he went from being part of the British punk movement in the 1970s, to collaborating with Paul McCartney, all the way to doing an album with Burt Bacharach.
Along the way from being a punk musician to a pop artist, he wrote a chamber opera after being commissioned by the Danish Royal Opera, did a ballet score for orchestra after being approached by the Aterballetto Dance Company, and released a classical album in collaboration with The Brodsky Quartet.
In my book, he is one of the best songwriters of all time. For the millennials, he might just be a bit familiar for the cover version of the song “She” which he did for the Notting Hill soundtrack.
Swiss Ambassador Andrea Reichlin told me during the cocktails prior to the concert that the evening was a good way to unwind and get away from everything that is work related.
Ah, work, that is such a four letter word. The irony of it all was that I was a bit late for the cocktails because of the amount of work that day and the event itself was still work for me.
But, you know what? My stress level slowly faded once I entered the venue. Familiar faces all around makes all the difference.
Near the entrance to the cocktails, there was the now bearded Swiss Embassy Deputy Head of Mission Raoul Imbach and his lovely wife, along with the Supreme Court’s Chito Capule.
You could never go wrong at an event with Imbach and his warm smile. He is one member of the diplomatic community who can set you at ease and make you feel welcome. Much respect for him.
And just for the record, Imbach has fronted a band before, already released 11 albums under his name with 10 of them containing original compositions, and he can perform anything from rock ‘n’ roll to jazz music.
There was also former Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) Director General Lilia de Lima. Up to now I am still at a loss for words whenever we meet. What she has accomplished is so enormous. I know a lot of foreign investors would agree with me that she would make a good Philippine president.
I also met during the cocktails Philippine Stock Exchange President Hans Sicat and his wife LegisPro Corp. CEO Regina Sicat. Now, that is a power couple right there.
Going back to Reichlin, she said to me that evening was a way for the embassy to celebrate friendship through music. She added that music is something that transcends business.
Now, that to me was something refreshing to hear. If there was really anything that can cross all boundaries, it has to be music.
Music makes people gain new understanding of the world. It is our companion through the good and bad times in our lives. It brings back lots of memories. And like Reichlin said to me, music is food for the soul and a treat for the spirit.
When the Guarneri Trio Prague took to the stage and performed an hour’s worth of setlist from the works of Joseph Haydn, Ernest Bloch, and Felix Mandelssohn, it was exactly what they did.
The Guarneri Trio Prague practically rejuvenated and eased my tired body and took me to a different place with the music they played.
I do not know how old the trio are, but for people their age, they brought a lot of energy to their performance. Their interplay was so magnificent to watch.
Cenek Pavlik on violin was swaying to the music they were playing, Marek Jerie on cello brought a lot of emotions to the way he played, and Ivan Klansky on the piano was like your friend next door with the smile he carried all throughout.
The trio opened with four of the works of Haydn which, to me, was so bouncy. Then it was the music of Bloch, where I felt a wide range of emotions. They closed it with Mandelssohn, where the music was light as a breeze.
It is a credit to the Swiss Embassy for bringing the Guarneri Trio Prague to the Philippines for the first time. This is a group that has been playing together since 1986, and has received critical acclaim in the course of their career. I think we are only the second country in Asia, after Japan, where they have performed.
Over the last 30 years the Guarneri Trio Prague has performed across Europe, Canada, Australia, the United States and South America.
Oh, and by the way, Pavlik carries and plays with him the 1735 Zimbalist violin by Guarneri del Gusi from the legendary collection of Luigi Tarisio, while Jerie has with him a cello made by Andrea Guarneri in 1684.
I could safely say the packed audience had a night of memorable music experience. But I really do not know if this kind of music would transcend to a wider audience, especially here in the Philippines where disposable music remains very popular. And that is just a pity.
But just like Costello, in his advanced age in 2005, when he could no longer connect with the live audience in England but still get widely appreciated in the United States, the music I heard that evening will continue to find its place, expand its audience and live on for a very long time.
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Image credits: Rodel Alzona