Ang Bagong Harana: Filipino Music Heritage

My generation still knows what a "harana" is, not from experience but from watching the Tagalog films of olden days. The classic Filipino movies never fail to include a scene of a young gentleman wooing the love of his life through songs at night, while she watches from the window of her house. How romantic it seems as it mimics the balcony scene of William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet."

And I realize that it is the film industry's way of preserving that bit of Filipino culture so that the next generations would know and hopefully appreciate the way love (or at least like) is communicated back then. However, I can imagine the younger generation watching such scenes might react -- they might squirm uncomfortably or giggle in laughter because at present day, wooing is done in a casual manner, through texting (SMS) or web chatting, most often than not.

Karla Gutierrez, POC's artistic director and performer

"Ang Bagong Harana" director Floy Quintos

Outside of film, the 'harana' or 'kundiman' became a mainstream musical style until the late 1960s. Unfortunately, it had been quietly left behind as newer music genres took over. This is why the Philippine Opera Company is reviving this beautiful Filipino culture.

The Philippine Opera Company produced the critically-acclaimed hit "Harana" back in 2008 to showcase the evolution of Philippine music through songs and movements, even reaching a wider audience when they toured in Amsterdam in 2009 and when the company did a regional tour of Cebu, Roxas, Antique, Bohol, Dumaguete and Palawan in 2010. Earlier this year, they conquered Bacolod, Ormoc, Tacloban and Samar.

For the 2011-2012 season of the Philippine Opera Company, "Ang Bagong Harana" will take on a newer and fresher version with an array of immortal and classic Filipino songs that will be interpreted in "never before seen performances." The show shall integrate the past and the present -- mix old and new songs, re-arranged and re-edited -- with the goal of reaffirming "who we are as Filipinos" and validating "where we have all come from," and will showcase the best of all the Filipino composers from different music genres, namely Nicanor Abelardo, Ryan Cayabyab, Willy Cruz, Francisco Santiago, Antonio Molina, Resti Umali, George Canseco, Ernani Cuenco, Levi Celerio, Jose Estrella, Constancio de Guzman and Felipe de Leon, among others.

Philippine theater's celebrated singers

I won't reveal much in this post yet, just enough information to tickle your brains and hopefully bring you to watch "Ang Bagong Harana," which will have a limited run from September 29 to October 1 at 8 pm, with matinee at 3:30 pm on October 1, at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium of RCBC Plaza in Makati City. For ticket sales, please call Philippine Opera Company at 881-7168 or 0917-5272880 or Ticketworld at 891-9999. You may also log on to the POC's website or Like Harana on Facebook.

NOTE:

A re-run is happening on June 6 - 10 at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium of RCBC Plaza in Makati City. For ticket sales, please call Philippine Opera Company at 881-7168 or 0917-5272880 or Ticketworld at 891-9999.

Filed under SHOWS

Knowing Webber and His Works

I grew up listening to broadways songs and dreaming of watching broadway plays someday. Well, I got to see the Manila staging of some of them, most recently was Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats last year.

Andrew Lloyd Webber has written music that has transcended time. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, two film scores, and a Latin Requiem Mass. Who hasn't heard "The Music of the Night" from The Phantom of the Opera, "I Don't Know How to Love Him" from Jesus Christ Superstar, "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" and "You Must Love Me" from Evita, and "Memory" from Cats, among others.

Music Magician Andrew Lloyd Webber

Watching the matinee show of The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber on its second to the last day (the run ended yesterday, July 3) was such a treat for me. I was reintroduced to Webber and learned a lot more about him as a musician and about his other works that I haven't encountered yet like "Tell Me on a Sunday," which I loved instantly.


The show's stage design was simple yet practical and functional, with the lighted backdrop of several rectangular walls served as projection screens that showed clips and titles of various plays to highlight the songs being performed on stage plus clips of the man himself sharing personal stories of him growing up in a musical family.


The 7 performers (4 males and 3 females) all looked as good as they sounded. Their heartfelt renditions did not fail to evoke the right emotions from the captured audience. The whole repertoire was like a time machine that transported us back to broadway's golden days and gave us snipets of well-loved songs from the musicals I mentioned above, as well as from Starlight Express, Love Never Dies, Sunset Boulevard, and Requiem, plus the song "No Matter What" that was popularized by Boyzone in the 90s (I wasn't aware it was a Webber song).


The 2-hour show ended on a high with applause and standing ovation from Andrew Lloyd Webber fanatics. Too bad it was only on a limited run of 13 shows at the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo of the Cultural Center of the Philippines.