Night in the Opera: A Spectacular Night of Classical Music
When In Manila, it is not every day that one can witness an opera performance in the country.
When I heard about Travelife Magazine and Embassy of the Czech Republic’s Night in the Opera, I was actually thrilled since this would be my first time watching an actual performance that is related to opera.
I remember watching the likes of Andrea Bocelli, Diane Damrau and “Three tenors” (Plácido Domingo, Jose Carreras, and the late Luciano Pavarotti) in television specials. Now, I could finally encounter an opera performance in the Philippines!
In the Philippines, Manila is the hub of music acts such as stage plays, concerts and musicals. In addition, the city is also a destination of international pop artists and bands. However, opera is not part of the Filipino musical trend nor is Manila the usual place to hear opera.
Opera as we know it is quite very different from the mellow and catchy songs that we are used to hearing in radios or televisions. But for me, there is something beautiful in hearing the variations of tone and strong voices coming from opera singers with the accompaniment of a piano or cello. That was what I witnessed at Night in the Opera.
Night in the Opera’s audience comprised of diplomats from the different embassies in Manila and families who came to enjoy the wondrous classical music.
The audience enjoyed fine performances from the singers. Refreshments plus tall flutes of white and red wines were later served in the second part of the performance.
Night in the Opera was top billed by Czech Soprano, Noema Erba. She was accompanied by tenor Conrado Ong III, baritone Marvin Gayramon and pianist Prof. Augustino Espino.
Night in the Opera: The Soprano, Baritone and Tenor
Night in the Opera would not be an astounding evening if not for the three talented singers that gave life to the classical opera acts.
Throughout the evening, the beautiful soprano Noerma Erba impressed us with her powerful soprano voice. She sang the classics of Mozart, Puccini and Dvorak with almost perfect pitch.
The variations of her voice and the emotion she displayed during her performance delighted everyone present in Dusit Thani’s Grand Ballroom A. Truly, she proved to be a star in the Night in the Opera.
Not to be missed was the performance of tenor Conrado Ong III. From his first act with Ms. Noema and his solo. I was amazed how such a strong voice could come out from him, especially how he sung the arias of Mozart and Puccini with his full timbre. In addition to the repertoires, he added flair to the show with his theatrical movements.
Another gem: the charming baritone Marvin Gayramon enthralls his audience with his deep and rich voice. The lyric baritone complements the powerful voice of the soprano with his mellow baritone. He is perfectly suited in the flamboyant parts in Mozart’s and Puccini’s opera acts as heard during Night in the Opera.
Aside from solo acts, the baritone and tenor had their share of duet with the soprano. They gave charming performances of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) and Don Giovanni, Puccini’s La Boheme, and Verdi’s La Traviata.
Throughout the night, the singers performed the classical opera acts by famous composers like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Giuseppe Verdi, Giancomo Puccini and Antonín Dvořák.
One of the best parts, though, was when the trio joined performed together. The combination of their voices together with their theatrics garnered a warm round of cheers from the audience.
As the show ended, the trio was also gracious to grant us an encore. I loved their rendition of “The Prayer”.
When In Manila, Listen and enjoy beautiful classical Opera performances just like the Night in the Opera!
