Classical Night Music with Conductor James Judd and Violinist Vesa-Matti Leppanen

I and Finnish violinist Vesa-Matti Leppanen, who performed Beethoven's Violin Concerto tonight along with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra.

I and visiting British conductor, James Judd, who conducted the Philippine Philharmonic tonight to Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony.

Mama poses with James Judd

Mama with Vesa-Matti Leppanen

With the CCP booked for Mamma Mia, the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra moved their show tonight to the more intimate Philamlife Theatre in UN Avenue, which was just as well!  Everything sounded more compact and robust this time around as the smaller theatre was able to capture the sounds better.

The show started with the vibrant and joyous Overture to Candide by Bernstein.  It was a fitting opening number to shake the audience from their torpor.  Next was Vesa-Matti's performance on the violin on the languid and very meticulous Beethoven's Violin Concerto.  You could see how delicate Vesa was in producing the lilts and the highs and the lows of this masterful work.  The PPO gave him enough space for him to show his virtuosity!

Finally, James Judd again stepped on the podium to lead the PPO on a rousing version of Mendelssohn's the Italian Symphony!

Unfortunately, there were no encores for tonight.  After the show, Mama and I waited for them outside the backstage to get photos for this blog.  Vesa-Matti looks very handsome up close and much younger too, since he opted for a very loose fitting suit - more of ill-fitting really - it was too big for him.  The conductor James Judd had the bearing befitting his profession and he was jovial enough to pose for pictures for us.  A lot of students from the UST College of Music were also waiting outside for their autograph and photo op.