Christmas Concert at the Pen 2007 - The Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra with The CompanY and U.P. Concert Chorus

The Manila Peninsula figured heavily in the news a couple of weeks ago not because of their exquisite service and facilities, but rather because of a rather unusual check-in which caused the Philippines to hold its breath for a few hours.

The Manila Pen is now normalizing operations and had actually proceeded with the scheduled "Christmas Concert at the Pen 2007" last night. The concert featured the Philippine Philharmomic Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Ruggero Barbieri, with The CompanY and The University of the Philippines Concert Chorus. This was their repertoire for the evening:

1. Hungarian Dance No. 5, G Minor
2. Die Fledarmus - Overture
3. Kumukutikutitap
4. O Little Town of Bethlehem
5. Silent Night
6. Deck The Halls
7. We Wish You a Merry Christmas
8. Hark the Herald Angels Sing/Angels We Have Heard on High
9. Ang Pasko ay Sumapit
10. I'll be Home for Christmas
11. Heto na Naman
12. Radetzky March
13. The Christmas Song
14. Noche Buena
15. Isang Taong Lumipas
16. Adeste Fidelis
17. Joy to the World
18. Haver Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
19. Deck, deck, deck! The Halls
20. The Party's Over
21. Christmas Festival
22. Hallelujah Chorus from "Messiah"
    

I particularly liked the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra's renditions of Hark the Herald Angels Sing and Ang Pasko ay Sumapit, a traditional Filipino Chirstmas song. The audience also appreciated the very animated conducting of Barbieri.

The only hiccup last night was the service of the hotel. There were probably hundreds of people attending the concert last night and perhaps the service staff weren't able to handle the volume of people, and the dip in the service quality was pretty, pretty evident. Some hotel staff weren't helpful at all!

Anyways, the musical experience was very enriching and I was very grateful to my girlfriend who had the idea to attend the concert. The concert definitely sparked my Christmas spirit.

UPDATE:

I've managed to find some pictures of the event from this Multiply site.

Tags: Manila Peninsula