It’s hard to believe that Cecile Licad — hailed by The New Yorker as a pianist’s pianist — has moments of self-doubt, and has her own ups and downs.
Cecile Licad performs with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Grzegorz Nowak at the Metropolitan Theater Manila.It was an emotional moment for Anton Huang when Licad dedicated the Schumann-Liszt piece to Nedy Tantoco. ‘Sad that it was actually my mom’s last concert.’
People can’t be faulted for thinking that Cecile Licad is nothing less than this epic encyclopedic entry. After all, she is a veritable composition of many movements and variations, a chorus of stories and interwoven motifs. “I remember losing my suitcase,” she says with a laugh. “That was the start of the whole trip. had to rush and get me the stuff I needed.” Licad last played at the Met in 1989 with her ex-husband, Brazilian cellist Antonio Meneses. That was a lifetime ago. When she returned last March 19 for the “Cecile Licad at the Met” concert, memories and musical moments may have accrued, but new ones were bound to be made.
“For me, it only becomes exciting if it’s something I’ve never tried before. It’s like painting — papalit-palit ka ng kulay. I have to determine which fingers to use that will be stronger and will deliver for me a thousand times better. And you don’t just follow the notes. Others would say, ‘No, you can’t just cross your hands because it’s not written in .’ But it’s what I hear in the music and it’s what I imagine Tchaikovsky would’ve liked.