MANILA, Philippines?After the staging of ?La Boheme,? courtesy of the Philippine Opera Company in October, Puccini got another tribute on his 150th birth anniversary Friday last week with an evening of arias mounted by the Johann Strauss Society (under Fortune Ledesma), the Italian Embassy and the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

Featured artists were Italian singers Anna Carnovali (soprano) and Franco Becconi (tenor), with the special participation of Filipina soprano Rachelle Gerodias and the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO) under guest conductor Ernest Hoetzl.

Aptly called ?Piazza Puccini,? with the set design of Piazza Pantheon as dramatic backdrop, the concert opened with the taped Humming Chorus from ?Madama Butterfly? followed by a live rendition of ?Un Bel Di? from the same opera. Here, Gerodias set the tone for the evening with a dramatic rendition of Cio Cio San?s aria.

The rest of the evening consisted of excerpts from favorite Puccini operas, and it was easy to see who had affinity with the composer and who were strange to it.

From the ?Butterfly? aria to her ?Turandot? number ?Signora Ascolta,? Gerodias had the sound as well as the coloring to do the composer proud.

Becconi?s ?E Lucevan le Stelle? (from ?Tosca?) had the ring of a tenor, but it was easy to see that the voice had seen better days. However, Carnovali was a revelation in her aria ?Mi Chiamano Mimi,? with all the innocence of the Puccini heroine deeply etched in the interpretation.

The same impact was still there in ?O Mio Babbino Caro? (from ?Gianni Schicchi?), but she was less convincing in the ?Tosca? aria, ?Vissi D?arte,? where her voice sadly lacked dramatic conviction. I thought that the voice was more apt for Handel and Mozart but under-equipped for Puccini.

Hoetzl kept the PPO at pace with the singers?who were miked, and were thus in less danger of being drowned in a small hall where the musicians were on the same carpeted floor as the audience.

There was a last-minute tribute to Pavarotti with a video of him singing a spectacular ?Nessun Dorma.? But inserted in a live concert toward the end, the video looked anticlimactic after a well-rendered ?O Soave Fanciulla? by Becconi and Gerodias.

Nevertheless, it was a fairly enjoyable evening?as good as any to savor the glory of Puccini. When you get this treat from a five-star hotel like Mandarin Oriental Manila, you realize opera is still alive and still highly patronized. It didn?t matter that the well-dressed, well-coiffed folk in the crowd actually looked like lead characters from ?Die Fledermaus.?

CDs and DVDs

These are times when going to live concerts is sheer torture because of the holiday traffic. So what to do when you can?t afford the concerts and you are reeling from vertigo and hypertension even with complimentary tickets?

For those who have decided to cut cost on transport by staying home, the practical alternative is to get hold of those good recordings available on the market.

The most highly recommended Christmas gift for music-lovers is Yo Yo Ma?s ?Songs of Joy and Peace,? where he shares the limelight not just with classical artists like soprano Renée Fleming but with such popular figures as James Taylor and Diana Krall.

The CD is full of Christmas carols and traditional hymns superbly arranged to suit the styles of the artists. Yo Yo Ma finds a way to interact with the different artists and proves to one and all that the cello need not be confined to Dvorak and Elgar.

For voice connoisseurs who can?t afford to have individual CDs of their favorite singers, there is one CD called ?Ultimate Voices,? which has the signature songs and arias of both new?and old?generation singers from Pavarotti to Roberto Alagna, from Joan Sutherland to Anna Netrebko, from Montserrat Caballe to Renée Fleming.

A curiousity is world-class baritone Bryn Terfel singing the theme song from ?Titanic? in Italian version. However, to this CD-phile, the most thrilling number is ?Mesicku Na Nebi Hiubokem (O Silver Moon),? rendered by Russian soprano Anna Netrebko. Now I realize why so many opera buffs, young and old, are going crazy over her.

More than her good looks, her voice has incredible range honed with intelligence and passion.

Mood music

You can actually spend the rest of the holidays reading books. The most recommended CD is ?Beethoven for Book Lovers.? The recording contains the slow movements of your favorite Beethoven sonatas and features soloists and ensembles like Russian violinist David Oistrakh, pianist Lev Oborin, the Quartetto, the Guarneri Quartet and the Beaux Arts Trio.

What to play while doing assorted chores in the house? This recording company has come up with CDs like ?Bach for Barbecue,? ?Pasta and Puccini,? ?Tchaikovsky for Tea Time,? ?Bach for Working out,? ?Bach for Meditation,? and many others. Indeed, the CDs save you precious time looking for music to suit your moods and daily chores.

For movies, I suggest that you watch Peque Gallaga?s ?Oro, Plata, Mata? and Ishmael Bernal?s ?Himala,? which was recently acclaimed by CNN as the best Asian film of all time.

You can also watch the film versions of Bernstein?s ?West Side Story? and Webber?s ?Phantom of the Opera,? and this film about a music teacher called ?Mr. Holland?s Opus,? starring Richard Dreyfuss.

Call 09065104270 or e-mail musicnewsservice@yahoo.com for a complete listing of rare CDs and DVDs for the holiday season.

Pianists Espina, Golez in ?Vienna Connection?

A rare treat for piano enthusiasts is the Dec. 7 duo concert of pianists Mary Anne Espina and Rudolf Pelaez Golez at the BDO Francisco Santiago Hall.

Called the Vienna Connection, the concert will see a duo interpretation of Mozart?s poignant Piano Sonata in B Flat Major; Schubert?s heart-rending Fantasie in F Minor and Brahms?s elegant but robust Hungarian dance.

Espina, one of the country?s most acclaimed chamber musicians, has earned standing ovations for her team-up with tenor Otoniel Gonzaga, violinist Alexandru Tomescu, cellist Victor Michael Coo. She will team up for the first time with Golez, who studied at Juilliard School of Music under Seymour Lipkin. Golez is the lone winner of the 2005 Chopin Piano Competition held in Malaysia.

Tickets are at P600. Call 09065104270, 09183473027 or tel. no. 5355915.