MANILA, Philippines ? The Cultural Center of the Philippines? Anniversary Gala opened with Oscar C. Yatco conducting two movements of Mahler?s Symphony No. 2 (?Resurrection?) with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra and five choirs.

From these celestial heights, we were brought back to earth, so to speak, with ?Our Song, Our Music, Our Joy,? Ryan Cayabyab conducting this time. This was fine, but then came ?Fusion Duets.?

Here is how it went. Voluptuous soprano Camille Lopez Molina would start ?Musetta?s Waltz? and then give way (without finishing the aria) to a pop performer. Good-looking tenor Ervin Lumauag would open up with ?Nessun Dorma? and then give way? and so on. Bitin.

I was not charmed by this fusion of Italian opera and OPM, for which I was branded a ?purist? by a more progressive seatmate.

More mischief was afoot here, for the program ended with the ?Hallelujah? Chorus from Handel?s ?Messiah.? Was this celebrated but out-of-season masterpiece selected because it was the theme song of the Marcoses during the last years of their misrule?

It was more fun to watch the wild young dancers who trooped to the lobby after the show to do their thing. The gymnasts and cheerdancers (cheerleaders from University of Perpetual Help) were terrific: daring young men and women in a way ?flying through the air with the greatest of ease.?

Winsome revivals

It is easy, according to a theater-savvy friend (not a director), to stage the well-loved musical ?Fantasticks.? It entails a minimum of props, a low budget, and the central symbol ? a wall ? can be left to the imagination. There are only seven characters, and the song ?Try to Remember? alone is worth the price of admission.

Whether easy to stage or not (this layman cannot say), it is easy to relate to the message of the musical ? ?without a hurt the heart is hollow? ? and to its restaging by Repertory Philippines at OnStage Greenbelt I, directed by Baby Barredo.

Julia Abueva as The Girl and PJ Valerio as The Boy were a winsome young couple. Dido de la Paz and Jaime del Mundo were just right as the quarrelling fathers. As the third ?odd couple,? Miguel Faustman and Red Concepcion overacted outrageously, but Jake Macapagal was dashing as the bandit.

Talking of revivals, the Philippine Ballet Theater restaged the Maranao epic ?Darangan ni Bantugen? at the CCP, delightful yet at times somber, in a grand manner.

There was a confluence of exciting talents: choreographer Gener Caringal and Ranilo Jaynario (the new artistic director of Philippine Ballet Theater); set and costume designer National Artist Salvador Bernal; composer Jesse Lucas; and librettist Ma. Lourdes Sanchez.

Young dancer Jared Tan, as the mythic hero Bantugen, was a standout.

The Manila Adventist Medical Center Church Choir, a tight, cohesive group, proved its mettle again during a concert at the GSIS Museum of Art (CCP Complex). The members, led by concert pianist Jonathan Coo, who was substituting for regular choir director Sunddie Manalo, seemed to be better and more inspired with each number.

The repertoire was balanced, with works by foreign and Filipino masters, from Fauré to Gounod, from Kasilag (?Purihin si Yahweh?) to Dadap (the mighty ?Aleluya,? which is more effective if sung by a bigger choir).

New ?zarzuela?

At the hand of director Frank G. Rivera, and with a big budget and a huge cast, the new zarzuela by Lutgardo Labad and Isagani Cruz, ?Baler ng Puso Ko? (premiered in Baler, Aurora), with only 10 days for rehearsals, became a theater spectacle, fanciful and whimsical, blending history and mythology, and powered by raw talents from Baler ?students who can sing, act and dance.

Tenor Al Gatmaitan, and sopranos Liesl Batucan and Lara Maigue, moved the SRO audience with their singing and emoting. And, lo and behold, high baritone Montet Acoymo emerged as a powerful, macho performer.

The set design was by painter Juvenal Sansó, no less, who should be a National Artist by now except that he is, I believe, a Spanish (or French) citizen.

?Baler ng Puso Ko? will be restaged in Wow Intramuros, Manila, in November.

The last CCP National Competition brought together 44 choirs from Metro Manila, Malolos City, Lucena City, San Pedro and Los Baños, Laguna; Ilocos Norte, Imus, Cavite; Lipa City, Tarlac, Iligan City and Cebu.

The event began with community singing and ended with awarding ceremonies and performances by the winning choirs.

The top winners were the Imusicapella Choir from Our Lady of the Pillar Parish in Imus, Cavite, and the University of Visayas Chorale from Cebu, followed by the Hail Mary the Queen Children?s Choir from Metro Manila.

There were a bewildering number of silver and bronze awardees, so that it seemed every choir won some kind of award.