It is said that when His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, on one of his visits to the USA, unashamedly shed copious tears upon hearing an armless man play the guitar for him – with his toes.. What infinite patience he must have had to learn to do so!
Helen Keller (18801958), is of course, is an icon for all of us – she was deaf, blind and mute (and conquered her deficiencies that she was able to write a book).
Recently, we were truly awestruck to attend a recital by a young (24-year-old) Filipino "balikbayan" Carlos Alberto ("Chuckie") Ibay, blind pianist and tenor. Chuckie was born prematurely, weighed only two pounds and struggled for survival. Though overexposure to oxygen in the nursery incubator he lost his vision, however, he never lost his enthusiasm and eagerness to excel.
Chuckie’s parents used different sounds to stimulate his lack of sight and surrounded him with music. At age two, Chuckie stunned his parents by picking out a perfect rendition of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," at seven, auditioned to play at the Fairfax Public Library, Concert Series and so inspired a Braille piano teacher, Doris Trott, that she came out of retirement to nurture Carlo’s natural ability. At nine, Thomas Schumacher of the Levine School of Music became his mentor and educated him in the fine techniques of piano to bring the expressive interpretation of the music beyond the standard method. At twelve, Chuckie won first place at the Peabody Conservatory Spring festival and second place in the Steinway Piano Scholarship Competition of the Mid-Atlantic as well as in the Merlin-Engle Piano Competition at the Levine School of Music.
The most remarkable thing about Chuckie Ibay’s is not that he plays the piano, attacking with phenomenal case keys which he has never seem, and memorizing scores and not even that he accompanies himself on the piano, while singing his noble and brave heart out.
The truly remarkable thing about Chuckie Ibay is that he does play, sing and accompany himself on the piano – all these three things exceedingly well.. astonishingly well… phenomenally well.
At the Cultural Center of the Philippines Main Theatre recently presented by that inimitable theatrical team philanthropist Martin Lopez and stage director Jose Manuel ("Manolet") Garcia.
Chuckie Ibay was led to and then away from the piano by his own mother – a touching sight. Once seated, Chuckie was strictly on his own.
Piano playing occupied the first part of his oneman recital rendered with exquisite grace, and delicacy were Mozart’s "Adagio in B Minor, K 540" and "Rondo in D Major, K 335;" and with brilliance, strength Chopin’s "Sonata No. 3 in B Minor, Op. 58" – (Allegro Maestoso, Scherzo Molto, Vivace, Largo, Presto Non Tanto) – in particular the Maestoso and Presto movements were brilliantly rendered.
Carlos Ibay explains in choosing Mozart and Chopin for his concert at CCP: "I chose to begin with Mozart Adagio is because it has a very sweet, Beethovenesque melody, it is very laid back and playful, and yet there is an underlying sense of melancholy… there are often many moods behind any given emotion. The Mozart Rondo contracts that melancholy very well with its joyfulness, its bright key of D major…
"The Chopin sonata I chose for this evening is my most favorite piece in the world. What strikes me is that the structure is very unique. For a sonata, the form is everything and this one in particular moves from idea to idea in the most captivating way. There are constant changes in the melodic lines, always moving, always developing… It is a work of interesting ideas and emotions, one right after another, and because of the many changes of emotion, perhaps in some way each one of us can somehow relate to and understand it."
In his stentorian-voice, which shook the rafters of the CCP Main Theatre, he then delivered songs in English (Rogers’ & Hart’s "With A Song In My Heart" and D’ Hardelot’s "Because"); Spanish (Alvaro Carillo’s "Sabor A Mi" and Carlos Gardel’s "Te Quiero Dijiste"); Italian (Ernesto di Curtis’ "Non Ti Scondar Di Me" and Stanislao Gastaldon’s "Musica Proibita); and also Pilipino or Tagalog (Levi Celerio’s "Dahil Sa Isang Bulaklak" and Ernani Cuenco’s & Levi Celerio’s "Gaano Ko Ikaw Kamahal!").
Clear was his diction through all his songs. And it was amazing how well he could articulate and project his words, while seated and while facing the piano – and not the audience.
He displayed a lively sense of humor too, cracking jokes to "wake up few people in the audience whom I sees are asleep… " The audience relished in particular this joke he told: "There were five women from Europe talking, telling stories, ‘first woman said that everytime her son comes in everybody would say ‘Good Morning, Father:’ second had said that when her son comes in everybody would say ‘Good Morning, Your Excellency;’ the third woman who is from Vienna, said that when her son comes in everybody would say ‘Good Morning, Your Eminence;’ the fourth woman is from Rome and when her son comes in, everybody would say ‘Good Morning, Your Holiness;’ and fifth and the last woman who came from Austria, said that upon seeing her son who weighs 250 pounds and good-looking, so everybody would say, ‘Oh May, God!’"
Ovation after ovation followed Chuckie Ibay’s vocal rendering, and overwhelmed was the audience by his generosity in rendering three encores: "They Lullaby Broadway," "New York, New York" (with the audiences joining in with unison clapping), and lastly a deeply inspiring "Ave Maria."
For his encore to the piano playing and in response to wildly enthusiastic demand, Carlos Ibay played Liszt’s "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2," that he does all these things so well exceedingly so.
"A genius," someone in the audience remarked, and I agree and moreover add, "A genius and a saint.""
