A heritage mansion transforms into a cultural hub
The weather that first afternoon didn’t seem to be in a cooperative mood. But that didn’t stop music aficionados from braving the monsoon rain as they started to arrive at the grounds of MiraNila, the heritage mansion owned by the Benitez-Tirona family, met by well-mannered barong-clad “doormen” with wide, black umbrellas who escorted them to the space beneath the graceful winding staircase, all set up with chairs for the select hundred or so guests.
The four-story mansion was built by National Artist for Architecture Juan Arellano and his architect cousin Gregorio Paredes with the homeowner, Francisca Tirona Benitez.
Directly at the foot of the staircase was the 1904 Steinway grand piano, listed as “rare” in the Steinway & Sons catalog. Newly restored, using parts provided by a Steinway-certified technician, ensured that the piano was back in concert-level condition. Since MiraNila’s construction in 1929, this piano has been conspicuously and intentionally positioned on an elevated platform at the foot of the winding staircase, known as the Music Alcove, to showcase its unusual rococo-style feet from the period of Louis XV. Other instruments on display were a six-stringed chordophone with a bow (perhaps with origins from Java), a tambourine and a pair of maracas. Gracing the top of the piano was a limited-edition glass sculpture from the Spanish company Lladro, entitled “Folklorico Filipino” by designer Vicente Martinez. The figures uncannily resemble two Bayanihan dancers: Linda Anido Gomez, who danced the Singkil Princess, and Lita Ramos as her attendant, shading the princess with an umbrella. These two dancers played the female Singkil leads during the Bayanihan Dance Company’s World Tour in 1961. The dance company was the resident dance company of the Philippine Women’s University owned by the Benitezes.
Other rooms at MiraNila include the Main Hall; the Library, which featured specially crafted shelves done by the prisoners of Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa; and also a tall wooden case of a grandfather clock. Other prisoner-crafted furniture pieces can be found in the bedroom of Tomas Benitez with its signature twisted posts known as torno or salamonica, which are found at the front porch and in all the mansion’s window grills. There is also a ground floor hallway where a powder room is located whose floors are dominated by tiles in turquoise and fuchsia, which are within the Art Deco color palette. There are two dining rooms: a small one and a large one, conveniently designed for intimate or large gatherings.
The tour of the house that day was a special attraction prior to the music concert which extended to the second floor whose highlight is the master’s bedroom with a balcony that overlooks the chapel, the side garden and the Gallery MiraNila, with rare and special paintings and objects from the family’s personal archives.
While waiting for the performance to start, the audience, many of whom seemed to know each other, engaged in banter. Many were recognizable personages from the culturati, diplomats, society figures, art connoisseurs, and known press figures.
As the clock struck 6 p.m., a hush descended as the young cellist, Damodar Das Castillo, entered carrying his cello, handcrafted by Master Luthier George Gerl, a winner of the 2012 German Musical Instrument Prize. It was a gift to the young musician by his constant supporter, Ernesto T. Echauz, chairman of Standard Insurance Co. Damodar Das, at age 17, had already won top prizes in Estonia, Dusseldorf, Berlin and Italy. And that night, after this sendoff concert, he was to depart for his scholarship at the Carl Maria von Webber College of Music in Dresden.
Following behind him was Mariel Ilusorio, a virtuoso concert pianist who has won piano competitions all over the world. Just recently, Ms. Ilusorio came back to the Philippines after a 26-year absence. She now serves as a concert organizer and is in the faculty of the UST Conservatory of Music, St. Scholastica’s School of Music and the Philippine High School for the Arts.
As the arpeggio-like solo strains of the cello opened with Johann Sebastian Bach’s Cello Suite No. 3 Prelude, I was transported back to a childhood memory of listening to live classical music in my grandparents’ provincial living room with family and guests. Then again in more recent years, at a Bacolod sugar mansion’s living area for a harp concert. All the more did memories flood back when both cellist and pianist moved on to Chopin’s Sonata in G minor for Cello and Piano, Chopin being one of my mother’s favorite composers.
Last Oct. 1, for the second in the series of “Strings of Gold,” MiraNila hosted the victory homecoming concert of the Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra after winning back-to-back Grand Prix awards in Bratislava and Vienna, two of the most prestigious international competitions, garnering 99 points at the festival held in Slovakia on July 2 and 4 of this year. The MSJO is composed of 40 young musicians under the baton of conductor Jeffrey Solares, as they bested 13 countries, putting the Philippines high in the music map worldwide.
The performance was jump-started with Kay Ganda ng Ating Musica, Ryan Cayabyab’s ode to Filipino music, segueing to the familiar strains of Vivaldi’s Spring from The Four Seasons suite. From there, the mixed repertoire of well-known foreign and Filipino classics, both in the classical and popular genres, alternated, tantalizing the audience’s music senses.
As the first act began with Cayabyab’s popular hit, it culminated with Paraiso, another popular piece by Cayabyab rearranged for strings. The song, sung by a group of four young singers formed by Cayabyab (and whose group is named after the well-known garbage heap location) for their second album, was considered the biggest selling album in the country, selling 253,800 copies, certifying it as a Platinum release.
After a 15-minute break, the audience eagerly seated themselves as Dvorak’s Scherzo reignited everyone’s excitement. Two Filipino classics, Ernani Cuenca’s Nahan and Ryle Nicole Custodio’s playful Tagu-Taguan, re-arranged as an instrumental, wound up the youthful orchestra’s performance with multiple bows for both the young orchestra and Maestro Jeffrey Solares.
If one desires to extend the music- driven reverie, an overnight stay at the adaptively re-used section of the mansion—now The Henry MiraNila, run by The Henry Boutique Hotels, with ingenuous entrepreneur, Hanky Lee, at the helm—is, in itself, an entirely different trip. There is an events place, The Blue Leaf, and an exquisite dining (or lunching) outlet by Bizu, known for its special French macaroons. So being well-fed is no issue.
The hotel is an experience in itself. Designer Eric Paras relates the challenge he was faced with in “transforming three family apartments into 10 rooms,” creating well-proportioned rooms of varying sizes to accommodate either solo or group occupants, taking into consideration incorporating original artifacts or design elements into the resurrected design.
The narra floorings are still original, though bath and toilet facilities are now modernized and updated. Original furniture pieces and decorations like lamps are melded into the design, creating an atmosphere of modernized nostalgia. Some rooms have balconies overlooking the garden festooned with age-old giant trees, which were, that night, gently swaying with the wind and drizzle. On warmer days, a hammock is laid out under the sturdy tree branches, and for cooler evenings, wine can be served al fresco.
The room colors are warm and neutral; minimalist but not boxy moderne. “I was able to create a story… not my story, but that of the Benitezes: genteel but not snobbish,” laughs Paras, as the hotel is ingeniously transformed as a modern-day offspring... like an extension of the house but without copying the first edition.
With that first two-part series of presentations for Strings of Gold, Petty Benitez Johannot’s concept of converting their restored ancestral home into a cultural hub in Quezon City transformed it into more than just an active living space, but an open portal in which a rarified atmosphere can transport one away from the madding crowd into a haven of warm peace and comfort, with musical memories.
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Strings of Gold was presented by the Benitez-Tirona Foundations in partnership with the Erehwon Center for the Arts and Gallery MiraNila by The Blue Leaf, with support from the Bizu Groupe.