Sumi Jo: The Divine Diva. Sumi Jo (soprano). Najib Ismail (piano). Antonio Maigue (flute). Meralco Theater, February 7, 2017. Mandaluyong City.

• Main Author: Coo, Jonathan Arevalo
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2017
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/paha/vol7/iss1/9; https://archium.ateneo.edu/context/paha/article/1222/viewcontent/PAHA_207.1_209_20Music_20reviews_20__20Coo.pdf
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

Excerpt: When the program opened with “Gypsy and the Bird” (music by Sir Julius Benedict; words by Edward Oxenford; originally in French as “La Gitane et l’oiseau” by André de Badet), the audience knew that the Queen of the Night, Sumi Jo, would once again cast her spell on Manila. Sumi Jo: The Divine Diva is the second concert of Korean soprano Sumi Jo in the Philippines; her first was at the then newly built Samsung Hall in 2014. At this concert, held at the Meralco Theater, she performed with pianist Najib Ismail and flutist Antonio Maigue. Tenor Paul Galvez was a guest. “Gypsy and the Bird,” composed for piano, voice, and flute in the early nineteenth century, was a perfect piece for the evening’s program celebrating the virtuosic collaboration of three “instruments”: Paris-trained Filipino Antonio Maigue’s “magic flute,” pianist Najib Ismail’s exquisite piano, and Sumi Jo’s lyric soprano voice.