How Maharlika Changed Raul Sunico's Life Forever

There is a story that has been going around in local music circles for many years now. It is about the Maharlika Concerto and pianist Raul Sunico.

- BABY A. GIL

Way back in 1973, then First Lady Imelda Marcos commissioned Lucino Sacramento to compose a concerto as a birthday present for President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. The result was the Piano Concerto No. 2 Maharlika. It would be performed at the Reception Hall in Malacanang Palace with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra and one of the renowned pianists of the time as soloist.

Unfortunately, the pianist was taken ill only a few days before the event. Everybody knew it would be difficult to find a replacement who would be able to learn the piece within a scant three days, let alone perform it live with an orchestra. But somebody thought of Sunico, a young pianist with a prodigious memory.

Sunico was a graduate of the University of the Philippines with the degrees of Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and a master's in Statistics and a Bachelor of Science Cum Laude at the College of Music. Although he was doing well as a pianist, he had by then opted to take up regular employment and was working in a bank. Then he got a phone call about Maharlika.

Can he learn Maharlika within only a few days? He said he could. He would have to play it before the dinner for the First Lady in a form of audition. If he passes that, he would become the soloist for Maharlika. Sunico passed the test and performed the Maharlika on Sept. 11, 1973, to great acclaim.