Following an intensive and successful 2005–2006 season the National Orchestra Malta is ending its activities with an EU-funded Leonardo da Vinci Mobility project that will see members from the orchestra participating in rehearsal sessions and performances with the renowned Brno Philharmonic Orchestra in the Czech Republic.
The Maltese troupe are to travel to Brno via Vienna and return on 18 August. They will be accompanied by chairman Lino Attard and Emy Scicluna, artistic adviser to the Board, who will conduct discussions with their Brno counterparts on further collaboration between the two orchestras. The orchestra’s general manager Christopher Muscat will be coordinating the logistics and workings of the group during their stay in the Czech Republic.
The two concerts in which the National Orchestra’s musicians are taking part are being held on 14 and 17 August. The concerts form part of the 7th International Music Festival held in the courtyard of the historic Spilberk Castle in Brno. The first concert is dedicated entirely to French and Italian operas with the participation of soprano Adriana Kohutkova and conducted by Petr Altrichter. The second concert entitled Poetry Without Words includes works by Mozart, Dvorak and Tchaikovsky under the baton of Leoš Svárovský.
The Board of the National Orchestra’s initiative has given the musicians the opportunity to observe the workings of another European professional orchestra, which experience will then be shared with their colleagues in the various sections of the National Orchestra of Malta.
In the orchestral season that has just ended, the National Orchestra continued to delight its audiences with a varied repertoire that included grand-scale works such as Ottorino Respighi’s Pini di Roma and Mussorgsky-Ravel’s Pictures at an Exhibition – just to mention a few from the classical repertoire. There was then, of course, the much followed National Orchestra Goes Pop, which was held for the third consecutive year.
The success of the orchestra’s Grand Concerts Series depends also on the orchestra’s ability to attract world-class soloists like Carmine Lauri, Mats Rondin, Roberto Cominati, Andrea Griminelli, Lukas Vondracek and Igor Ardasev among others.
Besides coping with its busy concert schedule, the orchestra continues to respond to a growing demand from schools to promote a musical culture among the younger generation. The orchestra’s Music Education Programmes, specifically designed for schoolchildren, are meant to create musical awareness in an informal and friendly environment and have grown in popularity. Over the last five years, numerous schools and thousands of schoolchildren have benefited from the informal music sessions given by the orchestra ‘s musicians.
Another important initiative taken by the National Orchestra during 2006, is the commemoration of one of Malta’s finest ever composers – Paolino Vassallo. The occasion of the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth urged the Orchestra’s Administration to commemorate the life and works of this composer with an exhibition in the Sala Isouard of the Manoel Theatre, followed by a successful concert of symphonic and operatic works by this composer.
These commemorations will reach their climax with a performance of Paolino Vassallo’s Messa da Requiem next November. The National Orchestra has also been instrumental in having the name of this great composer included in various influential foreign music related websites.