During these past two weeks, the Mediterranean Conference Centre was a hive of activity with top Italian celebrities gracing this much-loved historical venue. Claudio Baglioni and his musicians spent a full week rehearsing on the stage of the Republic Hall in preparation for the first CiaO’scia concert held in Malta on Saturday 25 August. Baglioni was later joined by Gianni Morandi, Riccardo Cocciante and Fabrizio Frizzi together with local singers Ivan Filletti, Ivan Grech and Ira Losco for joint rehearsals at MCC during the last two days prior to the actual concert.

Tourism and Culture Minister Francis Zammit Dimech hosted a dinner after the concert at MCC’s La Valette Hall which was attended by all celebrities and other guests including Deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg and the Italian Minister for Justice, Clemente Mastella.

Last Sunday, it was Mro Riccardo Muti’s turn to set foot on the MCC stage together with the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini, the Coro del Teatro Municipale di Piacenza and five Italian soloists for a concert version of Donizetti’s opera Don Pasquale.

As from last Wednesday, Mro Muti started conducting seminars on the Italian opera in the various halls at MCC which are being attended by both local and foreign musicians.

One thing which the abovementioned artists all had in common was that they simply fell in love with MCC and once they stepped on to its stage, they all promised they would be back.