The National Orchestra will be staging its January Grand Concert at the Mediterranean Conference Centre for the fourth consecutive year. This initiative has now become an annual appointment and an integral part of the cultural calendar in Malta featuring local and international celebrity artistes.
For this occasion the Management has invited two Czech musicians of a rapidly-increasing international reputation: virtuoso pianist Lukaš Vondracek and conductor Leoš Svárovský. This year the concert will be held on Saturday 26 January.
The first part of the programme opens with a short orchestral work: Elegy by Christopher Muscat – considered to be one of most talented young Maltese composers who has already left his mark, winning coveted first prizes in international competitions.
This will be followed by two works by Franz Liszt: Symphonic Poem No.3 Les Preludes and the Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat major featuring the brilliant young virtuoso pianist Lukaš Vondracek. Vondracek is no newcomer to Malta; he already appeared with the National Orchestra at the Manoel Theatre in May 2006. At only 21, Lukaš Vondracek has already visited 22 different countries giving over 850 concerts and appearing regularly alongside his mentor Vladimr Ashkenhazy.
The second part of the programme will be dedicated to one of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s master works: Symphony No. 5 in E Minor Op 64.
Despite the fact that it is the first time that conductor Leoš Svárovský will be appearing at the helm of the National Philharmonic Orchestra, a number of local musicians already worked with Maestro Svárovský last year when, as part of an EU Leonardo Exchange programme, they participated in a concert together with the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra as part of the Spilberk Festival. Svárovský studied conducting with the renowned Czech conductor Václav Neumann. The long list of prestigious orchestras that he has conducted includes the Janáèek Philharmonic Orchestra Ostrava, Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Prague Symphony Orchestra, Orchester der Beethovenhalle Bonn, RTL Symphony Orchestra Luxembourg, Bruckner Orchester Linz, Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and the Staatskapelle Dresden to mention but a few.
Immediately after his Malta concert, Maestro Svárovský will join the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra for its USA tour.
It was precisely this series of grand concerts in which the orchestra has been augmented to philharmonic levels that enhanced the orchestra’s reputation for the high standards it has achieved in recent seasons.
It is with pride and satisfaction that the efforts of the present Board of Directors, Music Director and all the musicians within the orchestra’s fold were highlighted in Parliament last December when, on the 10th Anniversary of the Orchestra’s institution as an independent entity, official approval for the upgrading to a Philharmonic Orchestra was announced.
The orchestra will take its new name as Malta Philharmonic Orchestra or Orkestra Filarmonika Nazzjonali in Maltese.
Tickets at €13.98 (Lm6), €23.29 (Lm10), €27.95 (Lm12), and €34.94 (LM15) are available from the MCC booking office, e-mail: [email protected] or by calling tel. 2559-5750/1 as of 3 January, 2008.
A ticket hotline (tel. 7934-4355) has been set up to assist the general public with the bookings. A limited number of discounted tickets are available for students and senior citizens card holders.
The concert starts at 7.30pm.