Earlier this year, Teatru Manoel launched its first edition of the Valletta International Baroque Festival, to be held at the Manoel Theatre between January 9 and 26 January, 2013.
The festival, performed by some of the most prestigious international and local exponents in Baroque music, will give a new dimension to the European map of prominent baroque festivals.
The festival promises to present audiences with a truly unique experience exploring a wide range of artists and music and is also being promoted overseas with the support of the Malta Tourism Authority through adverts published in prestigious European top publications such as the backpage of the BBC Music Magazine, thus exposing the festival to thousands of readers across Europe.
Although in its initial stages, this festival already seems to be garnering a lot of international attention.
According to the festival’s artistic director, Kenneth Zammit Tabona, “it is true that we are still very surprised by the feedback and the high expectations that this festival has generated so far, although we believed in it from the day the festival was conceived.
“The high calibre list of performing ensembles and orchestras is one of the strongest elements in this festival,” he says.
Mr Zammit Tabona adds that “we have chosen from among the major exponents of the contemporary baroque idiom from across Europe and those who follow this genre of music festivals, will understand straight away that this will go down as a major happening in Europe’s baroque festivals calendar.
“The unique backdrop that is Valletta and the Festival’s splendid venues are another attractive factor. These include Teatru Manoel, the President’s Palace, St John’s Co-Cathedral, The Jesuit Church, the Church of All Souls, the church of Saint Catherine of Italy, St Augustine Church and the Auberge de Provence, all Baroque edifices in their own right.”
With two very important events on the horizon, namely the EU Presidency in 2017 and the European Capital of Culture in 2018, plans for the Valletta International Baroque Festival are quite ambitious.
“Our aspiration is for this festival to grow year by year tantamount to an ‘Edinburgh Festival of the South’. It is a dream that is being shared by many and we are convinced we will get there,” Mr Zammit Tabona says.
This festival will be an opportunity and a platform for Maltese talent to show off its capability to a foreign audience while also Valletta entities and beyond are being roped in to benefit from the tourism this event will be attracting.
Mr Zammit Tabona says that “our identity, our baroqueness so to speak, stems from the legacy of our unique history as a sovereign principality ruled by a very special Military Order that by some fluke found refuge on what was then a barren rock in the early 16th Century.
“This baroque identity is one of our greatest cultural assets, an aspect that makes us different from practically all other Mediterranean islands. It is this unique cultural and historical mix that makes Malta the extraordinary place that it is and this festival is a serious attempt to promote this identity internationally by promoting the unique mix of artistic and architectural heritage which has no equal in any other island throughout the world.”
The programme is being spread over 16 days, from January 9 to 26. It will kick off with a concert at the President’s Palace by the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Mro Michael Laus with the participation of violinist Carmine Lauri and Emanuela Buta which will feature Vivaldi’s Quattro Stagioni.
From then on, everyday will feature a baroque performance in one of the listed venues within Valletta. The climax of the festival will surely be reached midway through the festival with a performance by the renowned Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment inside St John’s Co-Cathedral, a performance being put up with the kind support of St John’s Co-Cathedral Foundation. This is open to the public but all those who book two or more performances will be guaranteed with a complimentary ticket for this performance. The festival will end with a Baroque ball inside the Teatru Manoel.
A number of local performers will take part in the festival.
Besides the two performances by the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, the programme includes performances by Cappella Sanctae Catherinae, Malta’s first ever all-male chamber choir as well as the Manoel Theatre Players, a theatrical project formed purposely for this Baroque Festival and led by Chris Gatt, who will be staging an adaptation of Moliere’s Don Juan translated to Maltese by Immanuel Mifsud.
Jeune Orchestre Atlantique, an ensemble made of young baroque musicians from across Europe will also be premiering a number of works by Maltese composers Benigno Zerafa (1726 -1804) and Francesco Azopardi (1748-1809) and will also perform the Stabat Mater by Girolamo Abos, making their performance a sort of interesting new discovery for the Maltese public.
Bookings for the first edition of the Valletta International Baroque Festival may be done via the Festival’s websitewww.vallettabaroquefestival.com.mt, by calling on 21246389 or via email on [email protected]
Caption: Artistic festival director Kenneth Zammit tabona says that the high calibre list of performing ensembles and orchestras is one of the strongest elements in this festival.