After a great start last Friday, 10 January with the staging of Handel’s Messiah and a weekend of Rameau’s music with the parody Hippolyte et Aricie at Teatru Manoel, this week and especially the coming weekend, promise a very interesting and varied programme.
Today’s concert, titled Baroque on the High Seas, will offer a feast for all Vivaldi and Handel aficionados. The performance featuring Carolyn Sampson and Freiburger Barockorchester from Germany will include music from Vivaldi’s L'Olimpiade, Handel’s Ezio, Imenedo and Lotario and Vivaldi’s Sum in Mediotempestatum. The Freiburg Baroque Orchestra can look back on a success story lasting over 20 years and is a popular guest at the most important concert halls and opera houses. A glance at the ensemble’s concert calendar shows a diverse repertoire played at a variety of venues, ranging from the Baroque to the musical present and from Freiburg to the Far East.
The programme for Saturday, 18 January starts off at noon with an unmissable interpretation of J.S. Bach’s The Goldberg Variations based on a transcription by Gjorgji Cincievski. This will be a World Premiere for string trio and will feature Nicolas Dautricourt on violin, Pierre Henry Xuereb on the viola and Gjorgji Cincievski on the double bass. This concert is being staged at the Church of All Souls in Merchants Street.
In the evening of Saturday 18, Malta’s very own Valletta Baroque Festival Ensemble will perform The Monteverdi Vespers at St Paul’s Anglican Cathedral. The Vespro della Beata Vergine 1610 or Vespers for the Blessed Virgin are today more commonly referred to as Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers. The term Vespers means evening prayers which are taken from the Hours of the Divine Office, a set of daily prayers of the Catholic Church which have remained structurally unchanged for 1,500 years. In scale, Monteverdi's Vespers was the most ambitious work of religious music before Bach. This 90-minute piece includes soloists, chorus and orchestra and has both liturgical and extra-liturgical elements. The work is in every respect one of the towering masterpieces of the Baroque era, summing up the best that music had to offer 400 years ago. In fact, it is daring and grand in conception and structure, and represents the very best of all the musical styles current in Italy at the beginning of the 17th century.
Sunday, 19 January is a full day of Baroque events for all the family. Four seperate events have been lined up promising much entertainment for all ages.
At 11.30am at the President’s Palace, Italian quartet Classica Pizzicata will present an instrumental concert of Neapolitan Music from the 17th and 18th centuries with music by Sarri, Porpora, Hasse, Leo, Vinci, Scarlatti and Pergolesi. This is an opportunity for all mandolin and guitar lovers to enjoy an unusual take on baroque featuring a more Mediterranean flavour.
At 3pm Toi Toi is hosting a Baroque Treasure Hunt for all the family. The treasure hunt all around Teatru Manoel will explore many baroque themes, historical events and more surprises. The meeting point is Teatru Manoel’s courtyard and the event is open for all families with children aged seven to 13.
At 5pm the intimate interior of St Catherine of Italy Church will host Dowland’s melancholic tunes in a concert titled Sweet Stay Awhile featuring Canadian singer Justin Burwood and Swedish lutenist Magnus Andersson. Sweet Stay Awhile is a programme of music that speaks directly to the soul.
At 7pm the concert Tous le Matins du Monde will be staged at the church of All Souls featuring harpsichordist Bruno Procopio and Emmanuelle Guigues on the viola da gamba. The programme will feature François Couperin: Excerpts by the First Suite for viola da gamba and continuo in E Mineur, le Sieur de Sainte-Colombe: Tombeau pour Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe, le père, Jean-Henry D'Anglebert: Excerpts by the First Suite for solo harpsichord in G Major, Marin Marais: Rondeau Le Bijou, excerpts by the IV Livre, Antoine Forqueray: la Marais, la Couperin, la Rameau, la Leclair and Marin Marais: Folies d'Espagne, excerpt by the II Livre.
Bruno Procopio is one of the most prominent young harpsichordists in France and his reputation as a leading Baroque specialist is spreading rapidly abroad. Emmanuelle Guigues is a viola da gamba graduate of the Paris Conservatory and performs and records with various ensembles worldwide. This event is kindly sponsored by the Embassy of France in Malta.