Il Trovatore, Giuseppe Verdi's 4-act grand opera, will be Teatru Aurora's masterpiece for this season. Bank of Valletta, which will be supporting Teatru Aurora for the umpteenth time, sat down with the residential director, Maestro Colin Attard who gave a brief overview of his background and the Opera he will be conducting this year.
How did you start following opera and were there any outside influences?
I come from a very musical family. Indeed, my first contacts with opera were through following my late father, Joseph, a keen bandsman who used to interpret the tenor arias on the althorn during the then highly-popular band opera selections as well as through performing selections with our 'home-based trio' - my late grandfather on the violin, my brother on the piano and myself on the double-bass! Eventually I started listening to my father's recordings and later, when opera started being performed in Gozo, I used to attend live performances.
The opera in general - How would you describe your emotions when conducting an Opera?
The emotions depend on the style of the opera and the plot itself. Yet conducting an opera - apart from being a very tough job - can be extremely emotive, especially when it comes to 19th and early 20th century opera with its highly romantic and dramatic traits.
Do you have a favourite opera or composer and why?
Not really. My conducting 'philosophy' is to consider whatever I'm conducting as the best piece of music on earth! That guarantees that I give it all. Yet, it would be an understatement not to acknowledge the charm that a few titles hold for me. For example, last year I fulfilled a personal 'dream' when conducting Falstaff.
Il Trovatore - You have conducted Giuseppe Verdi's Il Trovatore 20 years ago and you will be conducting it again this year. What are the changes and why was this opera chosen as this year's Teatru Aurora's opera?
Two things are for sure: I have matured a lot in 2 decades and the opera in Gozo has made enormous strides forward. Today Gozo features proudly on the international opera map, despite our size and limitations. Il Trovatore was chosen - irrespective of the 20th anniversary of my Aurora debut - because, as per policy, the organising committee decided that it was the opera which, for several reasons, was most ideal to be staged at the Aurora in 2014.