Abraham Borg
As part of the 50th anniversary celebrations, Din l-Art Helwa presented a vocal recital by mezzo-soprano Hadar Halevy at the beautiful Tapestry Chamber, the Grandmasters' Palace, Valletta, under the distinguished patronage of the President of Malta, H.E. Marie-Louise Coleiro-Preca, on Thursday 3 December. Ms. Halevy, who was accompanied on the piano by Charlene Farrugia, chose an interesting programme of arias which ranged from Gluck to Gershwin, with works by Rossini, Saint-Saëns, Bizet and Verdi, sung in sequential order.
"Amour, viens rendre à mon âme", from Orphée et Eurydice, Christoph Willibald Gluck's most popular opera, opened the concert, setting the tone for an excellent rapport between singer and pianist. Ms. Halevy confesses a predilection for Rossini whom she considers as "the father of Italian music", and it showed in the choice of Giovanna d'Arco, a taxing nine-minutes cantata for mezzosoprano, in which she infused the right feeling and pathos. Rossini composed his last opera, Guillaume Tell, in 1829, and for forty years withdrew from the genre. This cantata was composed in 1832, dedicated to Olimpia Pellissier whom he married in 1846, after the death of his wife, the famous soprano Isabella Colbran.
Delilah's lovely aria of love and seduction, "Mon coeur s'ouvre à ta voix" from Saint-Saëns' Samson et Dalila elicited much merited applause and reminded us what we have been missing from the local opera repertoire. This beautiful work, which had its Malta premiere at the Teatru Rjal in January 1904, has seen some of the best mezzos in that theatre like Celeste Vornos, Erminia Rubadi, Dolores Frau, Sara Blanco-Sadun, Adele Ponzano and Aurora Baudes, to name a few. Incidentally it was the famous Maltese tenor Icilio Calleja who sang Samson in 1919. The opera, as all opera performances in Malta, was sung in Italian; it was last performed in Malta at the Teatru Manoel in 1961, and, like many other beautiful works has unfortunately been excluded from our theatres core repertoire.
In Stride la vampa, (Verdi, Il trovatore), Hadar Halevy displayed a robust mezzo as Azucena the gypsy; her diction was pleasantly clear and resonant as she narrated her mother's torment while being led to be burnt on the pyre. Her performance of the "Chanson Bohémienne" from Georges Bizet's Carmen was good both vocally and histrionically, without the least sign of effort or strain. The aria "My man's gone now" from George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess concluded the concert. Halevy sang the piece with ease; her voice was equal throughout its range. To the prolonged applause of the audience for an encore, Hadar Halevy gave a fine interpretation of the "Habanera" from Carmen.
Charlene Farrugia gave a beautiful rendition of Camille Saint-Saëns' Études op. 111 Nos.1 & 4 and contributed to the success of the recital.