Let it be said that I am no great fan of Bach Cantatas or anyone's Requiem Masses, Oratorios or indeed madrigals and Lieder. I remember us spending hours rehearsing Elgar's Dream of Gerontius at school but I was regularly asked by the music teacher to go and turn the pages of the pianist instead and I was often out of tune. My girlhood was spent listening to and singing plain chant which is soothing and which I love and miss. But Philippe Herreweghe and his Collegium Vocale Gent are famous and I was very impressed that Kenneth managed to engage them. This would be the only occasion I would have to attend one of their concerts before I become compost. The fact that it was taking place at St John's immediately put it in my 'highly desirable' list for the Baroque Festival. Although his achievements could probably equal if printed if not of War and Peace at least The Brothers Karamazov Herreweghe is best known as a conductor of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. That evening at the Du Treuer Gott concert Dieterich Buxehude's Cantatas were also on the programme. He is from the pre-Bach era and I had never heard of him. In that period the Church was still an important force in deciding what music would be written, not least because it employed so many composers in a variety of musical positions. Gradually, the Church becomes a less important force in the commissioning of new music, to be replaced by the nobility.

It is interesting to note that Johann Sebastian on one occasion made a 450-mile round trip on foot to hear a concert by his hero who was none other than the organist Dietich Buxtehude. And now, here they were on the same programme, Bach being the more famous.

The organization at St John's was impeccable. We queued up outside and once inside the spectacular co-cathedral Dr Michael Grech and Kenneth Zammit Tabone greeted us and there were at least three young ladies to usher us to or places.

What can one write about the evening? Herreweghe and his Collegium Vocale Gent brought weight and dignity to this music. The singing was pretty impressive with some truly beautiful voices and the instrument playing of a high order of accomplishment. There was plenty of life in the music-making and some truly fine solo-singing. The venue turned the evening into a first class event. I walked out almost falling in love with Cantatas... almost, let's not go overboard on this.

Dr Grech  remarked to me that St John's is truly magical, a spectacle in itself, "which makes the entire experience uplifting regardless of what is being performed." I entirely agree. It always steals the show. He told me: "The Baroque Festival grows from strength to strength, and only in its fourth year, has become firmly established in the international Baroque calendar - suffice it to say that we had groups from as far flung places as Australia, New Zealand and Japan, and we already have bookings for 2017. We will, of course, be laying on a superb programme for 2018 - what better way to herald Malta's year as European Capital of Culture!"

Kenneth, whose baby it is, commented: "After having devised a two week programme of Baroque music which satisfies all my criteria cravings which are to say the least esoteric, I suddenly realise, half way through the festival that I am going to need a huge vitamin intake to complete the marathon. I have always firmly believed, ever since I reviewed a concert aged 17....a very long time ago now, that music is best enjoyed when it's shared. It is something that is still my guiding light today not only for the Baroque festival but also for the rest of the Teatru Manoel programme." Did anything specific happen during the Festival that stands out  in his memory: "Yes, one of the most poignant moments happened last year; by accident! For some peculiar reason I found that I had programmed Lamentations to open the festival. To this day I have no idea how it happened. The fact that it did was in fact providential as it turned out. The Charlie Hebdo massacre had happened a mere 24hours before the festival and the moment of silence I called to a packed All Soul's Church could not have been more poignant with our French visitors actually weeping..."

 

The pianist Roberto Cominati has many fans here, including myself. I made it a point to attend his concert on a Saturday morning, locally a most unusual time for a concert of this nature. However, it gave me and a friend an excuse to follow it with lunch. I had never heard Cominati play Baroque music before and was intrigued that he had it in his repertoire at all. It was a treat and a revelation. Cominati was superb. I asked Kenneth about Cominati: "I am not and will never be a purist. I find tunnel vision so restricting. That is why I have piano recitals like Roberto Cominati's as I strongly feel that we owe a debt of gratitude to the famous transcribers like Busoni, Godowski and Liszt to name but a few great pianistic geniuses who transcribed Bach's music into pianistic showpieces in the 'grand manner' thereby keeping it alive at a time when it was practically discarded. It also caters for the tastes of people like you Marie, who love their Liszt, Chopin and Rachmaninov. The Baroque festival has something to appeal to them too." Yes, Kenneth is right. I found myself falling in love with this kind of Baroque music. Cominati is not only a superb artist but easy on the eye too. Everything helps.

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I did not attend the Baroque Ball, even as a spectator, as many did. But I spoke to Gisèle Grima who played the harpsichord that evening. The other two musicians were Simon Abdilla Joslin on the cello and Diana Chircop on the violin. They played some light Baroque dances by J.S. Bach and Handel, arranged for that musical set-up. Gisèle remarked: "These dances were used for the audience to follow a demonstrated dance workshop led by Dorian Mallia and Diane Portelli who guided those present through the learning of the steps. It seemed like the audience had enjoyed it as they wanted to repeat one of the dances which was a Gigue."

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I've  heard so many snide remarks about Malta's year as European Capital of Culture in 2018; so many predictions made about how disastrous it is going to be and so on. It has already been demonized. Never, in all Malta's history has a government been so much under scrutiny and never have there been so many crystal balls in irresponsible hands - bloggers, columnists and so on. We will come out of 2018 with flying colours inspite of these doom and gloom readers of crystal balls, just as we did with CHOGM which, considering what it entailed, was a success.

So, here's to Malta in 2018 and another Baroque festival next year.