July was another eventful and thrilling month for Gozo's Gaulitanus Choir. Fresh off a concert tour in Rome in June - where the choir performed at the Festival Euro Mediterraneo, led masses at St Peter's Basilica and the Archbasilica of St John Lateran, and partially took part in the IV International Meeting of Choirs at the Vatican - intense preparations began immediately for their upcoming participation in Puccini's opera Manon Lescaut at the Teatro Antico in Taormina on 30 July.
The eye-catching production in the splendid open-air Sicilian stage was envisaged by Enrico Castiglione, and enfolded with the Etna spectacularly fuming very gently in the background. It featured world-renowned soprano Martina Serafin in the title role flanked by top tenor Kristian Benedikt as her lover, De Grieux, with the Taormina Festival Orchestra, directed by Dejan Savic, accompanying. The production was also filmed for Rai 5.
Coincidentally, Manon Lescaut had been brought back to the Maltese stage in 2019 after a very long absence as part of the choir-organised Gaulitana: A Festival of Music - indeed, the festival's last live operatic production before the pandemic. On the other hand, the opera was being presented at Taormina for the first time.
This foreign foray, the choir's 24th abroad, was another in a string of commitments abroad ensuing from Gaulitana: A Festival of Music's international collaborations, and followed an invitation from the Fondazione Festival Belliniano and its artistic director, Castiglione, who for several years has been responsible for the production, scenery and costumes for the Gaulitana's annual operatic production.
Led by its founder and musical director as well as Gaulitana: A Festival of Music artistic director, Colin Attard, this was the Gaulitanus Choir's second appearance in Taormina, after its highly successful participation in La Boheme in 2017 - when it made history by becoming the first Malta-based choir to participate in an operatic production abroad.
Notwithstanding the taxing rehearsal schedule and the prevailing intense heat, the choir managed to visit several places in the eastern part of Sicily, namely Catania, Noto, Siracusa, Ortigia, Giardini Naxos, the Alcantara Gorges, Isola Bella and Taormina itself. Naturally all the choir members also made the very best of the mouth-watering Sicilian gastronomic delights!
Surely, participation in Manon Lescaut was another very memorable and enjoyable occasion on foreign soil for the Gaulitanus Choir.