By now those interested know that The 12 Days of Christmas midday concerts is a series of twelve varied midday concerts presented by Teatru Manoel involving young performers mainly on piano but also featuring other instruments.
The Manoel's Artistic Director, Adrian Mamo who is present at every concert told me: "We are proud to give a platform like this to young performers. I consider it an important part of their training to perform in public from a very young age and also engage with a receptive audience."

The 12th and last concert this season, was Romantic Moments and the pianist was 17-year-old Gianluca Cilia who came up with a truly romantic programme. This teenager is not only an able pianist. He is also a singer and actor. Truly a dedicated all rounder who loves what he is doing.
The qualities I saw in him are several. He comes on the stage confident, with a smile on his face. He introduced each piece to us which I always find very useful especially when there are no programme notes.
He has poise. I don't particularly like the word 'charming' as what exactly does it mean to be charming but what other word can I use. There is no hint of arrogance. Just sheer talent and dedication to his art. Ah! the hours he must spend at his piano at home. I took an immediate liking to him. out of six pieces and an encore, three were Chopin, one, Liszt's Liebestraum No 3. How can I not be happy?
He started off with Thomas (Fats) Waller Alligator Crawl, fun, 1920 jazz type of music, pleasant. This was followed by Chopin's Prelude in E minor, Revolutionary Etude and Fantasie Impromptu. The last piece on the programme was Scriabin's Etude in D minor.
The audience loved every note. I am not a music critic but I know these pieces well and I would immediately know if the pianist did not do them justice. Gianluca certainly did.

One could sense that the audience wanted the playing to go on and Adrian Mamo stood up to say that perhaps if we asked Gianluca nicely, tired after such a performance, he would oblige us, which he did. Finishing off an excellently interpreted programme he gave us Rachmaninoff's Prelude in G minor, Op 23, no 5, also such a beautiful piece of music.
I found the following copied in one of my cahiers, in which I tend to copy interesting bits and pieces, about everything under the sun. I have no idea where it came from but lovers of Chopin may not know the details of what happened to Chopin's heart.
As Frederic Chopin gasped for air on his deathbed in Paris in 1849, he whispered a request that became the stuff of musical legend: Remove my heart after I die and entomb it in Poland. He wanted the symbol of his soul to rest in the native land he pined for from self-imposed exile in France.
Ever since the composer's body has rested in peace at the famed Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris - while his heart has endured a wild journey of intrigue and adulation.
First it was sealed in a jar of liquor believed to be cognac. Then it was smuggled into Warsaw past Russian border guards. Once in his hometown , Chopin's heart passed through the hands of several relatives before being enshrined within a pillar in Holy Cross Church. During World War II, it briefly fell into the clutches of the Nazis. The organ has been exhumed several times, most recently in a secret operation to check whether the tissue remains well preserved.
Chopin's heart inspires a deep fascination in Poland normally reserved for the relics of saints. For Poles Chopin's nostalgic compositions capture the national spirit - and the heart's fate is seen as intertwined with Poland's greatest agonies and triumphs over nearly two centuries of foreign occupation, warfare and liberation.
Chopin experts have wanted to carry out genetic testing to establish whether the sickly genius died at 39 of tuberculosis as is generally believed, or of some other illness. But they remain frustrated. The Polish church and government, the custodians of the heart, have for years refused requests for any invasive tests, partly because of the opposition of a distant relative of the composer. Lately, however, they finally consented to a superficial inspection after a forensic scientist raised alarm that after so many years the alcohol could have evaporated leaving the heart to dry up and darken.
Close to midnight one April 14, after the last worshippers had left the Holy Cross Church, 13 people sworn to secrecy gathered in the dark sanctuary.
They included the archbishop of Warsaw, the culture minister, two scientists and other officials. They worked in total concentration, mostly whispering, as they removed the heart from its resting place and carried out the inspection - taking more than 1,000 photos and adding hot wax to the jar's seal to prevent evaporation. Warsaw's archbishop recited prayers over the heart and it was returned to its rightful place. By morning, visitors to the church saw no trace of the exhumation.
No photos were released of the heart, mindful of ethical considerations.
Though many believe that Chopin probably died of tuberculosis - the official cause of death - the matter isn't fully settled. Some scientists suspect cystitic fibrosis, a disease still unknown in Chopin's time, or even some other illnesses. "The mystery of this man's illness lingers on - how he could survive for so long with such a chronic illness and how he could write pieces of such extraordinary beauty, Lagerberg said. "It's an intellectual puzzle, it's a medical mystery, and it's an issue of great scientific curiosity.
Chopin was born in Warsaw in 1810 to a Polish mother and French émigré father. He lived in Warsaw until 1830, when he made his way to Paris where he chose a life of exile because of the brutal repressions imposed by Imperial Russia after a failed uprising.
Fulfilling Chopin's deathbed wish, which was also inspired by the composer's fear of being buried alive, his sister Ludwika smuggled the heart to Warsaw, probably beneath her skirts. After being kept in the family home for several years it was eventually buried in the Baroque Holy Cross Church, in central Warsaw.
It remained there until World War II when the Nazi occupiers removed it for safekeeping during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. Even as they slaughtered Poles block-by-block, killing 200,000 people in retribution for the revolt, they took pains to preserve the relic of a composer that the Germans have sometimes claimed as their own, because of the influence great German composers had on him. After the fighting was over, they returned it to the Polish church in a ceremony meant to show their respect for culture.
Some Poles say that Chopin died longing for his homeland. Who knows. But neither Chopin nor his music will ever be forgotten.
I asked Kimberly Terrible his dedicated teacher for a comment: "Teaching piano is a deeply enriching experience that brings joy to my life, allowing me to discover and nurture talent while sharing the beauty of music. Music plays a vital role in children's development, and like musical theatre, it fosters creativity, discipline and emotional growth; Gianluca thrives as a pianist, actor and singer, benefitting from the harmony of these artistic pursuits."
Gianluca responded to my request for a comment: "One thing to note about me as a person is my love for dogs. One of the main reasons for this is my belief that God made animals unable to talk so that we can understand that love is shown not solely through words. Similarly, my love for music is rooted in the same reasoning. It doesn't rely on words to evoke feelings, and to me that's what makes it even more powerful. That's what it's all about, really. The ability to tell a story without using words.
Our dear Chopin left us his gift of storytelling through music. Such raw emotions require the most sensible attitude when playing his masterpieces. To play his music correctly, with no mistakes is one thing, but to pour your heart out and play with intention is another. He was truly the master of simplicity, despite also pushing the boundaries of technical demands in piano repertoire. This wordless language is such a gift to humanity that it would be an utter waste to hear it without listening. Truly listening."
"Sometimes I can only groan, and suffer and pour out my despair at the piano!"
- Frédéric Chopin
I have nothing to add but go on being surprised at the amount of musical talent this country has to offer. This young man will get very far. I shall not be here to see it!
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