The National Orchestra launched its 2005/6 season at its quarters in Valletta yesterday. The season opens with A Night with Lloyd Webber, on Friday and Saturday at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, featuring the renowned cellist Julian Lloyd Webber.
The National Orchestra will also be holding concerts at the Manoel Theatre, the first of which - on September 30 - will be a vocal and orchestral concert presented by soprano Gillian Zammit and baritone Massimiliano Valleggi, conducted by Paolo Ponziano Ciardi.
This concert should prove a treat for opera lovers, featuring pieces from Verdi's I Vespri Siciliani, Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci, Bellini's Norma, Donizetti's Don Pasquale, Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera, La Traviata and Rigoletto, Mozart's Don Giovanni, Rossini's William Tell, Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann, and Gounod's Faust and Romeo and Juliet.
The Orchestra is having another go at their Go Pop concert, which was highly successful last year and attracted audiences who do not normally attend classical, operatic or symphonic events. The Go Pop concert, being held at the MCC on October 8, will feature Ira Losco, and has been co-ordinated by Sigmund Mifsud.
The much-awaited Festival Mediterranea, which includes the traditional Gozo Opera Festival organised by the Astra Theatre, will feature the National Orchestra in Puccini's La Boheme, conducted by Mro Joseph Vella, on October 27 and 29.
Our exceptionally talented tenor Joseph Calleja and his wife Tatiana Lisnic will sing the main roles of Rodolfo and Mimì, respectively. Other participating artists are Marco Chingari (Marcello) and Letizia Colajanni (Musetta), along with the Astra Theatre Opera Chorus and the 50-member Oxford Girls Choir, founded in 1984.
Another joint production with the Manoel Theatre will take place on November 8. The Orchestra will perform Respighi's orchestral suite Gli Uccelli, and Stravinsky's Pulcinella. Simon Schembri will be the soloist in Giuliani's Guitar Concerto in A major and Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez. Mro Michael Laus will conduct.
The final event to mark the 50th anniversary of the Malta Trade Fairs Corporation will have the National Orchestra in conjunction with soprano Miriam Cauchi and tenor Joseph Aquilina in a performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem, under the baton of Mro Joseph Vella. Two performances will be held at St John's Co-Cathedral, Valletta, on November 18 and 19.
Mro Laus has taken the initiative to give a charity concert in aid of Id-Dar tal-Providenza at the Manoel Theatre on December 6. The programme will include Mozart's Piano Concerto in D minor, K. 466, Schumann's Introduction and Allegro Appassionato for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 92, and Beethoven's Symphony No. 2 in D major. Mro Laus will be the soloist in the Mozart and also conduct the orchestra.
The National Orchestra's very own Concerto Series starts on December 13 with Haydn's Symphony No. 48 in C, Maria Theresa, Schumann's Cello Concerto in A minor, Op. 129 with Simon Abdilla Joslin on cello, and Schubert's Symphony No. 6 in C, "Little".
A Grand Concert will follow at the MCC on January 14, with Maltese violinist Carmine Lauri, currently co-leader of the London Symphony Orchestra, Michaela Fukacova, an internationally renowned cellist and winner of the prestigious Tchaikovsky Competition, and Igor Ardasev, who gave a brilliant performance of Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2 with the National Orchestra last season.
The National Youth Orchestra will join the National Orchestra in a programme consisting of Beethoven's 'Egmont' Overture and Concerto in C major for Piano, Violin, Cello and Orchestra, Op. 56, Tchaikovsky's Capriccio Italien, Op. 45, and Respighi's I Pini di Roma, under the direction of Mro Laus.
Mozart's Coronation Mass will be performed on January 24 at the Manoel on the occasion of the gifted composer's 250th birthday, which falls on January 26.
Also as part of the Concerto series, the National Orchestra, in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute, is paying a tribute to Mozart on February 14. The celebrated flautist Andrea Griminelli and harpist Caroline Calleja will interpret Mozart's Symphony No. 8 in G minor, Concerto for Flute and Orhcestra No. 1 in G, K. 313, Concerto for Flute, Harp and Orchestra in C major, K. 229, and Serenata Notturna in D major, K 239.
A yearly commitment for the National Orchestra is the backing it provides to the BoV Opera Festival. This year's festival will run from March 15 to 23 and will present the operas Rigoletto by Verdi and Il Barbiere di Siviglia by Rossini. Mro Laus will conduct both operas.
The long-awaited appearance of Mro Brian Schembri is being realised in the second Grand Concert to be held at the MCC on April 1, which will feature one of the Orchestra's section leaders, Paul Borg, as a soloist on the tuba. The pieces to be played are Ravel's Bolero, Edward Gregson's Tuba Concerto, and Mussorgsky/Ravel's Pictures at an Exhibition. The Concerto series comes to an end on April 25 with a programme consisting of Saint-Saens' Piano Concerto No. 5 in F major, Op. 103 with Roberto Cominati, and Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, Op. 35, conducted by Mr Laus.
Lukas Vondracek will be back in Malta to perform in a symphony concert - the last of the Orchestra's and the Manoel's joint productions of the season - to be held on May 16. Mro Laus will conduct Smetana's symphonic poem Blanik, Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43, and Brahms' Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90.
During the launch, Culture Minister Francis Zammit Dimech said the Government had decided to increase the National Orchestra vote by 23 per cent - from Lm235,000 to Lm290,000. He said that the National Orchestra contributes to a number of national festivities, such as the Epiphany and Independence concerts.
The Youth Orchestra's complement has gone up from 30 at the beginning of last year to 56 today. He said the orchestra helps to fill vacancies in the National Orchestra.
The chairman of the National Orchestra, Lino Attard, said: "Efforts are being made to further develop the skills of the orchestra's musicians." A workshop is being organised next month with the participation of Alison Cox, who worked at the Purcell School, London, for a considerable number of years.
Anyone interested in participating is to contact the National Orchestra.
The board of directors is also launching a membership scheme, which will give music lovers the opportunity to participate in projects, concerts and other educational activities. Members will also benefit from a reduction in ticket prices and be informed on the Orchestra's activities. For more details on all concerts visit the Orchestra's Website www.maltaorchestra.com