St John's Co-Cathedral will be graced with the Malta premiere of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem on Friday and Saturday, as the last in a series of three grand-scale productions held by the Malta Trade Fairs Corporation as part of its 50th anniversary celebrations.
Requiem might sound somewhat different to the rest of Lloyd Webber's works but the influence of his father, William Lloyd Webber, an organist at All Saints and at the Central Hall in Westminster, as well as being a composer of sacred music, must undoubtedly have left its mark.
Like Verdi's Requiem which was inspired by the death of Italian poet and patriot Alessandro Manzoni, two events were Lloyd Webber's inspiration: the death of his father in 1982, and a story in a hidden corner of the New York Times about a Cambodian boy who was faced with the choice to either kill his mutilated sister or get killed himself.
The two events gave Lloyd Webber the idea of scoring Requiem for a boy, a girl, and a man, musically translated into a treble, high soprano and tenor. Although the choral writing is strictly within cathedral lines, Lloyd Webber's own admission that it might not always be academically correct makes the work all the more unique. First recorded by Placido Domingo and Sarah Brightman, it ensures its operatic moments too.
Deemed by Sir Andrew as the most personal of his works, the Malta premiere of Requiem will feature soloists tenor Joseph Aquilina, soprano Miriam Cauchi, and Hamish John Corson as treble.
Mro Joseph Vella will be conducting the Malta National Orchestra with AnnMarie Chetcuti as principal viola, Ugo Agius Muscat on the organ, and the Laudate Pueri Choir (director George J. Frendo).
The executive producer for the two performances will be Noel Calleja, sales and marketing manager at the Malta Trade Fairs Corporation. This production is being supported by HSBC Bank Malta plc and The Really Useful Group, Andrew Lloyd Webber's own company.
Both performances start at 8 p.m. and entrance is free (stilettos and high heels are not permitted in the cathedral).