Month-long Mozartfest launched

A month-long celebration of Mozart to mark the composer's 250th birth anniversary is being held next month by the newly set up Renaissance Cultural Foundation.

Called Mozartfest, it is receiving 40 per cent of its financing from the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation, and will include an exhibition, master classes, a discussion, a lecture and concerts. There will also be a puppet production of one of Mozart's most popular operas, Le Nozze di Figaro.

Mozartfest was launched by Tourism and Culture Minister Dr Francis Zammit Dimech at a press conference at the Westin Dragonara Resort yesterday morning. The minister, who wished the event every success, said this was yet another example of how EU funds can benefit Malta.

Foundation trustee Dr Anton Tabone said that the opera, being held on October 20 and 21, is being performed by the Milan Sladek Pantomime Theatre, in a world renowned puppet production.

This will hopefully encourage families to take their children and introduce more people to opera as a result. The opera is being staged at the Manoel Theatre with a matinee at St James Cavalier on October 21.

A Werkstadt Graz exhibition - Eight positions on Mozart, is being held at St James Cavalier between September 29 and October 29.

International master classes by internationally acclaimed German professors are being given in voice, violin, piano, flute and clarinet between October 9 and 14 at St James Cavalier and the Malta Society of Arts in Valletta.

Participants, who will include students from Palestine and Israel, will then present a concert at St James Cavalier on October 14. The closing date for applications for the classes is September 10.

A discussion titled 'Who's afraid of Mozart?' is being held on October 10 followed by a lecture on October 11 titled "Mozart images through the 18th-21st centuries".

An evening featuring songs by Mozart and Schubert is being held on October 13 at the Casino Maltese in Valletta and a concert of chamber music is being held at the Manoel Theatre on October 14.

The festival is being held in collaboration with the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts, the German and Austrian embassies, Lufthansa, Bawag Bank Malta, St James Cavalier and the Malta Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce.

Mozartfest is the first activity being organised by the foundation, a non-governmental non-profit-making organisation, aiming to develop artists' potential through international opportunities and events which will bring nations and different cultures closer together.

Its founding trustees are Dr Tabone, Amabile Zammit - who are both involved in a company called Renaissance Productions Ltd - as well as conductor Alan Chircop and musicologist Hans-Jürgen Nagel.

Its Website is www.rcfmalta.com