Festival al fresco... well almost
A quick glance through the programme for this year's Malta Arts Festival - Summer 2007 shows a very eclectic mix of events. It is clear that the emphasis is very much on quality and diversity... and a good thing too. There is plenty of music...
A quick glance through the programme for this year's Malta Arts Festival - Summer 2007 shows a very eclectic mix of events. It is clear that the emphasis is very much on quality and diversity... and a good thing too. There is plenty of music... classical, jazz, folk and Egyptian as well as Reuben Zahra with his Silk Road Suite, which constitutes modern Maltese and French music played by Italian musicians.
Most of the events will take place in the open air, primarily in the amphitheatre created in the ruins of the Royal Opera House, also in the courtyards of Castille, the Palace in Valletta, the Auberge d'Italie, Great Siege Square and the Upper and Lower Barakka. The internal areas to be used include the Mediterranean Conference Centre, the MITP Theatre and various spaces within the St James Centre For Creativity.
Musical highlights during the July sector of the festival will be two concerts by the US Sixth Fleet Combo Band on July 26. The first in Great Siege Square, Valletta at 11 a.m, the second, playing the music of John Philip Souza and Glenn Miller, will be at 10.30 p.m in the Lower Barakka on the same day. The Orchestra Goes Pop with Vodafone concerts, that were such a hit in last year's festival, will this time move inside the Mediterranean Conference Centre and take place at 9 p.m on July 28 and 29. The National Orchestra will be under the baton of Mro Sigmund Mifsud and among the guest artistes will be Chasing Pandora. The very talented Cosmos Wind Ensemble will bring classical music to the Palace courtyard at 9 p.m. on July 29. Then for something entirely different it will be fascinating to check out an evening of Egyptian music composed by the late Sayed Darwish, again in the Palace courtyard on August 2.
Theatre is strongly represented with Chris Gatt's production for the MADC of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. This will play in the Royal Opera House ruins on July 25, 27, 28 and 29, every evening at 9 p.m. Theatre of a very different kind will take place every day in the streets of Valletta, when the 20 or so clowns of Projeto Rodamundo & Teatro Brucaliffo entertain shoppers and visitors to our capital city. The clowns are from Brazil and Italy. Teatro Brucaliffo will also be performing a piece called Carto(o)ns in the Royal Opera House ruins at 8.30 p.m. on July 31. Another theatre attraction from Italy will be comedia del arte performances of Pulcinella by Teatro Proskenion. They will perform on July 26 and 27 at 9 p.m. in the Lower Barakka. On the latter day their performance will precede the concert of the US Sixth Fleet Combo. The Icarus Project (Malta) will perform Risk: El Riesgo da la Reina at the MITP Theatre, in Valletta, on July 31 and August 1, both at 9 p.m.
The visual arts are well served this year with an important exhibition curated by Dr Keith Sciberras, to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Caravaggio's duration in Malta. The exhibition entitled Quoting Caravaggio will include work by five prominent Maltese artists Vince Briffa, Giuseppi Schembri Bonaci, Caesar Attard, Anton Calleja and Gabriel Caruana. It will be on view at various indoor and outdoor spaces including the Upper Barakka.
Dance has a particularly strong representation with Francesca Grima dancing Puerto Flamenco in the Palace Courtyard. The dancers will include the brilliant Spanish male dancer Jesus Herrera. Performances will be on July 27 and 28 at 9 p.m.
The film sector of this year's Malta Arts Festival will mainly be concentrated in August and we'll discuss it in the August issue of Showtime. However, there is a degree of cinema in the early part of the festival. From August 1 to 4 at St James, the festival will present a series of short films, animations and drawings under the umbrella title Blu.
So, from clowns to combos, this year's Malta Arts Festival really does try to provide something for everyone. Let's hope the promised refurbishment of the Royal Opera House ruins includes amending the seating facilities to something a little more comfortable than the previous sardine arrangement that assumed all audiences were composed entirely of anorexic midgets. More legroom please.
• Tickets for all festival events are on sale from maltaticket.com, Agenda Bookshops, Exotique and News Kiosk.
Most of the events will take place in the open air, primarily in the amphitheatre created in the ruins of the Royal Opera House, also in the courtyards of Castille, the Palace in Valletta, the Auberge d'Italie, Great Siege Square and the Upper and Lower Barakka. The internal areas to be used include the Mediterranean Conference Centre, the MITP Theatre and various spaces within the St James Centre For Creativity.
Musical highlights during the July sector of the festival will be two concerts by the US Sixth Fleet Combo Band on July 26. The first in Great Siege Square, Valletta at 11 a.m, the second, playing the music of John Philip Souza and Glenn Miller, will be at 10.30 p.m in the Lower Barakka on the same day. The Orchestra Goes Pop with Vodafone concerts, that were such a hit in last year's festival, will this time move inside the Mediterranean Conference Centre and take place at 9 p.m on July 28 and 29. The National Orchestra will be under the baton of Mro Sigmund Mifsud and among the guest artistes will be Chasing Pandora. The very talented Cosmos Wind Ensemble will bring classical music to the Palace courtyard at 9 p.m. on July 29. Then for something entirely different it will be fascinating to check out an evening of Egyptian music composed by the late Sayed Darwish, again in the Palace courtyard on August 2.
Theatre is strongly represented with Chris Gatt's production for the MADC of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. This will play in the Royal Opera House ruins on July 25, 27, 28 and 29, every evening at 9 p.m. Theatre of a very different kind will take place every day in the streets of Valletta, when the 20 or so clowns of Projeto Rodamundo & Teatro Brucaliffo entertain shoppers and visitors to our capital city. The clowns are from Brazil and Italy. Teatro Brucaliffo will also be performing a piece called Carto(o)ns in the Royal Opera House ruins at 8.30 p.m. on July 31. Another theatre attraction from Italy will be comedia del arte performances of Pulcinella by Teatro Proskenion. They will perform on July 26 and 27 at 9 p.m. in the Lower Barakka. On the latter day their performance will precede the concert of the US Sixth Fleet Combo. The Icarus Project (Malta) will perform Risk: El Riesgo da la Reina at the MITP Theatre, in Valletta, on July 31 and August 1, both at 9 p.m.
The visual arts are well served this year with an important exhibition curated by Dr Keith Sciberras, to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Caravaggio's duration in Malta. The exhibition entitled Quoting Caravaggio will include work by five prominent Maltese artists Vince Briffa, Giuseppi Schembri Bonaci, Caesar Attard, Anton Calleja and Gabriel Caruana. It will be on view at various indoor and outdoor spaces including the Upper Barakka.
Dance has a particularly strong representation with Francesca Grima dancing Puerto Flamenco in the Palace Courtyard. The dancers will include the brilliant Spanish male dancer Jesus Herrera. Performances will be on July 27 and 28 at 9 p.m.
The film sector of this year's Malta Arts Festival will mainly be concentrated in August and we'll discuss it in the August issue of Showtime. However, there is a degree of cinema in the early part of the festival. From August 1 to 4 at St James, the festival will present a series of short films, animations and drawings under the umbrella title Blu.
So, from clowns to combos, this year's Malta Arts Festival really does try to provide something for everyone. Let's hope the promised refurbishment of the Royal Opera House ruins includes amending the seating facilities to something a little more comfortable than the previous sardine arrangement that assumed all audiences were composed entirely of anorexic midgets. More legroom please.
• Tickets for all festival events are on sale from maltaticket.com, Agenda Bookshops, Exotique and News Kiosk.