Less well-known works by famous composers
Mozart's The Magic Flute is on the bill
Two unusual works never performed in Malta and a well-known opera by Mozart will be staged during this year's Bank of Valletta Opera Festival, which kicks off at the Manoel Theatre on Wednesday.
Riders To The Sea, by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958), is a mature one-act work completed in 1927 but not premiered until 1937 in London. Set on the west coast of Ireland, it is an almost word-for-word setting of John Millington Synge's play.
Considered by many as Vaughan Williams' operatic masterpiece, this work has been generally and surprisingly left by the wayside, enough to say that the full orchestral score was not published until 1973.
Riders To The Sea will be performed on Wednesday and Thursday. Vaughan Williams' cycle of songs - Songs Of Travel - will precede each performance.
Darius Milhaud's three-act Le Pauvre Matelot (The Poor Sailor), to a libretto by Jean Cocteau, is, like Riders To The Sea, a tragic work, based on a true story that is stranger than fiction. Milhaud (1892-1974) deliberately set it to light and rather banal music, something which has its own surreal way of projecting its sinister message.
Performances of Le Pauvre Matelot will be held on Friday and on March 23.
Besides their common tragic tales, the two operas also have the sea as the element which is at the root of the trouble or, rather, what happens at sea affects the lives of the protagonists who seem to be helpless when confronting the twists and turns of events.
The two operas will be presented by Arcal, Compagnie Nationale de Theatre Lyrique et Musical. Founded in 1983, Arcal's aim is to support talented young singers and composers and devoting energy to produce less well-known works by well-known composers.
The artistic director of both operas is Christian Gangneron and the music director of Riders To The Sea is Emmanuel Olivier. There is a 12-strong female chorus and the cast consists of Jacqueline Mayeur (mezzo-soprano), Patrick Verdelet (baritone) and sopranos Elsa Lévy and Sevan Manoukian.
The cast in Le Pauvre Matelot consists of tenor Jean Delescluse, soprano Claudine Le Coz, bass Jacques Bona and baritone Jean-Baptiste Dumora.
The Manoel Theatre is offering a 25 per cent discount on the second ticket purchased for Riders To The Sea.
The third opera being produced is The Magic Flute on March 24 and 25.
Bookings can be made via bookings@teatrumanoel.com.mt or by phone on 2124 6389.
All performances start at 8 p.m.
http://www.teatrumanoel.com.mt