Review: Camilleri's musical biography

I am quite sure that the first year of my life that had some sort of significance was 1963. I was seven years old and events like the death of Pope John XXIII and the assassination of President Kennedy were, for reasons that were entirely different but emotionally similar, engraved on my subconscious.

It was 1963 when a young Charles Camilleri composed his Andante Religioso which for reasons that possibly only Camilleri could explain was not published till 1980. This piece is Malta's riposte to Mahler's Adagietto or Barber's Andante for Strings and although the programme notes said that it marked the death of Dun Karm Psaila, Malta's National Poet in 1961 I remain convinced that the cataclysmic events of 1963 could not have left Charles Camilleri unmoved.

I regard this wonderfully soulful piece as pivotal in the composer's development and it was beautifully placed in last Tuesday's Manoel Theatre concert by the MPO under Michael Laus's baton.

The Charles Camilleri Memorial Concert consisted of a selection of his more popular works starting with the iconic Malta Suite, the Mediterranean Concerto (no 1), three arias for soprano from the opera The Maltese Cross and the Biblical Dances. The orchestra was in fine fettle and while the nuances and dynamics so essential to Camilleri's music which is full of orchestral colour were there I could not help feeling a lack of enthusiasm in the overall performance that left me unsatisfied.

Coming hot on the heels of the Rotterdam Ensemble whose every utterance is an emotional adventure, I will not forget that Miraculous (in every way) Mandarin in a hurry, the Malta Philharmonic was relatively lacklustre in its approach and must take the art of ‘performance' more seriously.

The highlight of the evening was undoubtedly the performance of the piano concerto by Caroline Calleja whose impressive grasp of the chordal colourations and delicate filigree-like passages was astounding and full of expression. Dating back to 1941 and revised in 1978 the concerto is a very interesting period piece that was inspired by the composer's first experience of the Proms with the BBC Symphony Orchestra directed by the legendary Sir Malcolm Sargent. Who knows what Camilleri had listened to however I suspect that it must have been the Rachmaninov 3^rd Concerto or something very like it to influence a creative outpouring that is the Mediterranean Concerto. Camilleri pays tribute to this ‘wine dark' sea that surrounds us; a sea that can be kind and bountiful, grandiose and awe-inspiring but also capricious and cruel.

Furthermore, despite the 1978 revision, it is patently obvious that this is the work of a young man, not because it lacks anything, far from it, but because it is so full of enthusiasm. It is also slightly anachronistic and full of tributes to composers like Rachmaninov and Rodrigo yet it already has Camilleri's individuality stamped all over it. The inclusion of a cadenza towards the end of the first movement convinces me even more that Camilleri must have been influenced by the Rach 3 which is possibly the only 20^th century concerto with a cadenza while the great maestoso orchestral rushes that conclude the final movement interspersed with pianistic chords are directly related to the finales of the Rach 2 and the Tchaikovsky 1.

It is interesting to speculate for again there appears to be a more contemporary influence in the actual language of the concerto as opposed to its setting. .

The Three Arias from the opera ‘The Maltese Cross' were the most recent composition performed last Tuesday by soprano Maria Abela-Manconi. All three arias are pretty lyrical especially when I remember the overall effect of the opera which was not exactly exhilarating even after fifteen years of selective memory.

I loved the Greek Song most of all and I wonder whether Camilleri had been influenced by Greek Orthodox music as was John Tavener. There was a decidedly Byzantine rite echo to this particular aria which was beautifully performed by Abela-Manconi whose voice is very powerful and expressive. I thought that the vibrato could have been less ubiquitous; too much of a good thing and, as was the case fifteen years ago, the scanning of the Peter Serracino Inglott lyrics was not conducive to easy deciphering. Despite their being in English one would have welcomed surtitles.

The Malta Suite was composed in 1946 and remains a firm favourite. Full of orchestral colour the suite epitomises the tradition and sounds of Malta in a very elegant and engaging way. I was last Tuesday especially taken by the gentle way the Waltz was unfolded by Michael Laus and it made me think of Rota's magical film score for Visconti's Il Gattopardo as I could so easily envisage Burt Lancaster and Claudia Cardinale twirling to the Camilleri Waltz in that magical ballroom in Palazzo Gangi-Valguarnera with its three colossal Venetian chandeliers.

A concert like last Tuesday's poses the question as to whether anyone is preparing a biography. There was a very comprehensive synopsis of Camilleri's life and works in the programme but it would be more interesting to know how Camilleri was in London before WW2 and how he composed the Mediterranean Concerto with the Italian Aeronautica spilling bombs all around us!

It would also be interesting to know what the five Biblical Dances were all about especially as they date from the years with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation which the composer himself describes as the most electrifying and exciting in his life. Were they the basis of some film score?

One can feel the influence of the Hollywood giants like Elmer Bernstein, Eric Korngold and Werner Klemperer in Camilleri's early music and yet his voice is always individual and mostly identifiable. Making a grand lady out of the cantilena was and will remain one of Camilleri's greatest achievements for Malta and I believe the best of his output is still to be discovered.