Updated: Classics under the stars

Tickets for the the end of season concert of the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, being held open air concert at the Girgenti Palace gardens, limits of Siġġiewi, on Tuesday, have been sold out.

The concert, under the patronage of the Prime Minister and Mrs Lawrence Gonzi, is another in the series launched by the orchestra in its quest to reach and go to the community. This strategy has already seen the orchestra taking part in a week-long programme intended for school children last April and three concerts of sacred music at Qawra, Senglea and Birkirkara parishes last month.

This concert is a family-oriented activity in which children and adults alike will have a unique educational and recreational experience.

The choice of music reflects this philosophy and includes some of the all-time favourites from the classical repertoire.

The orchestra, under the direction of Michael Laus, will be enthralling its audiences with the galloping rhythms of Suppé’s Light Cavalry (Overture), Brahms’s gypsy-flavoured Hungarian Dances, the ever-popular themes from Bizet’s most famous opera Carmen and Rossini’s witty overture to La Gazza Ladra.

During this concert the orchestra will be teaming up with the band of the Armed Forces of Malta (Bandmaster: Captain John Ivan Borg) in Shostakovitch’s exuberant Festival Overture, Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance March No 1 and Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture with its famous gran finale of echoing cannon shots and pealing church bells.

“Classics under the Stars” starts at 8.30 p.m.