As the title to this piece paraphrases Keat’s 19th century poem, so too does it the Manoel Theatre’s autumn season.

It looks, on paper, like a thoroughly enjoyable feast of music and theatre. The bill of fare of each new Manoel Theatre season is greeted with a mix of both anticipation and also, let’s admit it, a few moans.

Not enough baroque music? Why can’t we have more Maltese or English language plays? Why are some of the operas selected for the BoV Opera Festival so obscure?

Let’s face it, you can never please everybody. Suffice it to say that between October and May of the coming year, the Manoel Theatre is one of the busiest theatres in Europe. And the 2010 -2011 season is no exception.

The autumn season starts with the opening concert. However, this year, the Manoel Theatre’s musical director Brian Schembri has really pushed the boat out and engaged not one, but two big name soloists.

The theatre will be welcoming, from the world-famous Bolshoi theatre in Moscow, principal tenor Oleg Kulko and distinguished soprano Elena Evseeva. They will be accompanied by the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of Mro Schembri. The programme for the evening will comprise popular works by Tchaikovsky and Puccini.

Another perennial grumble concerns the music programme. There are those who feel a baroque theatre like the Manoel should concentrate on presenting only classical music concerts and recitals.

But there is another school of thought that would like to see the theatre host a more eclectic mix of musical genres. The upcoming season’s music programme should go some way towards satisfying the latter sector.

Between the season’s opening and the end of December, there will not only be the usual classical concerts, but also jazz, blues, rock with the annual Teatru Unplugged weekend, plus superstar guitarists Peter Green and David Knopfler.

To kick it all off, on October 5 the Manoel Theatre will be hosting a jazz concert by the Festen Jazz Quartet, which will feature former Beangrowers vocalist Alison Galea.

Green will be the star name in the first Malta Blues Festival. This will take place on October 9 and 10. The organisers intend to make this festival an annual event and are already lining up another stellar headliner for next year’s version.

Knopfler, former member of supergroup Dire Straits, will also appear live this autumn. He will be performing between December 10 and 12 – and this will certainly be one of the season’s premier events.

Teatru Unplugged will take over the theatre between December 3 and 5 – and it’s fair to say that since its inception in 1998, this has now become the number one box office event in the Manoel Theatre’s season, with its mix of jazz, pop and blues, all played live.

The annual band club concert, organised by Għaqda Każini tal-Baned, will feature the St Julian’s Band and will take place on November 7.

Returning to classical music, the autumn season sees a number of very attractive concerts. On November 5, the MPO will be centre-stage for a concert to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of both Polish composer Frederick Chopin and his German counterpart Robert Schumann.

The piano soloist will be one of our most accomplished young pianists, Charlene Farrugia, and the orchestra will be under the direction of guest conductor Jean Marc Burfin.

Then on December 9 the MPO, under its musical director Michael Laus, will present an evening of Nordic music.

Two days prior to this, on December 7, Fiesole Artistic Productions and the Italian Cultural Institute will be responsible for an evening of Italian romantic music in Omaggio al Bel Canto. This will feature soprano Tiziana Scaciga Della Silva, tenor Andrea Bragiotto, baritone Gabriele Nani, plus cantattore comico Walter Rubboli. The musical director will be Deborah Mori.

For the past five years, the Manoel Theatre has held a number of events aimed specifically at a young audience. After all, the children of today will be the adult audiences of the future.

This season is no exception and the first child-orientated event will take place on October 2 and 3. The Manoel will present a magical spectacular entitled Magic in Cartoonland. This will comprise exactly what it promises ‘on the tin’ – an evening of magic tied to a number of TV and film cartoon characters.

The second event targeting children brings the famous Purves Puppets to the theatre. This company of talented puppeteers, under the direction of founder Barry Purves, hails from Scotland, and appropriately enough, they will be presenting a puppet show entitled Nessie – the Loch Ness Monster on November 2 and 3.

The BoV Opera Festival is being spread throughout the season and audiences will have three dates featuring different opera productions.

The first will be a double bill on November 18 and 20. The two works to be staged will be by Benjamin Britten, The Little Sweep and Noah’s Flood. The operas are being presented by Drama Troupe and will feature a cast of mostly young singers.

Drama is very well-served during the first three months of the season. It opens with the first half of a mini Alan Bennett season. Between October 15 and 17 Masquerade will present Alan Bennett’s enormous West End hit play and film, The History Boys.

Set in a boys’ school, the play will be directed by one of the UK’s leading directors, Andy Smith, and the cast includes Malcolm Galea, Nanette Brimmer and Colin Willis.

The Manoel Theatre will present the second Bennett play, the very funny Talking Heads, between November 12 and 14. This was originally presented as a TV series in the UK to universal acclaim. It featured such luminaries as Maggie Smith, David Haig, Julie Walters and the late Thora Hird. The local cast includes Isabel Attard, Sue Scantlebury, Rob Ricards and Polly March, who also directs.

Halloween (October 30 and 31) will see a joint production between the Manoel and the MADC. In keeping with the time of year, they are staging a murder mystery called Death of a Doornail by Lee Mueller.

Maleth’s first production of the season takes place between November 26 and 28. They will be producing one of American playwright David Mamet’s finest plays Speed the Plow. This brilliant play takes a jaundiced look at the film business.

The final production in 2010 will, of course, be the Christmas panto. This year it will be probably the most magical of all pantos – Cinderella – and it is in the hands of FM Productions and will star Edward Merceica.

So there is lots to look forward to this autumn at our national theatre, the tricky part will be working out what to miss.