MPO’s baroque and community concerts

The Malta Philharmonic Orchestra will be presenting an evening of baroque music at Sala Isouard, Manoel Theatre, Valletta, on Thursday.

It will also present a concert ‘away from home’ in St Julian’s on March 7.

During the Sala Isouard concert, the orchestra will be conducted by Michael Laus, who will also be playing the harpsichord.

The programme brings together different national musical traditions. Malta is represented by Michel’Ange Vella, an 18th century cleric, organist and composer who studied at the Conservatorio della Pieta’ dei Turchini in Naples, which was then at the forefront of European music. His Sonata No. 3 in A Major combines traditional contrapuntal writing with the leaner style developed at the time.

Written in 1673 and scored for violin, strings and basso continuo, Heinrich Ignaz von Biber’s Battalia is an early example of ‘descriptive’ music.

Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s Concert pour quatre parties de violes H545 dates from a few years later and consists of a suite of five movements for strings.

Laus will be the soloist in Bach’s Concerto in D Major for Harpsichord and Strings BWV 1054. In three movements, the concerto presents a poignant, slow movement flanked by two exuberant ones. This format is the same as the format in Vivaldi’s many concertos, of which the orchestra will perform the Concerto for Strings in D Major, RV 121.

During the concert in the auditorium of the Convent of the Sacred Heart in St Julian’s, the orchestra will be playing popular works by leading composers, such as Brahms, Charpentier, Rodrigo and De Falla, as well as well-known extracts from classic film scores including Rota’s The Godfather theme.

Conducted by Christopher Muscat, the programme will also feature the Maltesina by Carmelo Pace, who lived for many years in the area.

To book €10 tickets for the Sala Isouard concert call 2124 6389 or e-mail bookings@teatrumanoel.com.mt. The St Julian’s concert is free. Both concerts start at 7.30 p.m.