For a number of months, Barocco Cultural Events has been presenting weekly lunchtime recitals at the beautiful small baroque Franciscan oratory in Republic Street, Valletta.
This is a warm, intimate space ideal for recitals and concerts featuring small ensembles, or a singer accompanied by a pianist. One such recital I went to recently was added proof of how much musical talent we have in this country, out of proportion to the size of our mini-state.
It featured a complete newcomer, young soprano Arienne Gaerty, accompanied by the very accomplished and experienced pianist Ramona Zammit Formosa.
Gaerty studies with soprano Miriam Cauchi. She is a singer with a fine presence and a sobriety of mien. Her face especially, glows and radiates with expressiveness because she interprets the lyrics so convincingly and clearly.
She began with Tosti’s Ave Maria, a work completely new to me as the usual Tosti one hears in recital are of a romantic and often sentimental nature.
The soprano’s voice has a very pleasant and warm timbre and this served her very well in this rare Tosti sacred work.
Her transition to the baroque idiom was a smooth one and her well-phrased rendering of the Domine Deus from Vivaldi’s Gloria in D stood her well, especially in the longish runs which punctuate the piece.
While remaining in style in Bach’s Et Exsultavit from the Magnificat, there was still room for some more punch and polished texture. Gaerty then sang Mozart’s Laudate Dominum to great satisfaction. It came in a smooth, lovely flow and was very warmly received by the audience packing the oratory.
There was a brief solo piano interlude when Zammit Formosa performed the bubbly and crisp one-movement Sonata in B flat by Cimarosa. Immediately after this she continued with her warmly supportive accompaniment of the soprano, who returned with more Mozart with Porgi Amor from Le Nozze di Figaro.
Only a point or two were not well-defined, otherwise this was a truly poignant rendering. In Selva Opaca from Rossini’s Guglielmo Tell, the soprano’s strong middle and lower reaches stood her well. She just needs to work more on singing the high, well-pitched notes with more polish. Changing style and idiom I found her Morgen as a very pleasantly convincing interpretation of this Richard Strauss jewel.
Her top notes in the concluding Zueignung, also by Strauss were much more polished than in the Rossini. Not only that, she sang it even better when she encored it at the insistence of the audience.