Lunchtime concerts at St Paul’s Cathedral

A new series of lunchtime concerts has been launched at the Anglican pro-Cathedral of St Paul in Valletta. The concerts are held on Thursday at 1 p.m.

The tempestuous energy with which Maggio tackled the work’s outer sections never lacked clarity- Albert Storace

The latest in the series featured Czech cellist Lucie Kucherova, also a member of the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra. Italian pianist and composer Robert Maggio accompanied the cellist, and later the cellist and baritone KennethScicluna in one of Maggio’s own works.

The recital began with Maggio in a very fine performance of Chopin’s Scherzo N. 1, in B minor, Op.20.

The tempestuous energy with which he tackled the work’s outer sections never lacked clarity and was in ideal contrast to the scherzo’s very poetic andso quintessentially romantic central section.

The pianist’s fine rapport with the cellist resulted in an excellent rendition of three works from the latter’s own native country.

These began with two works by Josef Suk, the first of them being the Ballade in D minor, Op. 3, N.1, in which the cello projected to the full the work’s reflective moments and continued exploiting its wide range of feeling in its more passionate yet well-controlled sections.

The tone was smooth and articulate phrasing was the order of the day. In the second work, the Serenade in A minor, Op. 3 N.2, both performers gave more free rein to its rather moreenergetic nature.

The Czech pieces remained in the family so to say because the third work was Suk’s father-in-law’s Dvorják’s Klid, better known as Silent Woods, taken from Ze Šumavy (BohemianForest), Op.68.

Dvorják’s passionate love of his country and the beauty of its landscape is very well-known and runs like a thread in many of his works. This is no exception and here the passion is couched in rather serene terms yet still bursting with warmth and feeling, none of which lacked in this delightful interpretation.

Concluding, the duo, joined by Scicluna performed the premiere of Berceuse, an interesting work which Christian Maggi wrote for cellist and singer, with his own self accompanying them. The work is based on a poem of the same name by Hermann Hesse.

The baritone sings in German pretty clearly in this combination of lullaby and song of yearning for the beloved. The voice was at its best in the middle and lower registers.

At a certain point it is scored rather high but the voice warmed up nicely after a shaky beginning, the interpretation was convincing and the music faded out very nicely.