Great concert by King’s Own Band

Recently, the King’s Own Band gave a concert of sacred music at the Basilica of Our Lady of Porto Salvo, otherwise known as St Dominic’s church, in Valletta, in honour of the miraculous Crucifix held in the same church as well as to mark the centenary of the ordination of the Dominican Bishop, Mgr Angelo Portelli.

In this concert the King’s Own Band continued its long-standing tradition of excellence- Joe Borg, Valletta

The concert was under the patronage of the President of Malta and the guest of honour was Archbishop Emeritus Joseph Mercieca.

The band was conducted by John Galea and was accompanied by the Chorus Urbanus. Both the band and choir gave a remarkably polished performance.

The programme opened with Faure’s Pavane, where delicate instruments such as the flute, oboe and clarinet really stood out.

In the Te Deum from the first Act of Puccini’s Tosca, the band and the choir gave an excellent interpretation which was heartily applauded by the audience.

Soprano Yvonne Galea and the choir’s male section then performed La Vergine degli Angeli, a gem of a melodic prayer from Verdi’s La Forza del Destino. The next item on the programme was the Russian Easter overture by Rimsky-Korsakov, based on liturgical melodies of the Russian Orthodox Church. This overture is renowned for the difficult technique and complex interpretation it requires not only from the band as a whole, but also from particular sections, making great demands on the musicians and the choristers. This was indeed an excellent performance.

In the interval, Dominican Provincial Paul Gatt made some profound reflections about the miraculous Crucifix and outlined the life of Bishop Portelli.

His speech was followed by Jesus Christ You Are My Life by Frisina, which has a strong melody and which has been adopted as the anthem for World Youth Day.

In the excerpt from the oratorio Il-Qalb ta’ Ġesù, composed by Dr Galea himself, the choir and the band responded admirably to his direction.

The soloists were mezzo-soprano Antonella Mercieca, tenor Charles Vincenti and baritone Noel Galea. The concert ended with the Omaggio alla King’s Own of Francesco Gobet and the national anthem.

In this concert the King’s Own Band continued its long-standing tradition of excellence. The hard work done by its conductor, band leader Paul Busuttil and the rest of the bandsmen, the Chorus Urbanus and the hard-working committee of the King’s Own Band Club, contributed to the great success of this concert.