The first edition of the Valletta International Baroque Festival, to be held at the Manoel Theatre in January next year, was officially launched by Culture Minister Mario de Marco and artistic director Kenneth Zammit Tabona this morning.
Mario De Marco explained that Valletta's Manoel Theatre's 18th Century auditorium lends itself beautifully to a celebration of Baroque music as it links also to Valletta's identity. The essence of this international baroque festival, performed by some of the most prestigious international and local exponents in Baroque music, is not only to give Malta the Baroque festival that it deserves, but also to promote and enhance public appreciation towards the baroque culture in general, stated Dr Mario de Marco.
"We are surrounded by the baroque idiom. We breathe it and dream it. "explained the Artistic Director of the Festival, Kenneth Zammit Tabona, who needs no introduction as one of Malta's leading artists, critics and opinion writers. "The aim of this presitgious festival is to give the Maltese and the international public the opportunity to enjoy a high level baroque music within the context of the baroque identity of Valletta," said Mr Zammit Tabona "This will be a first for Malta not only in terms of baroque performances but also because this will be the first time that the Maltese and the international public will be able to enjoy a two-week festival solely of baroque music, theatre and opera."
Mr Zammit Tabona added "Valletta is a city built at the height of the baroque period and therefore we felt that a baroque festival hosted inside one of the oldest and most prestigious baroque theatres in Europe as well as a number of other baroque venues in our capital city would be the best way to host these events. Besides Teatru Manoel, a number of other venues have been identified for this festival such as the President's Palace, St John's Co-Cathedral, the Jesuit Church, the Auberge de Provence and the chapel of Santa Caterina d'Italia amongst others.
"Our plans for the Valletta International Baroque Festival are not only long-term but also ambitious because when it comes to hosting such festivals, if you are not ambitious enough, you can never come close to securing a long-term plan. This is why we have managed to secure some of the best contemporary Baroque exponents of the moment, both from the international sphere as well as locally. We can assure that we have left no stone unturned in securing high calibre performers whose participation will give this festival the international status that it deserves."
The festival will open at the President's Palace, with Vivalidi's QUATTRO STAGIONI performed by internationally acclaimed Maltese violinist CARMINE LAURI and the MALTA PHILARMONIC ORCHESTRA under the baton of its resident conductor MICHAEL LAUS. There will be a further MPO concert at the Teatru Manoel with the partcipation of counter tenor David Hansen.
Another major performing act that has already been confirmed for next year's festival, is David Stern's period instrument orchestra OPERA FUOCO, an ensemble founded in 2003 which is dedicated to the interpretation of operatic repertoire from the beginning of the 18th to the end of the 19th centuries. Opera Fuoco will be performing Johann Christian Bach's ZANAIDA in full baroque costume and staging. Zanaida, an 'opera seria' whose libretto relates the political and sentimental intrigues between Persia and Turkey, is a monumental work which was thought to be lost but was recently rediscovered in a private collection David Stern and Opera Fuoco had the honour of bringing this opera back to life with a 'world premiere' at the June 2011 Bach Fest in Leipzig.
The COMBATTIMENTO CONSORT AMSTERDAM will be another act to look out for as it will be putting up two separate programmes, the PINPINONE DINNER at the Auberge de Provence and a concert inside the Jesuit Church. Founded in 1982 by violinist Jan Willem de Vriend, the Combattimento Consort Amsterdam has developed into a close-knit ensemble specialising in music from 1600-1800 and regularly tours the world with its period repertoire.
CHRISTOPHE ROUSSET, together with his ensemble LES TALENS LYRIQUES will go down as another big feather in the Baroque festival's cap as they will be performing Georg Friederich Händel's TERPSICHORE. Terpsichore was added by Handel in 1734 as a prologue in a bid to revive his opera Il Pastor Fido. This performance will be very interesting due to the interaction of baroque music with dance as we see an amalgamation of a series of solo arias, choral movements and orchestral writing for dance.
THE KING'S CONSORT, considered one of the very top baroque ensembles in the UK and one of Europe's leading period instrument orchestras will be performing a collection of operatic arias sung by Maltese Baroque Soprano Claire Debono in a programme called HANDEL'S HEROES. The King's Consort has toured in five continents and appeared in almost every European country, in Japan, Hong Kong and the Far East, as well as North and South America. With 95 CDs in the catalogue, and more than one and a half million CD sales, The King's Consort is also one of the world's most-recorded historical instrument orchestras. The King's Consort will be conducted by its founder Robert King.
Negotiations are currently underway to secure internationally acclaimed musicians for a stunning performance of BACH CANTATAS inside St. John's co-Cathedral.
The NEW CENTURY BAROQUE ensemble featuring violinist NADIA DEBONO will be performing inside the historic Jesuit Church whereas the Teatru Manoel will also be the stage for a Maltese adaptation of Moliere's DON JUAN directed by Chris Gatt.
More details about the Valletta International Baroque Festival will be announced over the coming months.
www.vallettabaroquefestival.com.mt