As part of this year’s Notte Bianca, the Manoel Theatre staged a one-act opera double-bill; Salieri’s Prima la Musica e Poi le Parole and Mozart’s Der Schauspieldirektor.

These two works first saw the light of day in the Orangerie at Vienna’s Schönbrunn in 1786 when they were performed by two different opera companies. Meant as a test as to see whose work was the better one, the laurels went to Salieri. The result may have been loaded in Salieri’s favour, who used Casti’s manifestly superior libretto and who had more influence at Court anyway.

Yet, time proved to be in favour of Mozart, whose treatment of Stephanie’s libretto was to create sparkling music which makes Salieri’s pale into comparative insignificance, despite the latter’s well-crafted music. The excellent over-ture to Mozart’s one-act bubbles with life and excitement, while Salieri’s work gradually became outdated, too mannered.

Salieri’s work was put on first. The opera was put up under the artistic and musical direction of Ian Peter Bugeja – this production by ColorAtura Ensemble, which he founded, was first put on in Wales earlier this year.

Bugeja conducted the chamber orchestra (leader Maria Conrad) from the harpsichord and had both works at his fingertips, freely adapting Geoffrey Dunn’s abridged English dialogue of the Mozart score. He also wrote the brief sketches introducing each opera in which Mozart (David Chircop) and Salieri (André Agius) act out exchanges written and adapted freely from Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus.

This proved to be a delightful evening, except for the stifling humidity plaguing our islands these days. Yes of course there were some pretty good moments in Prima la Musica, with the stock situation of librettist (baritone Ken Scicluna as the Poeta) and the Maestro ( baritone Ivan Vella) having to solve their problems; also with the two outrageously self-important sopranos, Eleonora (Claudia Tabone) and Tonina (Clare Lloyd). Singers and orchestra were balanced whether in solos or in vocal ensembles.

Both sopranos sang and acted excellently. Having heard Tabone perform on other occasions, though rather long ago, I could feel that she has made great progress. While dealing smoothly with high coloratura passages she has also well-developed and strong middle and lower registers. She has a confident stage presence and nature has also endowed her with the added asset of great comeliness.

Scicluna could have relaxed a bit more, although one has to take into consideration the harassed nature of his role. The Maestro is perhaps even more harassed and Vella was very convincing in winning commiseration, singing in a well-rounded and quite rich mellow voice, marred a bit by a slight lisp here and there.

There were more scheming prime donne in Der Schauspieldirektor. Their demands echo those of the sopranos in the previous work, but in the Mozart score they come closer to exchanging blows with the harassed impresario who is trying to come up with a solution. The bitchy exchanges between the women were hilarious but never overdone.

Both sopranos, Clare Lloyd as Madame Herz and Sarah Reddin as Mademoiselle Silberklang, were in very good form and their antics reminded me of a similar situation in Donizetti’s Viva la Mamma! Joseph Zammit made an all-round convincing Monsieur Vogelsang. Young as he is, he is already a seasoned actor and one hopes to see and hear more of him in opera.