French TV station Mezzo will be broadcasting the concert given by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Schola Cantorum of Oxford in St John’s Co-Cathedral, Valletta, as part of the Valletta International Baroque Festival that took place last January.
“The filming and broadcast of this concert will undoubtedly help to highlight Malta’s rich cultural scene and to put the Valletta International Baroque Festival firmly on the international cultural tourist map. Mezzo has now become the international reference for classical music, jazz and dance on television, and is broadcast in 44 countries with a community of 18 million subscribers,” Ray Attard, Manoel Theatre chief executive officer, said.
The concert saw an enthusiastic audience fillingSt John’s Co-Cathedral. Conducted by James Burton, it featured Bach’s Suite No 3 in D Major, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Handel’s Zadok the Priest and Bach’s Magnificat. A surprise encore was Cum Sancto Spiritu from the Messa a Due Cori in D Major (1743) by Maltese composer Benigno Zerafa. The music was edited for performance by Frederick Aquilina.
The filming of the concert was funded by the Government, the Manoel Theatre and St John’s Co-Cathedral Foundation. The concert will be broadcast on Mezzo a total of 100 times over the next five years. Date and times of future screenings will be listed on the Manoel Theatre website.
The initial broadcast dates are June 19 at 8.30pm, June 28 at 9.30am, July 2 at 10.55am and July 6 at 6pm.
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