Victoria International Arts Festival starts today

Maestro Joseph Vella

Thirty-three concerts and events will be performed over a five-week period of uninterrupted cultural and artistic activity at the Victoria International Arts Festival, which kicks off today.

An added bonus this year is a five-day run of rare baroque music from all over Europe. These five concerts will mostly be performed on period instruments, including baroque guitar, flutes and violin, viola da gamba, theorbo and harpsichord.

A series of master classes will also be offered to students.

The festival opens with a concert featuring the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Joseph Vella, the festival’s artistic director. Violin virtuoso Dejan Bogdanovich will interpret one of the Romantic period’s best-loved and most difficult concertos, namely, Tchaikovsky’s Concerto in D Major for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 35. Other pieces to be performed during the evening include works by Rossini, Isouard and Grieg.

The concert is being held at St George’s Basilica at 8pm.

All festival events are fee.

For more details about the festival, visit www.viaf.org.mt.