Gaulitanus Choir ushered in 2014 with the second edition of its concert A New Year’s Toast on January 1 at the Gozo ministry hall in Victoria.
The concert kicked off with four Christmas songs by Don Besig entitled Emmanuel, Born Tonight in Bethlehem, Lullaby to the Christ Child and Sing with Joy! Glory Hallelujah! The choir was here also joined by violinist David Lang.
Young violinist Pierre Louis Attard presented two instrumental interludes: Beethoven’s Allegro con brio (1st movement) from the Violin Sonata No. 1 in D major Op. 12 No.1, accompanied on the piano by his father Colin Attard, and Johannes Brahms’s Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor Op. 108 – Adagio (2nd movement).
The choir then performed three rhythmic numbers: Charles Rosen’s Christmas Gloria, David Willcocks’s A Birthday Carol and Alleluia! Gloria! from the musical Jesus of Nazareth by Vann Trapp and Tom Fettke.
The audience was then offered a drink to toast the New Year and invited to practise some verses for the concluding Napolitana! – New Year’s Medley.
This included several ever-popular Neapolitan songs, namely Ciribiribin, Vieni sul mar, La Spagnola, Io te vurria vasa, O Mari, Serenata, Tango delle capinere, Non ti scordar di me, Santa Lucia, Torna a Surriento and Funiculì funiculà.
Arranged by choir conductor and artistic director Colin Attard and pianist Stephen Attard, it featured the choir, guest soprano Georgina Gauci and the choir’s own soloists, mezzo-soprano Francesca Sciberras and tenor Terry Shaw, backed by an instrumental ensemble.
The medley was very well received by the audience, which filled the venue to capacity, and the conductor consented to an encore.