Concert
Cappella Sanctae Catherinae and guests
Dir. Alex Vella Gregory
Carmelite Church and Priory, Mdina

The Cappella Sanctae Catherinae (CSC) came up with something new and very practical. In view of the nature of the works performed, they sang the sacred pieces in church and moved to the courtyard of the priory next door for the profane ones.

There was an added novelty: CSC is a male voice choir but in some works they were joined by three guest sopranos augmenting the male choral element with later on a soprano soloist for the evening’s concluding work.

The bulk of the sacred pieces were in a baroque mould, a style which the CSC relishes and, as usual, made a good job of it. The homogeneous qualities stood out as did the crisply balanced delivery. It followed in Giovanni Animuccia’s Lodate Deo, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina’s exquisite Panis Angelicus and Ludovico da Viadana’s O Sacrum Convivium.

Then, in the rather obscure and little known Jeronimo de Aliseda’s Ave Maria, one could enjoy a different kind of texture as produced with the participation of three sopranos.

It was back to the all-male formation in Hans Leo Hassler’s bouncy, highly rhythmic and joyous Cantate Domino.

The choir sang the sacred pieces in church and moved to the courtyard of the priory next door for the profane ones

Concluding this half of the evening, the versatile and unique choir sang Alex Vella Gregory’s own Salve diva Catherinae which came across in a well-projected hymn of praise in often canon form reminiscent of a pealing carillon of bells.

Moving to the priory courtyard, the male choir launched into an often lusty thanksgiving for food that is Heinrich Schütz’s Aller Augen, with a much improved diction the second time around.

Giovanni Croce’s Mentre la bella Dafne, in which the three sopranos took part, may not, on the surface, seem like an ideal wedding song, but the text has many hidden meanings and, of course, there are different kinds of death... from excess, among others! The males then indulged in a plaintive Lasciatemi morir by Croce, not to be taken literally of course.

They were also on very good form in Jacques Arcadelt’s Il bianco e dolce cigno after which they were joined by the three soprano choristers and solo soprano Elaine Borg in Monteverdi’s Lamento della Ninfa. Here was a smooth adaptation of style and idiom.

Borg’s voice has become richer and mellower than when I heard her last and that was maybe two years ago or even more. Maybe a little bit nervous at first, she settled well into the piece which was mainly a series of exchanges between soloist and choir. As Vella Gregory played at the keyboard, the piece was directed by Albert Buttigieg.

The Schützpiece was encored at the end. The concert was a fundraising event in aid of the restoration of the Mdina Carmelite church’s 18th century organ.