Concert
Magnificat and other works
Die Kölner Akademie
Dir. Michael Alexander Willens
St Paul’s Anglican pro-Cathedral
The goodies kept coming along as the festival proceeded into its second week. The tercentenary of the birth of Gerolamo Abos saw some of his music included in two of the festival concerts, with a third and final one entirely dedicated to his works. All three of them have been edited by Frederick Aquilina, who also provided the excellent programme notes.
Music like this, by a fellow Maltese long forgotten except by a few experts, makes one feel proud of him. His comparatively brief life saw him rubbing shoulders with some of Europe’s biggest names in music, mainly in Italy and in the UK. Malta lost his presence forever when he left in his teens never to return. After his ‘rediscovery’ by zealous researchers and musicologists some decades ago, Malta can glorify in his music and it was very fitting that Abos should be remembered this year, and one hopes not only this year.
Once they get to know Abos’s music, seasoned, well-known musicians, singers and directors never cease lauding it, expressing delight at learning about it and making little secret of their joy interpreting it.
It is beautiful, melodic, well-wrought and elegant, and such enthusiasm and verve was very discernible in Die Kölner Akademie’s approach to this music and to its full projection.
That goes for director and performers who started this evening with the laudatory and joyous, five-movement Magnificat. The SATB (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) chorus gave some indication that in some of the isolated bars, in which there is an opportunity to acquaint one with individual vocal qualities, lay a promise of great treats in store in later works. The admirable thing was that as a chorus all voices were as cohesive as desired.
In the [canticle of Zacharias] Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel, joy prevailed from the start. There was a lovely duet Et erexit cornu salutis nobis between soprano Maillys de Villoutrey and alto Myriam Arbouz. The soprano had another lovely contribution to make in the solo aria Ut sine timore in a very expressive interpret-ation full of hope.
Mauro Borgioni has one of the finest bass voices I have heard in a long time. His fine solo Salutem ex inimicis nostris also had an individual touch Abos put to it in the interaction between bassoon, an oboe and the bass. Myriam Arbouz had her solo in Et tu puer while soprano de Villoutrey embellished no end the Gloria Patri.
As its name implies, the Messa a due cori is scored for a double choir (SSATB – soprano, soprano, alto, tenor, bass) and two orchestral ensembles. As expected there was a continuous interaction between these forces with the music in an equally-continuous flow.
Consisting only of a Kyrie and a very extended Gloria, yes indeed there were several glorious moments in that Gloria. Such was the trio between soprano, alto and bass, the lovely voice of de Villeoutrey in several solos beginning with Laudamus te and continuing later with Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris and Quoniam tu solus sanctus. It was to end in a truly splendid manner.