St Paul’s Anglican Cathedral resounded to the tone of a 300-year-old Stradivari violin. Built in 1715 and named ‘ex Bazzini-De Vito’ after two of the owners of this instrument, it is one of 60 playable instruments produced by the master luthier Antonino Stradivari.
The programme consisted of works by the Argentinean composer Astor Piazzolla performed by Matteo Fedeli, the only person to perform on 25 of the playable Antonino Stradivari violins, who was at the start of a European and American tour.
The charismatic Fedeli was accompanied by the Accademia Concertantre d’Archi di Milano, under the direction of Mauro Ivano Benaglia.
Each of the pieces performed was given a brief introduction by Fedeli. Unfortunately, due to a lack of microphone, which I understand was due to a malfunction, his explanations were barely audible at the rear of the church.
The first works performed were Piazzolla’s El Cuatro Estaciones Porteña (The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires).
Inspired by Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, Piazzolla wrote this composition to honour his beloved city of Buenos Aires.
The four movements are entitled Verano Porteño (Summer), Otoño Porteño (Autumn), Invierno Porteño (Winter) and Primavera Porteña (Spring). Piazzolla wrote them between 1960 and 1970. Summer, the first movement composed, was written in a single night as music for a film.
Fedeli brought the title of the programme to reality by strolling through the audience to enable everyone to experience a close up view
The four movements were composed to either be performed together or as separate pieces. Piazzolla himself often played individual ones in concerts.
Each movement can, therefore, be considered as a separate work. Yet, when played all together they comprise a beautifully-balanced whole. Piazzolla did not specify the order in which they are to be played. For this concert Fedeli played Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn.
Vivaldi’s Four Seasons makes strong connections between the title of a movement and its mood. As a prelude to the performance of each piece Fedeli illustrated the connection with themes from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and how Piazzolla used these in a modified form.
In Piazzolla’s work, connections between the names of the movements and the music contained in them are remote, but this scarcely detracts from their beauty if they are approached simply as four movements that happen to be named after the four seasons.
In three of the movements, Piazzolla makes marked contrasts between strongly rhythmical passages and more lyrical interludes. Winter follows a different pattern. It begins with a sad melody that is calm but has an underlying tension.
This gives way to the central section in which the tango idea is prominent and the opening idea then returns at the end.
Fedeli and the orchestra were then joined by the Coro da Camera dell’ Accademia Concertantre d’Archi di Milano in a beautiful setting of Piazzolla’s Ave Maria arranged for violin, orchestra piano and choir.
The choir also performed Introduccion a l’Àngel and La Muert del Àngel from Piazolla’s tango cycle El àngel.
The final work on the programme was Adiós Non-ino (Farewell, Nonino ), a composition written in October 1959 while Piazzolla was in New York in memory of his father, Vicente ‘Nonino’ Piazzolla, a few days after his father’s death. This work was again arranged for violin, orchestra, piano and choir.
Following a rapturous ovation Fedeli brought the title of the programme, A Stradivarius Among Us, to reality as he performed the enigmatic Oblivion by Piazzolla by strolling through the audience to enable everyone to experience a close up view and to hear the beautiful tone of the violin.
Maestro Fedeli was closely shadowed by the ubiquitous security guard. Performing on an irreplaceable 300-year-old instrument valued at over $10m among so many people poses many security problems, only I do not think that there were many worries with the benign and appreciative audience!
As a final encore, Fedeli played an exhilarating arrangement of Rimsky Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumblebee to bring this unique experience to a conclusion.
The concert, held under the patronage of President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, was given to mark the completion of the installation and commission-ing of three linear accelerators for the Sir Anthony Mamo Oncology Hospital.
The performance was possible through the sponsorship of Electra S.p.A and Technoline Ltd. and managed by TAC theatre. The proceeds of the concert are to go to cancer charities in Malta.