The church of St Francis of Assisi in Valletta was recently the scene for a concert which featured the Ghislieri Choir and Consort.
Directed by Giulio Prandi, the Ghislieri Choir and Consort is the ensemble-in-residence at the historic Ghislieri College of Pavia and is one of the most successful emerging ensembles in Europe.
They are involved in active projects of rediscovery of the sacred choral repertoire of the 18th century. Following a short organ prelude performed on a portative organ the first tones of the Gregorian Chant came from the rear of the church.
The Invatio, Ecce lignum, was intoned as the choir progressed to the front of the church. The choir performed Benigno Zerafa’s Improperia per Venerdì Santo. Zerafa (1726-1804) composed this set of Improperia, the Reproaches for the solemn liturgy of the Adoration of the Holy Cross for Good Friday in 1754.
It is scored for an SATB choir and continuo. The continuo for this performance consisted of chamber organ and violoncello.
The work, consisting of eight movements, contained melodies of lyrical beauty. Zerafa uses features which were common to the works of Italian religious music of the period.
His work is clearly influenced by the Neapolitan School being a pupil of Francesco Feo (1691-1761) and fellow-Maltese Gerolamo Abos (1715-1760).
We must be grateful to Frederick Aquilina for his work on the reviving and editing of Zerafa’s work to enable us to hear this, until recently undiscovered, beautiful music.
The counter tenor Raffaele Pe was in fine form as he performed Leonardo Leo’s Dove fuggo, a che penso.
Although it is a sacred work, it was treated in the manner of an opera recitative and aria with a dramatic expressiveness. Pe managed to breathe life and feeling into the work, supported by the beautiful sound of the small portable baroque organ and cello.
The concert was performed to perfection
Starting with a recitative with the bass line flying around the vocal part, the works consists of three recitative and aria pairs, the second aria being wonderfully chromatic.
The following work consisted of the Hymnus, Crux fidelis. This was performed by the male voices of the choir directed by the bass Renato Cadel.
The performance was a perfection of voices from this Schola gregoriana. This chant follows the Improperia and expresses a sense of profound contemplation.
Niccolò Jommelli’s Miserere a 4 concluded the concert. The Miserere was written for St Peter’s in Rome, probably for the Easter of 1751.
The work consists of 11 short movements alternating with the odd verses sung in Gregorian chant. This creates an amazing intensity to the work.
Following a rapturous appreciation fron the audience the choir performed a motet by composer Davide Perez, who although born in Naples spent most of his life in Lisbon.
The motet, Mottetto a 4 con-certato in festo S. Michaelis Archangeli, describes the battle between the archangel Michael and Satan and was written for the feast of St Michael.
The concert was performed to perfection and the choir sang with ample power but with the requisite clarity for fugal passages. Prandi was attentive to every nuance, giving constant attention to the direction of the sung text.
The blend of the voices was excellent bringing clarity and sensitivity to the chorus where different voices are randomly mixed.
Ghislieri Choir and Consort has a special relationship with Malta and Valletta in particular. Collegio Ghislieri in Pavia is the alma mater of this accomplished baroque ensemble. It was founded by Pope Pius V, who also funded the building of Valletta in the 17th century. Ghislieri was the pope’s family name.