Spring hunting

Sergei Prokofiev's wonderful musical tale of Peter And The Wolf has recently been given a makeover by Sarah Spiteri. And it is this new version that is to be presented at the Manoel Theatre tomorrow and Sunday evenings.

This is very much a family show, specifically targeted at both children and their parents.

Following on last year's highly successful production of Mozart's The Magic Flute (which incidentally, the Manoel Theatre also presented in Prague) this production of Peter And The Wolf is part of the theatre management's avowed intention of bringing a much less geriatric audience into the theatre.

This production, as well as telling the story of how young Peter captures a wolf... when the more experienced hunters fail, also seeks to introduce youngsters to the various instruments of the orchestra. The seven participating musicians will all be on stage and will interact with the characters in the story... Peter, the wolf, the cat, the bird, the duck and the hunters.

Dance will also play a major part in the production and choreographing the piece will be Emma Loftus.

The various characters in the 40-minute performance will be played by: Jules Sacco, Florinda Camilleri, Jes Sciberras, Clarissa De' Giorgio, Chris Agius Darmanin, Yanica Fenech and Erin Stewart Tanti, while Tony Attard plays the role of the grandfather, who is in fact the narrator of the piece.

The musicians will be Godfrey Mifsud, Ulrike Buhlman, Renzo Spiteri, Christine Vella, Albert Garcia, Sarah Spiteri and Silvio Zammit.

The set design is by Vince Briffa and Derek Nice.

Performances are tomorrow at 6.30 p.m and two on Sunday at 4.30 p.m and 6.30 p.m. Booking is from The Manoel Theatre.

April is a very busy month musically at the Manoel. On April 8 the National Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of Mro Michael Laus will be giving a concert of music by Edward Grieg and Dvorak. The brilliant young pianist Joanne Camilleri will also play Sain-Saens' piano concerto No. 2. Ms Camilleri is a graduate of the Royal Northern College of Music. She also pursued postgraduate studies at the same college after being awarded a two-year scholarship from the Janatha Stubbs Trust. At the college, she was awarded the Alfred Clay Scholarship for Piano, the Hewitt Scholarship and the Clifton Helliwell Memorial Award. As soloist and chamber musician she has performed in Manchester, London, Cumbria, The Isle of Man, Tunisia and of course... Malta.

The following weekend George Micallef's Valletta Dramatic Company will present one of the most popular of all operettas, The Land Of Bells, by Lombardo and Ranzato. The piece has been translated into Maltese by Joe Brincat; musical arrangements are by Mro Twanny Chircop. The director will be Joe Izzo and the musical direction is in the hands of Mro Archibald Mizzi. Expect full houses all round for this one.

We see and hear very little jazz at the Manoel, but that changes this month with the visit of the impressive German jazz pianist Sebastian Schunke. He and his band will play a gig at the theatre on April 16 .

And finally on April 29 the Rotterdam Young Ensemble will give a concert in the Manoel. This event combines a performance by the outstanding young violinist Emmanuel Salvador. The concert also forms part of the International String Orchestra Festival. As an added bonus, the winner of the composition competition within the festival will have his or her work performed during the concert.

There's a lot to see and listen to at our national theatre this month, with some very tasty and extremely varied events on offer.