The gentle melodies of folk minstrels Stalko brought to life the silent catacombs beneath St Paul’s Church, Rabat, during an innovative performance series.

For three nights, the three-man collective are pairing their ‘nu-folk’ tunes with an intimate tour of the recently restored Wignacourt Museum, catacombs and underlying maze of hand-chiselled war shelters.

Winding their way through the wood-panelled rooms of the charming museum, groups of no more than 30 are treated to the warm narrative of the museum’s assistant curator Frederica Agius, seamlessly entwined to the band’s musical backdrop.

Guitarist Mike Stivala told The Sunday Times of Malta that the inspiration behind the concept came during a rainy midweek visit to the heritage site earlier this year.

“We were invited for a tour and were blown away by the place’s presence and story.

“We are always on the lookout for new venues and thought this experience could work hand-in-hand with our music,” he said.

Earlier this year the band hosted a similar “resurrection” of the dusty Orpheum Theatre, Gżira, with the launch of their debut album, Grandiloquence.

Mr Stivala said the band’s affinity for unique venues stemmed from the same creative place responsible for their music.

Back at the Wignacourt Museum, the band huddles under a domineering 17th century oil portrait of St Cathaldus.

The unsuspecting visitors are drawn in by the distant a cappellas and acoustic melodies unaware of the quick scuttling and candle lighting going on behind the scenes.

After a brief cameo tour from the animated Museum Curator Dun Ġwann, the group is whisked to the candlelit St Paul’s Grotto for the second half of Ms Agius’s tour.

Leaving the grotto behind, the evening ventures deeper into the recently reopened underground complex with a detailed tour of the underlying catacombs.

Crouched in one of the maze’s crypts, vocalist and accordion player Tim Ellis introduces the song Spires as a fitting tribute to the subterranean burial ground.

The song tells the unfortunate tale of a misguided serial killer and his victims.

The evening comes to a climatic end with a candlelit encore in the main hall of the bizarrely cosy war shelters.

A performance will be held next Sunday.