Soprano Miriam Gauci will be giving a concert at the Manoel Theatre accompanied by Michael Laus on Friday.

Soprano and pianist husband-and-wife Miriam Gauci and Michael Laus will perform in Valletta on Friday.

Internationally-renowned soprano Gauci and pianist Laus, also resident conductor of the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, will start with a selection from Rossini’s Serate Musicali, written when the composer, still in his early 40s, decided to retire from writing operas after the Parisian success of Guillaume Tell.

The concert continues with Liszt’s settings of three of Petrarch’s sonnets.

Next up are Wagner’s five songs based on poems by Matilde Wesendonk, the wife of one of his patrons, written while he was working on Tristan und Isolde. Wagner himself described two of the songs as studies for Tristan. Together with Siegfried Idyll, the so-called Wesendonk Lieder are his most frequently-performed non-operatic compositions.

The recital will finish with Manuel de Falla’s Siete Canciones Populares Españolas, seven songs based on colourful and traditional Spanish tunes.

Gauci started her vocal education with her aunt, soprano Hilda Tabone. At an early age, she obtained a scholarship to study in Milan, where she made her home. She obtained her diploma in singing from the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi and a diploma from the Centro di Perfezionamento Artisti Lirici from the Teatro alla Scala. During this period her professors for singing were Lia Guarini and the world famous mezzo-soprano Giulietta Simionato. She also studied staging techniques with Marisa Flask at La Scala and Renato Zanella and Vladimir Delman at the Teatro Studio in Bologna.

Laus graduated in piano, harpsichord, composition and conducting at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi of Milan. He later participated in master classes in conducting given by George Manahan in the US and Vladimir Delman in Bologna. Principal conductor of Malta’s national orchestra for 25 years and now its resident conductor, he has conducted the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra in symphonic concerts both in Malta’s main concert venues and on tour in Belgium and Italy.

■ The concert is taking place at the Manoel Theatre in Valletta on Friday at 8pm, preceded by a talk at 7.30pm. For more information and tickets, visit www.teatrumanoel.com.mt, e-mail bookings@teatrumanoel.com.mt or call 2124 6389.