Żejtun has a particular architectural jewel that catches the eye of those who appreciate lovely buildings. This is the former parish church, one of the few pre-1530 churches still standing. Dedicated to St Catherine of Alexandria, it is known as ‘Ta’ San Girgor’. It gave way to the present St Catherine’s parish church, one of Lorenzo Gafà’s baroque glories.

The new church needs restoration and the old church is the venue of concerts to raise funds for the restoration. Some of the funds will also be used to modernise the parish museum.

At the old St Catherine’s, a committee presented a recital of mainly baroque music for flute and harpsichord, performed by the husband-and-wife duo Silvio Zammit (flute) and Ramona Zammit Formosa (harpsichord). It is always a pleasure to hear this duo; not only are they seasoned and accomplished performers but they have that very strong touch of harmony and mutual rapport.

It was to Zammit’s arrangement that the recital began, with the sprightly arrival of the Queen of Sheba from Handel’s oratorio Solomon. Another of his arrangements was the next, very evocative piece, the Largo from L’Inverno, the last of Vivaldi’s Le Quattro Stagioni.

Zammit Formosa then performed the first of two harpsichord solos, the only non-baroque piece of the evening. This was Zammit’s own Toccata Fantasie, which he wrote for her in 2008. The verychromatic opening theme developed in a very expansive way, slow at first and rather dramatic in feeling. It increased in tempo as the music flowed in increasingly difficult passages which for all their rapidity remained very articulate.

There was a brief respite before the work picked up in intensity, and having been preceded by a very strong chordal progression it ended with a virtuoso flourish. The other, well-rendered keyboard solo was J.S. Bach’s Sinfonia in F, which is the second movement of his Harpsichord Concerto in F Minor.

There was one work for solo flute which Zammit performed with his usual flair and sense of style. This was Johann Stamitz’s Capriccio Sonata in A, which began with a smoothly flowing allegro moderato but gave way to a sensitive andante amoroso and ended with a jolly rondo.

Prior to the Stamitz work, the duo performed the deeply moving Ave Maria by Caccini and later ended the recital with an arrangement of the hauntingly beautiful Adagio from Alessandro Marcello’s Oboe Concerto in D Minor and the five-movement Sonata N. 3 in G by Handel.

After having performed the virtuoso Badinerie from J.S. Bach’s Orchestral Suite N. 2, it was back to the calmer waters of Caccini’s Ave Maria.

The evening, which was presented by Gillian Mifsud, ended with a brief address by the archpriest of Żejtun, Eric Overend.