Claire Ghigo

There may have been no similarities on the surface in two of this year’s International String Orchestra Festival concerts at the Manoel Theatre. Dressed up in the sultry, warm tones of Clare Ghigo’s superb mezzo, there was much to learn about human emotion and predicament in her wide-ranging choice of repertoire.

With the concluding concert, in which no less than four of J.S. Bach’s keyboard concertos were performed by pianist Lucia Micallef, here was a reminder that the godfather of Western classical music is a composer for all time and remains a paragon of musical virtue, a yardstick for all generations to go by.

In the recital of classical songs, one was able to appreciate the singer’s warm and beautiful, honey-toned voice, which is at its most sultry and seductive in the middle and lower registers.

Admirable was the fact that she sang from memory a repertory which covered five languages in which diction was generally clear. However, when she sang Dvorák’s Eight Gypsy Songs in German, her diction was uneven; it is only a matter of greater concentration that is needed to produce better results.

One must say that the best-known of them, Als die Mutter sagt (Songs my mother taught me) was one of the best in all-round delivery. There are still some places where the singer’s upper register could come out a little more clearly. When that does happen, she will certainly be the unquestioned reigning local mezzo and she could equally hold her own anywhere.

This musical journey took one to Ireland in the really warm and poignant The Last Rose of Summer by Thomas Moore. Reuben Pace’s tragic Il-Ġrajja ta’ Vitorin brought one closer home in this interesting arrangement of a well-known Maltese folk ballad.

More idiomatic variety was provided by Songs of the Exotic by Judith Weir and the height of bitter hurt and disdain projected in Weill’s Je Ne t’aime Pas, a certain painful resignation in his Complainte de la Seine and with mournful overtones in his Youkali, so well-suited to the voice.

The godfather of Western classical music is a composer for all time

Charlene Farrugia’s deeply sensitive and supportive accompaniment contributed to the evening’s lustre. Not only is she a well-seasoned and greatly talented soloist, but her accompanying prowess is no less distinguished.

In the concluding concert, pianist Lucia Micallef, who when necessary is also a highly-accomplished accompanist, displayed her utter admiration, love and respect for Bach in four keyboard concertos. She was supported no less diligently by Brian Schembri at the helm of the strings of the European Union Chamber Orchestra.

Three of these works were arranged for harpsichord by the composer from own works for violin and orchestra, while the other (in F Minor, BWV 1056) has an even more hybrid origin from two different earlier works of his. The soloist handled these works on the piano with that deft, yet decisive, touch. The orchestral backing was equally rewarding.

While by no means detracting anything from the interpretation of the G Minor Concerto, personal preference pronounces in favour of the D Major Concerto, a work of continuously engaging contentment.

It was a good idea to punctuate this concert with very modern works which sat well with the old master’s brief, compact jewels. The first was the festival’s artistic director’s highly intriguing Harmonies Étendues, where harmonies are extended by, as the programme note said, “the horizontal element being given a vertical arrangement”.

The other work was the staid and dignified Elegia by Ukrainian composer Alexander Opanasyuk, which in this reading lived up to its title.