It was a most interesting lunchtime concert given recently at St Paul’s Anglican pro-Cathedral, Valletta.
Soprano Andriana Yordanova presented her class of upcoming young singers, accompanied at the keyboard by Shirley Helleur.
One goes to such recitals with an open mind, expecting to hear all sorts of voices and level of achievement, and therein lies the excitement and thrill.
Some had performed in public, some did so for the first time.
There must have been nerves but none displayed any jitters, some occasionally stealing peeps at their tutor for more reassurance. Most already have that something which ought to encourage them to work harder and do better.
It was soprano Gabi Sargent who started off with Caldara’s Alma Del Core, later singing Handel’s Care Selve. She confirmed good interpretative power in the latter piece and excelled in the top register, which is beautiful and clear.
Soprano Marie-Claire Dingli has a warmer timbre, giving Scarlatti’s rather coquettish Se Tu M’ami the right dose of carefree musing, and later gave a good rendering of O Mio Babbino Caro from Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, which needed to be more tongue-in-cheek.
Despite being just 14, mezzo-soprano Nicole Zammit tackled Cherubino’s Non So Più, Cosa Son Cosa Facio from Mozart’s Le Nozze Di Figaro very well, with clear diction and confident expression.
As one of the sopranos in the original line-up was indisposed, the male singers slightly outnumbered the females. Baritone Miguel Rosales still needs to work a lot on legato and articulation, yet one caught many glimpses of a rich and mellow baritone in Handel’s Verdi Prati and in Schubert’s lied Der Lindenbaum, which lacked enough expression.
Tenor Georg Zammit needed better intonation in Handel’s Ombra Cara, and snatches of a warm timbre made evanescent appearances here and there.
He was to conclude the concert with a high-spirited La Spagnola by Di Chiara. Much more legato and intonation was needed here and there should have been a slight change to the lyrics once a man was singing this song.
The other tenor, James Saliba, sings with much feeling and assurance. I preferred him in Caccini’s Amor Ch’attendi than in Giordani’s Caro Mio Ben because in the former his projection was much better.
The revelation of this recital was baritone David Debono. His light baritone is ideal for works like Schubert’s Nacht Und Träume and Grieg’s Ich Libe Dich in which his diction was pretty good.
He displayed a relaxed confidence tempered with the right dose of sobriety and feeling. His legato singing, phrasing and intonation remained supreme. He projected the full meaning of the lyrics just as he did in his fine interpretation of Non Siate Ritrosi from Mozart’s Così Fan Tutte.
I suspect we shall hear much more of this young man.