Patrons at St Paul Choral Society’s forthcoming concert will have the privilege of viewing the newly-restored painting of the Nativity adorning the interior of Lija parish church’s dome.
The baroque-style Lija church is part of a restoration project to save priceless art work
The choir will be holding a vocal and choral concert with soloist Claire Massa on Friday.
The SPCS is a polyphonic choir with a repertoire that ranges from the 16th century to the present day. The choir, under its founder and director, Hugo Agius Muscat, made a name for itself after successful concerts at St Paul’s Anglican Pro-Cathedral, Valletta, Mdina Cathedral and thePresident’s Palace, Attard. The choir regularly performs at St John’s Co-Cathedral.
The programme will include accompanied music and a cappella choral works by Marcello, da Palestrina, Bach, Bruckner, Rachmaninov, Durufle, Mendelssohn, Elgar, Stainer, Rutter and Stanford while Massa will sing from the works of Caccini, Malotte, Gounod and Mascagni. The accompanist will be the choir’s resident organist, ElizabethConrad.
This concert is a fund-raising event to support the renovation works of Lija parish church. The baroque-style church designed by Giovanni Barbara and completed in 1710, is currently part of an extensive restoration project being undertaken to save the priceless art work and Giuseppe Calìpaintings which grace the church’s ceilings.
The church also boasts paintings by Antoine de Favray, Francesco Zahra and even of the Mattia Preti school.
The work on the exterior (façade, steeples and dome) of the parish church (now completed) was begun in 2001 and cost some €200,000. Work began on the interior art work immediately after (under the direction of the company PreVarti) and the inauguration of the renovated painting of the Nativity which adorns the interior of the dome took place during last Christmas’s celebrations. This cost €100,000.
Next in line is the restoration of Cali’ paintings in the nave of the church at an estimated cost of €90,000.
Calì (1846-1930) was a Maltese painter, born in Valletta of Neapolitan parents and educated at the Accademia delle Belle Arti in Naples under Giuseppe Mancinelli.
He was a prolific artist: almost every church of any consequence in Malta boasts a work of his, and according to one of his grandsons, was nicknamed Ix-xitan tal-pinzell (‘the devil with the brush’).
The concert begins at 7.30 p.m. Tickets cost €10 and can be obtained at the door or by calling 9982 6822 or 9924 3791.