Very recently, the 22nd edition of the Bir Miftuħ International Music Festival came to an end with a recital in tribute to Niccolò Isouard music.
The concert was presented with by the Embassy of France and the Alliance Française de Malte – Méditerranée. Being the bicentennial of Isouard’s death in Paris in 1818, it was at the express wish of French Ambassador to Malta, Béatrice Le Fraper du Hellen, that the concert was dedicated to Isouard’s music.
Opera forms the bulk of Isouard’s opus and many of his stage works reigned supreme in early 19th century Paris.
Some of them, like Cendrillon and Le Barbier de Seville, anticipated the now more widely-known Rossini operas on the same subjects.
This certainly does not sidetrack from the intrinsically high quality of Isouard’s works which, like everything else, are subject to changing tastes and whims of the often fickle public.
The selection of works performed in this concert was in the good hands of seasoned performers, such as mezzo-soprano Clare Ghigo who was on excellent form, confirming she is one of the best local singers of her generation.
The instrumental part was in the hands of the Isouard String Quartet, formed on the initiative of the Ambassador. The ensemble consists of Matteo Colombo and Ian Ellul (violins), Matthew Fenech (viola) and Gjorgji Cincjevski. The arrangements were meticulously carried out from original manuscript scores by Fenech and Cincjevski.
The purely instrumental pieces began with the overture to Cendrillon, during which at times the desired cohesion did not fully materialise.
However, by the time the overture to Joconde was performed, that was left behind because there was far more cohesive, crisp and decisively vigorous delivery. The last instrumental piece, the non- operatic Sinfonia in C minor was pretty delightful.
In accompanying Ghigo, a balance was maintained between the two forces. The choice was a good cross-section from some of Isouard’s more popular operas, to others which where lesser known in his own time.
The first was the aptly coy Je suis modeste et soumise from Cendrillon followed by the more dramatic and poignant Ah! Pour moi quelle peine extreme, from Jeannot et Colin. This touching piece was to followed by another excerpt from the same opera, Malgré l’éclat de l’opulence, which was distinguished by a very elegant and effortless delivery. The Rondo alla frullana from Le rendez-vous bourgeois was delivered with a great sense of relaxed fun, but Ghigo was at her comedic best in the aria Non, je ne veux pas chanter, from Le billet de loterie, with some exciting coloratura thrown in and lots of hard-headed temperament too.