Maybe it was already too hot. Possibly the World Cup game between France and Mexico had something to do with it however I expected more of a substantial audience to listen to our Malta Philharmonic playing at the Church of Our Lady of Victories in Senglea last Thursday.
I was told by the orchestra that the Qawra Church the day before was packed and as I write the same programme will be performed tomorrow 18th June at St Helena's Basilica B'kara as part of the orchestra's Community Outreach Programme. In my particular case Senglea had to be the one as on the 16th I covered the Schwarzenberg Trio at Sala Isouard and on Friday the final Din l-Art Helwa organ recital at St John's Co cathedral. At this time of the year with one-offs still flourishing and with two festivals about to start, I really wish I could bilocate like Santa Teresa of Avila instead of having to make choices. Yes I am greedy for music. I always have been.
What a splendid idea his outreach programme is. I am a firm believer in taking culture out of its habitual rarefied haunts and presenting it to the people. It needs to sink into the expectations of the people to work however one has to start somewhere and people need to encourage it more.
Be that as it may after entering a discouragingly empty church at 7.25pm the audience increased in dribs and drabs to something nearing respectable and half way through the concert people were filtering in quietly no doubt drawn in by some of the most heart-warming and emotional religious and semi religious music ever written. The Church of Our Lady of Victories is an interesting replica of the one that was smashed during WW2. The statue of the ‘Bambina' dominates the church from her niche above the high altar where she is framed by the elaborate baldachin.
Apparently they say that this statue was once a ship's figurehead and with a mind of its own as I remember listening to stories about how during the war the statue kept moving of its own accord! I love Senglea. Maybe it is because my paternal family originated there. Maybe it is its similarity to Valletta because of its gridiron layout and its peninsular shape makes it less claustrophobic however out of the three cities it is my favourite.
Johann Sebastian Bach is the voice of God. Bach is head and shoulders above all other composers; past, present and future. He is universal and the choice made by Christopher Muscat who conducted the orchestra for these outreach concerts was one that was sure to thrill even those who sadly may have never heard the music of the great ‘celestially sublime sewing machine' before. The Air from the Third Orchestral Suite was taken at a stately andante tempo that negated the sometimes over saccharine versions we get of this piece. Only the great Herbert von Karajan could pull off something of the sort but then he was the Merlin of the conducting world. The other Bach piece was a very pleasant arrangement by Christopher Muscat of Jesus bliebet meine Freude wherein at one time the tuba was given the melodic line followed by the brass section as opposed to the strings. That certainly made interesting listening. It was in the Bach Gounod Ave Maria that Christopher Muscat's transcription was nothing short of Stokowskian and Rebecca Hall's solo flute in the vocal part was utterly stunning. As the charming Maltese Australian priest who deputised for the parish priest said at the end; Our Lady must have been thrilled to bits!
The church is a bit echoey and this sometimes enhanced the sumptuous sonorities of certain pieces but detracted from the clarity of others. Of those that lacked clarity The Marc Antoine Charpentier Te Deum Prelude that is instantly recognisable as the Eurovision signature tune was the one that suffered most while Mendelssohn's terrifically grandiose and rousing Overture to his oratorio Paulus was the one that gained most. The MPO was in fine form and rose to the occasion despite the paucity of the audience. While the religiousness of Joseph Vella's Sarabanda Religiosa eluded me the beauty of the piece did not; streams of molten emotion with the most breathtaking central theme. I just loved it.
Maybe some people in the audience recognised the theme music of that emotionally shattering film Platoon when they heard the first strains of Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings which is far and away the most poignant composition of the 20th century the profound melancholy of which evokes the pointlessness of our lives and the inevitability of our death. Is this piece religious? When the music reaches its climax in those intensely high pitched quavering notes towards the end there is a momentary hiatus brilliantly controlled by Mr Muscat that conjures up, in a split second, a sense of void, of despair which resolves in the calm and tranquil recapitulation. The Barber does not give answers however it was the composer himself who transcribed it into an Agnus Dei for unaccompanied choir and, boy, is that something!
The Mozart Ave Verum transcription was the only one I didn't care for as it left out the vocal part making this well-known and well-loved piece a little lame however the Marcia Religiosa e Fuga by Paolino Vassallo made a very rousing finale to a very successful evening. With strong Gallic orchestral influences that reminded me of Berlioz's grander moments , this Malta riposte to ‘When the saints go marching in' had great oomph and epitomised 19th century Malta with its curious cross-cultures the effect of which are still felt today.