Beau Soir
Today at 8pm

The Bir Miftuħ International Music Festival opens today with a vocal and harp recital by mezzo-soprano Claire  Ghigo and harpist Britt Arend, who will perform some of the most exquisite melodies ever written in the French language.

Ghigo graduated from the Guildhall School of Music London and from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.  Her operatic roles include Annio in Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito, Hansel in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, the Third/Second Lady in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Carmen in Bizet’s Carmen and Angelina in Rossini’s Cenerentola.  She is also a versatile recital artist and has performed with world-renowned artists like Joseph Calleja and sung with well-known ensembles like the Guildhall Consort and the Rossini Ensemble.

She forms part of the MPO Voice and Harp Trio which was highly acclaimed for its recent performance in Berlin to mark Malta’s EU Council presidency.

Arend was born in Belgium and studied harp and musicology at famous music conservatoires in Brussels, Berlin, Milan and Rome.

She has performed with highly professional orchestras such as the Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège, Dresdner Sinfoniker, Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Frankfurt, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, Accademia di San Giorgio di Venezia  and  RTÉ Concert Orchestra Ireland, and has also participated at various reputable festivals.

Arend is also an avid chamber music player. She has been principal harp with the Malta Philharmoinc Orchestra since 2008.

The duo will delight the audience with beautiful works by Reynaldo Hahn, Camille Saint-Saens, Gabriel Fauré,  Eva  Dell’Acqua,  Claude  Debussy, Ernest Chausson, Pauline Viardot,  Maria Malibran, Jules Massenet and Charles Gounod.

The recital is sponsored  by the Embassy of France and the Alliance Française de Malte – Méditerranée.

Tickets for the concert and refreshments are against a donation per person.