Recently I happened to be on a long-planned trip to Germany. On my very first day in Berlin, I had the pleasure of attending a performance by the Valletta International Baroque Ensemble (VIBE) at Schloß Charlottenburg, one of the Prussian royal palaces. A few days before I left Malta I received a kind invitation to the event that was hosted by Maltese Ambassador to Germany Albert Friggieri and Mrs Friggieri. The concert was part of the various events organised by Malta as holder of the presidency of the Council of the EU.
The Berlin concert was VIBE’s second in a tour, which had begun in Madrid, and was to continue with the third and last concert in Paris. The reason behind this choice of venues was that apart from a Maltese element in the programme, the works were by Spanish, German and French composers.
The ensemble consisted of Catherine Martin (leader and violin), Nadya Debono (violin), Sarah Spiteri (viola), with the continuo provided by Joanne Camilleri (harpsichord), Jacob Portelli (cello) and Pablo Zapico (theorbo). Also taking part were soprano Gillian Zammit and bass Albert Buttigieg.
The performance was tip-top style and elegance matching the splendid White Hall (Weißeresaal) of the Schloß. It was a very pleasant surprise to many in the distinguished audience to discover that some of the very beautiful music performed came from Malta. These works, apart from being very brilliantly performed, served as an eye-opener to the treasures we have in Malta.
The first local work, Curre ad Virginem, was sung by Gillian Zammit, who handled the coloratura passages with great agility and ease. It is by an anonymous composer and comes from an MS in the Mdina Cathedral music archives and edited by Joseph Vella.
Zammit also sang the probably more difficult aria Pensa che freme from the opera Erifile by our own Girolamo Abos.
The third Maltese work was Mikiel Anġ Vella’s Sonata for 3 violins (the third violin here was Sarah Spiteri), Op. 1, N. 4, edited by the late Richard Divall.
The works... served as an eye-opener to the treasures we have in Malta
Meanwhile, the ensemble had started the evening with Telemann’s Polonaise in G, while bass Albert Buttigieg had sung with an authoritatively convincing tenderness the Spanish cantata La Antorcha Bella and Marc Antoine Charpentier’s Tenebrae facta sunt. The latter was particularly impressive, as the lengthy applause revealed, but VIBE’s overall performance and great teamwork was also very much appreciated. Despite lengthy applause and taking three calls, there was no encore.
Music of all kinds from Malta featured two days later in a very well attended concert hosted by the German Federal Minister of Finance Wolfgang Schäuble at the Finanzministerium in Wilhemstraße. The evening began with Maltese folk music, with three guitarists, John Saliba, Alvise Scerri and Victor Grech, performing some prejjem.
Dr Schäuble and guest of honour Finance Minister Edward Scicluna were interviewed by Max Hofmann, after which it was the turn of VIBE to present some of their previous concert’s works, all of which were received with great acclaim. The works performed were the two arias sung by Zammit referred to previously, and another Mikiel Anġ Vella sonata from the Op. 1 set: N. 1, in which the third violin part was performed by Marcelline Agius.
Very different music came from the group The Travellers from Gozo, who sing in Maltese. They performed four songs from their recently released album. They have an interesting sound because apart from lead guitar, bass guitar and percussion they also have a saxophonist and a trumpeter.
Ending the first half was some Għana fil-għoli featuring the guitar trio mentioned previously. They accompanied folk singer Michael Cumbo singing in the very high-pitched manner known as la Bormliża.
Folk-inspired music was next performed by pianist Tricia Dawn Williams and composer Ruben Zahra. This was the first time the two performed together. Zahra’s works were for piano and different Maltese folk instruments. The duo performed Preludju, in which he played the żummara, Tal-Ħammarun (żaqq) and Ħalel (żummara).
Zahra also scored for piano the accompaniment to Marc Cabourdin’s narrating in English three Maltese fairy tales. First was Ġaħan u l-Istatwa, followed by Spin, spin the Bobbin and Is-Sultan li f’Nofs Rasu Kibirlu Qarn. The shadow theatre elements illustrating these fairy tales were by Shadeena.
Joseph Pace’s Aver Maria was sung by baritone Joseph Lia, and he and tenor Cliff Zammit Stevens sang the duet Venti Scudi from Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore with convincingly well-acted assurance.
This part ended with a very good rendering of Joseph Vella’s Il-Kebbies tal-Fanali by Zammit Stevens. Stefan Rupp, who had compered the entire concert, interviewed the two singers touching upon the healthy legendary rivalry between Gozo’s two opera houses.
The concert ended with more Maltese folk singing, the same guitar trio, this time accompanying singer Mike Agius in some għana tal-fatt.
Throughout almost the whole concert artist Tony Degiovanni worked on an improvised work in which one could see evolving a colourful quilt-like tapestry on paper. It grew into a work consisting of panels mainly of silhouettes of Maltese churches, cupolas and old gates.