There were some surprises for those who went to the inaugural concert of this year’s edition of the Valletta International Baroque  Festival at the recently refurbished and resplendent Manoel Theatre. Sold out long before, the very dubbing of the concert as Vivaldi’s Four Seasons was magical enough to draw in a full house. Yet, Concerto Köln, directed by the brilliant Shunske Sato, had more in store for the evening.

The novel approach to the hidden mysteries of the music resulted in a thoroughly refreshing and vibrant reading of the cycle of four violin concertos which had everybody agog and amazed at how different something as familiar as this cycle could sound once hitherto locked secrets and interpretative possibilities were exploited.

Concerto Köln specialise in trea­ting such works in this manner, and with positive effect. Other works by Vivaldi were performed, such as the Concerto for Strings in G minor, RV 156, which with its fresh and crisp rendition gave a foretaste of what was to follow.

Giulio Prandim directing the Ghislieri Choir and Consort during Il Fasto del Barocco Romano.

Works by some of Vivaldi’s contemporaries were also performed. They included a concerto by Evaristo dell’Abaco and a concerto grosso by Charles Avison which, after the interval and a very moving Sinfonia al Santo Sepolcro (Vivaldi’s RV 169) had separated spring and summer from autumn and winter, all of which could not be more evocative than they were.

Next day, this new look at baroque music continued with a performance by the Les-Contre Sujets ensemble at the National Library.

It was a mix of music by the well-known and prolific Telemann and other lesser-known worthies like Ph. H. Erlebach (a seven-movement Sonata Terza for two violins and continuo) and J.F. Fasch (Sonata for recorder, violin and continuo). 

Some of the latter’s works were transcribed by J.S.Bach. It was a concert dominated by the viola da gamba, not only as part of the continuo with Takahisa Aida at the harpsichord but also as soloist in  Kar Friedrich Abel’s all too brief and lovely Arpeggio for Gamba Solo. The gambista supreme was Eric Tinkerhess, who excelled in Telemann’s Trio in F for recorder, viola de gamba  and continuo, and the Concerto for viola de gamba, two violins and harpsichord.

The concluding Concerto for recorder and viola involved the whole ensemble. Now, not only during the performance of some of these works, but also in his own three-movement Sonata for viola da gamba and harpsichord obbligato, Samuel Rotsztejn, who sub-titled it La Maltaise, used modern techniques within a baroque-inspired form. The ensemble’s exit from the hall could be termed as a foretaste of Haydn’s Farewell.

The novel approach to the hidden mysteries of the music resulted in a thoroughly refreshing and vibrant reading

Concerto Köln were back at the Manoel Theatre  for more fun and new insights into works such as a Concerto Grosso by Locatelli, (in G minor, Op.1 N. 12), Evaristo dell’Abaco (Concerto a più istrumenti in D)and the Sinfonia in A by Sammartini.

This concert was titled Bach and Italy, because Bach was well aware of music by his Italian contemporaries and vice-versa, more than is generally believed.

The undoubted stars, however, were, Vivaldi and J.S. Bach. It was Vivaldi’s Concerto for strings and continuo in C minor, which opened the evening and, later, Shunske Sato gave a wondrously fresh and crisp rendering of the Violin Concerto il Favorito. 

Carefully balanced was Bach’s Concerto for Harpsichord N. 4 in A, featuring the very accomplished Luca Quintavalle, the Sinfonia in C from the Cantata Der Herr denket an uns, and concluded with a beautiful rendering of  the Brandenburg Concerto N.4 in G. The latter featured as concertino Shunske Sato, and Cordula Breuer and Wolfgang Dey on recorders.

Concerto Köln performing at the recently refurbished and resplendent Manoel Theatre.

The glorious surroundings of St John’s Co-Cathedral were the perfect venue for Il Fasto del Barocco Romano, which featured the Ghislieri Choir and Consort under the direction of Giulio Prandim, in a truly splendid evening which also featured Maltese soprano Clare Debono. 

This was Roman baroque at its best, with works by a very acclimatised and Italianate Handel, in his early 20s, very much at home enjoying the patronage of princes and cardinals. The young man was thoroughly imbued with the Italian spirit and this made the music sound unusually brilliant.

Strongly rhythmic and energetic, tender and vibrant: it carried all before it. The music flowed crisply in high-styled, great attention to detail, and the singers’ diction so clear that each and every word could be followed.

The music, written as an ex-voto for Rome being delivered from an earthquake in 1703, was in honour of the Blessed Virgin. Donna in Cielo, with its several recitatives and arias, was sung in crystal clear manner by Debono. Both recitatives and the arias – the latter including some really difficult coloratura embellishments –  were easily handled by the soprano who, in the last aria, was accompanied by the chorus.

Debono was again soloist in the recitative Ah! Che troppo ineguali and aria Oh del ciel Maria Regina.  This was a lovely work, followed by a Dixit Dominus, the evening’s other crowning glory, in which Debono sang the aria Tecum principatus. Alto Marta Fumagalli Virgam Virtutis, soprano Caterina Iora and alto Karin Silva accompanied on the duet De torrente.

The chorus had five sections to sing, including the concluding Gloria Patri. Insistent applause resulted in an encore: the concise, but unstoppable, Dixit Dominus by Baldassarre Galuppi.