This year, the Victoria International Arts Festival will be missing one beloved and respected name, that of maestro Joseph Vella, who passed away earlier this year. Anna Marie Galea finds out more about how this year’s edition pays tribute to one of Malta’s foremost composers.

Conceived 21 years ago, the Victoria International Arts Festival (VIAF) is a must for any classical music fan. Indeed, it was around about this time last year that I sat down with Joseph Vella and we spoke about what the festival meant to him and what he envisaged for the festival’s future. Sadly for us all, Mro Vella did not manage to see his beautifully laid plans for the 21st edition come to fruition.

Works by the late maestro Joe Vella will be performed during this year’s festival.

I spoke to festival secretary Maria Frendo and to the celebrated conductor Philip Walsh about the future of VIAF and about Philip’s contributions both to this year’s edition as well as to the music world at large.

Together with Mro Vella, the two have been part of the Victoria International Arts Festival since the very beginning. Did they ever feel like you wanted to put a stop to the festival altogether since his unexpected passing?

“The festival was the collective brainchild of Mro Vella, my brother Fr George Frendo  and myself. We never even thought of putting an end to VIAF, let alone discussed the matter. The maestro’s passing was a tragedy of epic proportions – however, the only thing we discussed with regard to VIAF was how to make it stronger by honouring his name and legacy.”

Feeling that the only way forward was to try as much as possible to implement the beautiful programme that Mro Vella had envisioned, Maria and the VIAF team soldiered on and were very happy when Mro Walsh accepted their offer to conduct in their friend’s place.

“The 2018 programme will be presented as planned and devised by Mro Vella together with my brother and I.  Naturally, the only change is the conductor of the opening and closing concerts with the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, which were always conducted by Mro Vella.

“Immediately after his passing, we got in touch with Philip, who generously did all he could to help. He will not only conduct both concerts but has kept the pieces chosen by Mro Vella. He also ‘filled in’ the remaining space by choosing pieces that fit, both thematically and in spirit, with the ones already scheduled.”

No stranger to the Maltese islands, having conducted Gluck’s Orphée et Eurydice in 2016 and this year’s Don Giovanni among others, Mro Walsh knew that he wanted to be a conductor from a very young age.

“I wanted to conduct from as early as I can remember, though I wasn’t so single-minded that I didn’t want to explore other ways of music making.  Conducting is wonderful and fulfilling, with the opportunity to communicate, collaborate, to inspire others, but the conductor doesn’t actually create the sounds of the music, and I always feel that to remain honest I should continue to play an instrument myself. 

The 2018 programme will be presented as planned and devised by Mro Vella

“For that reason, the piano has always been important to me, and I still play, though not as often as I would like to. I remember playing chamber music for the first time and feeling like I’d found my special place in life.

“And that feeling remains, whenever I collaborate in music, be it playing chamber music or conducting an orchestra. The most important thing for me is communicating with other musicians and with an audience, performing to the best of my abilities and exchanging ideas through music.”

Although Malta has always held happy memories for him, Mro Walsh is understandably more sombre than usual when talking about conducting this year’s opening and closing concerts.

“It’s certainly a bittersweet moment. Of course, I’m delighted to be asked and will enjoy working once again with the wonderful Malta Philharmonic Orchestra.  But the circumstances are sad, in that I’m replacing a giant of Maltese music and someone I held in the highest regard.  The inevitable joy of making music and performing for the Gozo audiences will be dampened with the sorrow that Mro Vella is no longer with us.”

However, Mro Vella will most definitely be there in spirit, with Mro Walsh naming Vella’s pieces as some of the highlights of the two concerts.

“We are performing two of his works, two gems which I’ve come to love. The opening concert included his beautiful setting of words from the Requiem Mass, Domine Jesu Christe, highly-appropriate texts as we pay tribute to him.  And the fiery symphonic poem Rebbieħa closes the festival in July. I’m also excited to be working with two fine Maltese soloists. Miriam Cauchi will sing the sublime Four Last Songs of Richard Strauss, while Carmine Lauri will play the haunting Violin Concert by Glazunov, a work of stunning contrasts and amazing optimism.”

Although Mro Walsh is unable to stay for the duration of the entire festival, he is greatly looking forward to both conducting as well as seeing the programme unfold.

“Unfortunately, my other commitments mean that I can’t stay throughout the festival and will therefore miss so much, but I hope to be present at some of the final concerts before conducting the closing concert.

“The variety of music programmed is impressive, including an incredible mix of fine Maltese and international performers. Gozo can rightly be proud of such an eclectic array of concerts, every night for over a month and, incredibly, offered free to the public!”

The Victoria International Arts Festival runs until July 9. A full programme is available online.

http://www.viaf.org.mt/