Gaulitana: A Festival of Music was involved in another international artistic collaboration for the current year, this time with the Vivaldi Festival in Venice, Italy.
Gaulitana festival coordinator Pierre Louis Attard was entrusted with conducting the closing concert of the sixth edition of the Vivaldi Festival held on Tuesday, 28 July. Marking the 285th anniversary of the death of Antonio Vivaldi, one of the Venice’s most celebrated musical figures, the concert took place on the very day of Vivaldi’s death in 1741, bringing the festival to a close in the city that shaped the composer’s artistic life and continues to safeguard his enduring musical legacy.
Attard led the Vivaldi Festival Orchestra (leader: Stefano Bruni), the Insieme Vocale Elastico choir (choirmaster: Fabrizio Fucile) and their vocal soloists (Elena Bazzo, Luisa Doretto, Monica Raffaella Falconio, Stefania Merluzzi, and Patrizia Rinaldo) in a programme showcasing some of Vivaldi’s finest sacred masterpieces. These included the celebrated Gloria in D major, RV 589, for soloists, choir and orchestra, the Beatus Vir in B-flat major, RV 598, scored for soloists, choir, strings and basso continuo, as well as the evocative instrumental work Sonata “Al Santo Sepolcro”, RV 130. The evening also featured a Dixit Dominus by the distinguished Bolognese composer Giacomo Antonio Perti, a contemporary of Vivaldi.
The concert was held in the magnificent and historic Basilica of Santi Giovanni e Paolo (known in Venetian as San Zanipolo) – the venue of the funeral service of the great composer Igor Stravinsky.
This engagement marked Pierre Louis Attard’s second appearance at the Vivaldi Festival, having previously participated as violin soloist in the 2023 closing concert, a performance conducted by Gaulitana artistic director Colin Attard that also featured the Gaulitanus Choir.
This prestigious collaboration further consolidated the international artistic partnership between Gaulitana: A Festival of Music, organised annually by the Gaulitanus Choir, and the the Vivaldi Festival’s founder, Enrico Castiglione. Over the years, the collaboration has given rise to several significant artistic ventures, whether as part of the Vivaldi Festival, the Festival di Pasqua in Rome, or the Taormina Festival. Many have featured the Gaulitanus Choir, including two major operatic productions at the Teatro Antico di Taormina. Further joint projects are already in development.
Whereas another ongoing international collaboration with the Associazione Musicale Diapason APS resulted in the same Pierre Louis Attard conducting an all-Bach instrumental concert at Villa Bertelli, in Forte dei Marmi, Italy, last January, this Venice concert is surely another milestone in the expanding international profile of the Gozitan organization and Gaulitana‘s growing international network, while also continuing to enhance Gozo’s cultural presence on the European musical landscape.
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