Clarinet-Piano Duo was the first chamber recital in "GauLive"

The first in a number of chamber recitals in the ongoing “GauLive” series was held on Tuesday 8th March at the Kempinski Hotel San Lawrenz. “Clarinet Fantasies” featured the MPO’s principal clarinettist, Italian Giuseppe Recchia and Maltese pianist Elaine Mercieca. The concert was held in collaboration of the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra and with the cooperation of the Istituto Italiano di Cultura.

Albert G. Storace’s online review reads:

CLARINET FANTASIES & MORE.

In increasingly cold weather it was still very much worth my while going back to Gozo for the second concert in this edition of Gaulitana.

Giuseppe Recchia is head of the clarinet section of the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra and is s very fine musician and performer. He was well supported by his accompanist from Malta, Elaine Mercieca. A great part of the programme was one requiring great virtuosity and there were moments when the piano also shared some of the prominence.

The opening work was Weber’s Fantasy on a theme from the opera Silvana, Op. 33. Silvana is one of Weber’s lesser-known operas, remembered mostly fir its overture. Much better-known is Weber’s prowess as pianist and his special love for the clarinet. The work is a very attractive one and was performed with a certain quasi-Romantic warmth. It also had a touch of virtuosity.

More of the latter element marked the Fantasy for clarinet and piano by Rossini. He composed it in 1829, the year he abandoned composing opera. Inevitably the music had a frequently cantabile quality as well as flourishes typical of a giant in the bel canto genre.

Completely different in style, but no less interesting is Joseph Vella’s Passacaglietta, Op.9 a relatively early work (1968) by Colin Attard’s late uncle. The duo adapted well to the style and idiom. Again there is the presence of variations in this work: ten of them for the clarinet with a mid-section for the piano. The work, while inspired by an older genre of music, has traces of jazz and serialism too.

Back to more traditional stuff, the following lovely work was by the short-lived Luigi Bassi (1833-71). Famed clarinettist and principal clarinet at Milan’s alla Scala, Bassi also composed many works one of which was the Fantasy on themes from Verdi’s Rigoletto. The themes were among the best-loved ones from the opera even if strangely enough Bassi ignored that cheeky, cynical La donna è mobile. The clarinet’s wide range makes the themes very evocative. Some passages were of a particular brilliance and at some points it seemed that there were two clarinets not one. The piano had a lot of work well-handled here. The applause at the end of this bravura piece was the warmest and longest of the evening.

It was almost the same after a move to yet another idiom. This came with the Sonata for clarinet and piano by Poulenc, composed a few months before Poulenc’s death early in 1963. The form is classic in its being in three.movements with these being in different moods. The opening movement, Allegro tristemente is by its very definition one of bitter-sweetness and not the usual mischievous, opening sonata movement typical of Poulenc. The central Romanza had a charming nostalgic air about it with its dominant theme passing back and forth from clarinet to piano. The concluding Allegro con fuoco was boisterous and very energetic bringing this classy performance to an exciting conclusion.

Festival artistic director Colin Attard introduced each work on the programme and at one point he also thanked all sponsors of the festival for their support. This includes Kempinski San Lawrenz the ballroom of which, apart from three concerts scheduled to take place in three different churches, has become the home of the festival.

Photo credits: LORNE CREMONA

Gaulitana: A Festival of Music is an awardee of the European Festivals Association’s EFFE label and principally supported by the Investment in Cultural Organisations – Gozo of Arts Council Malta and the Ministry for Gozo. The ongoing “GauLive” series is supported by Visit Malta, APS Bank, Bank of Valletta, the Isituto Italiano di Cultura, the China Cultural Centre, Quaint Boutique Hotels, Victoria Local Council, Xaghra Local Council, Gharb Local Council, the Armed Forces of Malta, the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra.

Email:	gaulitanus@gmail.com / gaulitanafestival@gmail.com
Phone:	(+356) 77038971 / 21560200 / 21557593

Clarinet-Piano Duo was the first chamber recital in "GauLive"

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