The re-scheduled hybrid 14th edition of Gaulitana: A Festival of Music, continues in July and August with the second of its virtual series, ‘Viva Verdi’. This audio-visual project, held in lieu of the festival’s usual operatic production, presents operatic scenes from four of the best-loved operas by Giuseppe Verdi, namely La Traviata, Rigoletto, Otello and La Forza del Destino.
However, rather than conventionally staged in a theatre, the scenes are filmed in various venues in Gozo, hence giving the project a more cinematic dimension. Locations vary from indoor ones at Heritage Malta’s museums at the Cittadella, Ta’ Cenc Hotel’s historic Palazzo Palina and the Aurora Theatre’s distinctive VIP hall, to outdoor ones at Victoria’s old and unspoilt Capuchins Convent and the ever-enchanting Lunzjata Valley.
The festival ensured it has an experienced team on board. Denise Mulholland was entrusted with the direction and Matthew Muscat Drago with the filming, with Andrew Borg Wirth charged with the sets, and Luke Azzopardi entrusted with the costumes. The exhaustive shooting sessions followed an intensive week of rehearsing and recording with the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra – with whose full collaboration the project is being held – led by Marcelline Agius and conducted by the Gaulitana’s own artistic director Colin Attard.
But there is no opera without singers, and this project spotlights essentially some very well-known Malta-based artists. Sopranos Gillian Zammit and Andriana Yordanova appear in La Traviata and La Forza del Destino respectively, whereas soprano Nicola Said and tenor Luis Aguilar team up with actor Rob Ricards for Rigoletto. The only exception was guest top Italian soprano Monica Zanettin who stars in Otello – a role she was due to interpret in the festival’s cancelled operatic production last year – assisted by mezzo-soprano Joanna Pullicino.
Through ‘Viva Verdi’, the Gaulitana festival aims to offer a ‘different’ audio-visual operatic treat to a wide audience, both local and international, while adding a completely new perspective to Gozo’s notable intrinsic link with opera.
The series will be streamed for free on the Gaulitana: A Festival of Music facebook page and YouTube channel on four consecutive Wednesdays between July 14 and August at 20.30hrs. ‘Viva Verdi!’ remains available on the festival’s digital platforms.
Gaulitana: A Festival of Music, an annual festival organised by the Gaulitanus Choir and an awardee of the European Festivals Association’s EFFE label, is principally supported by the Gozo Cultural Support Programme of Arts Council Malta and the Ministry for Gozo.
Photos: Betty Bugeja / Sonia S. Xerri / Pierre Louis Attard
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