Concluding his review of the highly successful ‘Viva Verdi’ virtual operatic series (Gaulitana: A Festival of Music – 14th edition) in 2021, Albert G. Storace asked: “May one dare hope for more next year?”. Truly, when it became clear that it was not going to be possible to stage the festival’s annual operatic production last spring (in view of the COVID-related restrictions still in place back then), the Gaulitana Festival team opted to be proactive and creative again, coming up with another operatic cinematic-like series. Indeed, the atypical hybrid 15th edition of Gaulitana: A Festival of Music will now be actually brought to an end this January with ‘Viva l’Opera’.
The series – which has the full collaboration of the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra as well as the backing of the MTA, the Istituto Italiano di Cultura and BOV – presents scenes from three of the best-loved Italian operas: Ruggiero Leoncavallo’s ‘I Pagliacci’, Giuseppe Verdi’s ‘Il Trovatore’, and Gaetano Donizetti’s ‘L’Elisir d’Amore’.
Aiming at high artistic and production levels, ‘Viva l’Opera’ again remodels the time-proven operatic genre for a virtual concept, and looks to leave an impact on the national creative ecology as well as a lasting artistic legacy. Rather than conventionally staged in a theatre, the scenes from the standard international operatic repertoire are naturally set and filmed on location at various enchanting venues in Gozo – thus also conveying their beauty and charm beyond our shores, indeed to the international artistic community. Three very particular Gozitan sites are used: the Gozo Seminary for ‘I Pagliacci’, Fort Chambray for ‘Il Trovatore’, and Ta’ Kola Windmill for ‘L’Elisir d’Amore’.
Once again, the creative team responsible for the filming is led by director Denis Mulholland and director of photography Matthew Muscat Drago, this time joined by set artist Michael Carol Bartolo with James Debono in charge of the costumes. Meanwhile, as the ‘Viva Verdi’ series, this project spotlights some very well-known Malta-based artists. Soprano Gillian Zammit teams up with baritone Louis Andrew Cassar for the Leoncavallo masterpiece, soprano Andriana Yordanova is supported by soprano Stephanie Portelli in the Verdi opera which also prominently features mezzo-soprano Graziella DeBattista, while soprano Nicola Said and tenor Cliff Zammit Stevens appear in the Donizetti favourite.
The shooting sessions followed a fully-professional audio recording held early in 2022 featuring the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra (leader: Maria Conrad), conducted by the Gaulitana’s own artistic director Colin Attard. Costa Consulta Ltd and the international PARMA Recordings were responsible for the recording and the musical production respectively.
With ‘Viva l’Opera’, Gaulitana yet again aims to offer a ‘different’ audio-visual operatic treat to a wide audience, both local and international, while adding another 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 three consecutive Tuesdays in January – the 17th, 24th and 31st – at 19.00hrs and remains available on the organisation’s digital platforms.
Gaulitana: A Festival of Music, organised by the Gaulitanus Choir, 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.
Viva l’Opera is supported by MTA, Istituto Italiano di Cultura and BOV with the collaboration of Heritage Malta, Fort Chambray Ltd, the Sacred Heart Seminary and Kenjo.
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