The Gaulitanus Choir has been on the go once more, organising yet another public fully Covid-complaint event. Entitled ‘Serenading Strings’ and specifically conceived for Valentine’s, this classical music concert was supported by the Cultural Heritage Directorate within the Ministry for Gozo, and held at the Kempinski Hotel San Lawrenz on Sunday, 7th February.
The Gaulitanus String Orchestra, this time led by Reggie Clews, and conducted by Gaulitanus’s founder/director Colin Attard, who also artistically directed, presented a varied, at times atypical repertoire, which was thoroughly enjoyed by the audience. As the title suggests quite a few serenades for strings were performed, with some rather unknown ones by Vasily Kalinnikov, Gabriel Pierné (both of which were apparently being premiered in Malta) flanking Edward Elgar’s very famous and highly romantic one, which also concluded the concert.
Two other Elgar favourites, ‘Chansons de matin’ and ‘Chansons de nuit’ had actually opened the concert, with Joseph Vella’s ‘Romanza’, featuring Reggie Clews and Frank Camilleri as solo violinist and violoncellist respectively, giving a local touch to the repertoire. Two Latin numbers, Manuel Maria Ponce Mexican Love Song ‘Estrellita’ and Joaquím Malats’s ‘Serenata Española’ from his Impresiones de España (the latter supposedly another Malta premiere) completed the programme.
In between the musical numbers, two poems, Wystan Hugh Auden’s ‘O tell me the truth about love’ and Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s ‘How do I love thee?’ were recited by Gaulitanus Choir member Joanna Pullicino. The very warm audience was granted an encore, Robert Schumann’s haunting ‘Traϋmerei’.
The Gaulitanus Choir now looks forward to the upcoming edition of Gaulitana: A Festival of Music, which should kick-off in a few weeks’ time.
Photo credits: Terry Camilleri – MGOZ / Betty Bugeja
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