Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1490058
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 15 JANUARY 2023 6 Viva l'Opera: Gaulitana, a festival of music MUSIC CONCLUDING his review of the highly successful 'Viva Verdi' virtual operatic series (Gaulitana: A Festival of Mu- sic - 14th edition), Albert G. Storace asked: "May one dare hope for more next year?". Tru- ly, when it became clear that it was not going to be possible to stage the festival's annual op- eratic 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 cine- matic-like series. Indeed, the atypical hybrid 15th edition of Gaulitana: A Festival of Music will now be actually brought to an end this month 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 Doni- zetti's 'L'Elisir d'Amore'. Aiming at high artistic and production levels, 'Viva l'Opera' again remodels the time-prov- en operatic genre for a virtual concept, and looks to leave an impact on the national creative ecology as well as a lasting ar- tistic legacy. Rather than con- ventionally staged in a theatre, the scenes from the standard in- ternational operatic repertoire are naturally set and filmed on location at various enchanting venues in Gozo – thus also con- veying their beauty and charm beyond our shores, indeed to the international artistic com- munity. Three very particu- lar Gozitan sites are used: the Gozo Seminary for 'I Pagliacci', Fort Chambray for 'Il Trova- tore', 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 Mi- chael Carol Bartolo with James Debono in charge of the cos- tumes. Meanwhile, as the 'Viva Verdi' series, this project spot- lights some very well-known Malta-based artists. Soprano Gillian Zammit teams up with baritone Louis Andrew Cas- sar for the Leoncavallo mas- terpiece, soprano Andriana Yordanova is supported by so- prano Stephanie Portelli in the Verdi opera which also prom- inently features mezzo-sopra- no Graziella DeBattista, while soprano Nicola Said and tenor Cliff Zammit Stevens appear in the Donizetti favourite. The shooting sessions fol- lowed a fully-professional audio recording held early in 2022 fea- turing the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra (leader: Maria Con- rad), conducted by the Gauli- tana's own artistic director Col- in 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 'differ- ent' audio-visual operatic treat to a wide audience, both local and international, while adding another perspective to Gozo's notable intrinsic link with op- era. The series will be streamed for free on the Gaulitana: A Festi- val of Music facebook page and YouTube channel on three con- secutive Tuesdays in January – the 17th, 24th and 31st – at 19.00hrs and remains available on the organisation's digital platforms. Gaulitana: A Festival of Mu- sic, organised by the Gaulitanus Choir, is an awardee of the Eu- ropean Festivals Association's EFFE label and principally sup- ported by the Investment in Cultural Organisations - Gozo of Arts Council Malta and the Ministry for Gozo.