Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/455578
III This week maltatoday, Sunday, 1 February 2015 This week Malta's contribution to music programme culminating with the performance of Abos' most successful work – his Stabat Mater – the popularit y of which is evidenced by the great number of copies found in archives around Europe. The Stabat Mater is a work of eighteen stanzas, followed by the Amen, set by Abos in five move- ments. Each movement begins with an instrumental passage, setting the ambience for what is to follow. What is most striking about the piece is perhaps its great dramatic qualit y, giving life to the text through such Baroque techniques as word painting. The work was originally scored for two sopranos and alto, two violins and continuo organ, the particular version performed for the festival realised by Maestro Joseph Vella. The importance given to the voice in Abos' work was here fully evidenced in the demanding vocal lines sung by the perfectly matched voices of sopranos Mhairi Lawson and Gillian Zammit, and mezzo-soprano Clare Ghigo. Originally writ- ten for three castrati, the piece has an operatic qualit y t ypical of Baroque sacred music, with the vocal lines, although singing together, treated as individual solo arias in true celebration of the human voice. Once again, the programme for this event set Abos' works alongside those by international composers who also explored the full potentialities of the voice: Handel and the Italian Agostino Steffani. The evening however also featured a composition by a second Maltese composer, Michel 'Ang Vella who, much like Abos, was sent to study in Naples. While no evidence has been found of Abos' works ever having been performed in Malta, Vella was one of the few Maltese allowed to compose cantatas for the Order. VIBE here performed Vella's Sonata a Tre op. 1 No. 6 for three violins accompanied by Viola da Gamba and Harp continuo. The third and final event, also taking place at St Paul 's, was a tribute to Abos by interna- tionally-renowned Die Kolner Akademie, directed by Michael Alexander Willens. The Akad- emie performed three more sacred works by Abos, namely a Magnificat, Benedictus Dominus and a mass for two choirs. This performance was once again the fruit of research carried out by Willens and Dr Frederick Aqui- lina, who edited the works, at the archives of Mdina. Excitingly, the evening's performance by Die Kolner Akademie was recorded for release by cpo records (Clas- sic Produktion Osnabrück) later this year, expected to be avail- able by Christmas 2015. Each of the works performed by the Akademie stood as a testament to the full-f lowering of Abos' sacred st yle. The first of the pieces on the programme, the Magnificat, was originally scored for a choir of four voices, two horns, strings and con- tinuo organ. The Benedictus, a composition of special interest in that few Maltese settings of this canticle exist, was scored for five voices and an orchestra includ- ing two oboes, a trumpet or horn and solo bassoon. It is speculated that this piece might have been composed for the Cathedral of Naples, and it is markedly grandiose when compared to the sparse forces employed for such works as the Stabat Mater. Finally, the most dramatic mo- ment of all was reserved for the Messa a due cori, also believed to have been composed for the Neapolitan Cathedral. Scored for two choirs of five voices each and two orchestras, the mass features alternating passages of choral and solo numbers. Once again, it was the voice that was given a starring role, with some truly spectacular moments of vocal interplay and virtuosic display, as in the Qui Sedes ad dexterma Patris and the closing movement of the work, lent dramatic sup- port by the use of trumpets. As professed by the artistic director of the festival, Kenneth Zammit Tabona, the Baroque Festival has set the ball rolling to fulfil one of its aims of "interna- tionalising Malta's contribution to music". The festival not only provides a platform for the per- formance of recovered Maltese works, but also gives incentive to musicologists and researchers to continue their work of uncover- ing further musical treasures. As Zammit Tabona explains, an im- portant aspect of the work of the festival is to facilitate academic interest in the archives, and to stimulate further research and performance of Maltese music. Plans for future editions of the festival include the performance of Maltese works found in the archives, such as those by Bon- aventura and Giomelli. This effort certainly seems to have been appreciated. The popularit y of the festival is grow- ing exponentially every year, although unfortunately some venues may have to be reconsid- ered in future, with most events packed to bursting. Neverthe- less, it is heartening to see such interest being generated in the exploration of Malta's Baroque musical heritage. Die Kolner Akademie Girolamo Abos Passacaglia Ensemble