Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/761508
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 11 DECEMBER 2016 This Week 33 Don't Suck, Manoel Dimech Street, Sliema from noon until 18:00. Fea- turing artisanal items by CORE GREEN: Organic & Fairtrade (food and household products), Xineza, Mary Ann Attard Ceramics (hand- made bowls and plates), Ro Art (ce- ramic decor and art), Berivan Serin Stone Painting (whimsical painted stones), NO.ME (upcycled dé- cor), ViragDesign (jewellery), Paul Singleton (Woodturner – wood- works), Studio Ìra Design (scarves and textiles), Margarita Storey (leather goods) and quirky trade- mark Malta-themed souvenirs from Souvenirs That Don't Suck. WHAT'S ON my ambition as Chef Patron Fund my business. Choose the freshest ingredients. Wow my customers. BANIF BUSINESS ACCELERATE MY TRUSTED PARTNER IN BUSINESS BANKING The SME Transactions benefit from support from the European Union pursuant to the SME Initiative, with funding by the European Union under the ERDF and Horizon 2020 and by the European Investment Fund and the European Investment Bank. SME Initiative 2014-2020 "Stimulating private sector investment for economic growth" Financed by the European Union European Regional Development Fund Terms and conditions apply. Loans are subject to the Bank's lending criteria. The Bank reserves the right to withdraw the product from the market at its own discretion. Banif Bank (Malta) plc is a credit institution licensed to undertake the business of banking by the MFSA in terms of the Banking Act 1994. Registered in Malta C41030 - 203, Level 2, Rue D' Argens, Gzira, GZR 1368. Banif Business Accelerate offers me the possibility of financing my business with minimal security and advantageous terms. Talk to us today. ON Friday, December 16 at 20:00 interna- tionally-renowned soprano, Miriam Gauci, and pianist Michael Laus, Resident Conduc- tor of the Malta Philharmonic, come together for a recital, at the Manoel Theatre, Valletta. This recital, by internationally-renowned Maltese soprano, Miriam Gauci, and pia- nist Michael Laus, Resident Conductor of the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, will start with a selection from Rossini's Serate Musi- cali, written when the composer, still in his early forties, decided to retire from writing operas, after the Parisian success of Guil- laume Tell. Liszt's settings of three of Petrar- ch's sonnets are incredible in the way that the composer managed to capture the meaning and colours of Petrarch's words with his then avant-garde harmonies and melodic lines. Wagner wrote the five songs based on poems by Matilde Wesendonk, the wife of one of his patrons, while he was working on Tristan und Isolde. In fact, Wagner himself described two of the songs as studies for Tristan. To- gether with Siegfried Idyll, the so-called Wesendonk Lieder are his most frequently- performed non-operatic compositions. The recital will finish exuberantly with Manuel de Falla's Siete Canciones Populares Españolas, seven songs which are based on colourful and traditional Spanish tunes. Miriam Gauci started her vocal education with her aunt, soprano Hilda Tabone. At an early age, she obtained a scholarship to study in Milan, where she made her home. She ob- tained her diploma in singing from the Con- servatorio 'Giuseppe Verdi' and the diploma from the Centro di Perfezionamento Artisti Lirici from the Teatro alla Scala. During this period her professors for singing were Lia Guarini and the world-famous mezzo-sopra- no Giulietta Simionato. She also studied stag- ing techniques with Marisa Flask at La Scala and Renato Zanella and Vladimir Delman at the Teatro Studio in Bologna. Michael Laus graduated in piano, harpsi- chord, composition, and conducting at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi of Milan in 1982. He later participated in master classes in conducting given by George Manahan in the United States and Vladimir Delman in Bologna. Principal Conductor of Malta's national orchestra for twenty-five years and now its Resident Conductor, he has con- ducted the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra in symphonic concerts both in Malta's main concert venues and on tour in Belgium and Italy. There will be a pre-concert talk at 19:30. Bookings: www.teatrumanoel.com.mt, book- ings@teatrumanoel.com.mt or 2124 6389 Miriam Gauci Soprano Miriam Gauci returns to the Manoel Theatre stage Acclaimed pianist Richard Clayderman will be performing at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, Valletta tonight Malcolm Galea and Katherine Brown in Puss in Boots