Valletta Baroque Music Festival to ‘open up’ genre, featured on French TV

"All is set for the very first edition of the Valletta International Baroque Festival, a festival which will see some of Europe's top Baroque interpreters celebrating Valletta's baroque identity with fifteen performances over a span of more than two weeks starting from the 9 and finishing on the 26 January 2013 with a Grand Ball inside Teatru Manoel."

This was announced by Kenneth Zammit Tabona, Artistic Director of the Festival during a press conference today inside the Oratory of St John's Co-Cathedral, one of the venues of the forthcoming festival.

Addressing the press, Zammit Tabona explained how a number of Baroque venues throughout Valletta will become a stage to provide a natural backdrop to some of the most esteemed baroque ensembles and orchestras that are renowned across the world.

"Our very own Teatru Manoel, the President's Palace, St John's Co-Cathedral and its splendid Oratory, the Jesuits' Church and the Church of all Souls will host this varied programme of performances, one performance every evening starting at 19:30. These venues will contribute to the unique experience that this Festival is bound to deliver.

"However, one of the ideas behind the staging of this Festival was also to open up and promote the beauty of baroque music to more people. This is why we have decided that the two Sundays in this 16-day programme have been dedicated to free baroque events for all the family," Zammit Tabona added.

"We are delighted that local and foreign contemporary and highly respected exponents of the Baroque idiom will be actively engaging with the public during these two Baroque Sundays which should make these events highly memorable and special," Artistic Director of the Festival Kenneth Zammit Tabona said.

Paul Attard, from St John's Co-Cathedral Foundation, explained how St John's Co-Cathedral will be playing a major role in this first edition of the Festival.

"Besides the Oratory which will be hosting the Anon Ensemble, a group of musicians led by Michael Laus on Sunday 13 and an organ recital by Wayne Marshall inside the main church on Sunday 20, St John's will also be hosting what is being considered as one of the main concerts on Thursday 17 January by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, considered as one of the finest baroque orchestras in the world.

"So much so that the French classic music TV station Mezzo will be travelling to Malta purposely to film this concert. The Foundation, recognises the huge potential for exposure that Malta and Valletta can gain from this concert and has agreed to sponsor some of the costs involved."

Mario de Marco, Minister for Tourism, Culture and the Environment said that the Malta Tourism Authority immediately understood the vision and the concept behind this Valletta Baroque Festival and saw the great potential that it is offering from an incoming tourism perspective.

This is why throughout 2012, the MTA through its various offices round Europe, gave its backing to this event.

In fact, Minister de Marco said, the MTA financed a number of adverts and promotional spots in some of the more important tourism and specialised musical publications that come out in those countries where baroque music enjoys a lot of following such as Germany, the Netherlands, France, the UK and Italy. This marketing campaign was an intense one which has put Malta on the baroque map, promoting the country with a new niche of specialised travellers.  

MTA France was particularly instrumental in this campaign where it financed a TV advertising campaign on French classic music TV station Mezzo which featured the Festival's one-minute promotional video for two consecutive weeks.

The festival has already caught the eye of the international baroque circles in fact, most performing acts for the Festival's 2014 edition have already started being confirmed, stated Minister de Marco.

Baroque Sunday - January 13

On Sunday, January 13, two Toi Toi Baroque Bonanza will be delivered on Teatru Manoel's main stage during two seperate one-hour sessions, a morning session at 10.30hrs and an afternoon session at 14:30. These two Toi Toi workshops, delivered by Rosetta DeBattista will unveil the beauty of the baroque era, through the music of Corelli, Matteis and Simpson brought by the four fine musicians that make up La Sainte Folie Fantatsique, a French ensemble which will be performing at the Church of all Souls the day before, the 12th of January. These four young specialists in this field will take the public, especially the children aged 8-14 on this trail, looking at the styles of playing and composition. The musicians will also be joined by dancers from the School of Performing Arts, University of Malta.

On the same day, the Anon Ensemble, a group of musicians led by Michael Laus will be performing two seperate concerts inside the Oratory of St John's Co-Cathedral, at 14:00 and15:30.

Baroque Sunday - January 20

Sunday, January 20 will feature another two Toi Toi Baroque Bonanza sessions this time inside the Teatru Manoel's courtyard at 10.30hrs and 14.30hrs featuring Simon Abdilla Joslin on the cello, Gjorgji Cinsievski on Double Bass, Daniel Cauchi on Percussion and Ramona Zammit Formosa on the Harpsichord. These two workshops which will also feature the dancers from the School of Performing Arts at the University of Malta will explore the life and music of Antonio Vivaldi in some unconventional and interesting ways, using mainly his sonatas as a backdrop for this interactive experience.

At 15:00, the main organ at St John's Co-Cathedral will become the absolute protagonist at the hands of Wayne Marshall with an organ recital featuring four distinct works by Johann Sebastian Bach.

Entrance to all the performances on both Baroque Sundays is free of charge but it is recommended that the public affects a reservation to these performances by contacting Teatru Manoel's booking office on [email protected] or on 21 246389.

The Valletta International Baroque Festival will come to an end on Saturday, January 26 with a Grand Baroque Ball inside the Teatru Manoel where all those attending will be wearing baroque costumes.