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Thursday, June 01, 2000
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Celebrity Concert at the Gozo Cathedral |
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Gerald Fenech (The Malta Independent) |
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The Timeless setting of the Gozo Cathedral in Victoria was the venue for a widely varied and interesting concert held under the patronage of the Minister of Gozo and generous sponsors including the San Lawrenz Leisure Resort. An orchestra and the Chorus Ecclesiae Cathedralis were under the direction of the young and promising Joseph Debrincat together with soprano Rita Dimech.
The eclectic programme included works by various classical composers together with a smattering of local talent such as Azopardi, Pace and John Galea. Indeed Pace’s Eventide was beautifully paced as was Azopardi’s Laudamus, both works of intrinsic technical beauty. Debrincat also found room for spacious interpretations of Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, here I had some qualms about the string sound which was occasionally undernourished but still the vitality and ebb of the music came across very well indeed especially in the bucolic concluding Allegro. The Intermezzo from Mascagni’s Cavalleria was also quite beautifully played Although again a fuller body of strings would have done better justice to Mro Debrincat’s symphonic vista of the piece.
Enter Rita Dimech with La Vergine degli Angeli. Her soft sweet voice was a balm to the ears and an utter control vibrato and testitura was constantly in evidence. Her Vissi d’arte was also very involved and quite intense with real passion behind that much abused text. Debrincat’s accompaniments were thoughtful and measured with just the right balance between orchestra and solist. For good measure, Debrincat also threw in the romantic Prelude to the Third Act of La Traviata and Elgar’s Serenade for Strings (the Larghetto) which evidenced his wide repertoire. John Galea’s Canticum for Strings was perhaps the highlight of the evening for its deep diffuse harmonies married with contemporary techniques that had the orchestra quite stretched at times.
Mozart’s Ave Verum Corpus, Verdi’s Va Pensiero and the simple beautiful Agnus Dei by Bizet were the choral items that stood out very well indeed with sturdy singing by the Chorus Ecclesiae Cathedralis. Indeed the whole concert was thoroughly enjoyable and augurs well all elements involved especially Joseph Debrincat who is definitely a name to watch in the local (and hopefully, international) scene. |
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