Valletta International Baroque Festival: Italian sacred polyphony in 17th-century Malta

By Anthony Hart, 21 January 2013

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Reviewed at St Nicholas (All Souls) Church, Valletta on 16 January 2013

Foggia, Vanitas

Foggia, Missa in Die Laetitiae

Asola, Lapidaverunt Stephanum

Asola, Te gloriosus Apostolorum

Works by Bassani

Leonarda, Ave Regina Coelorum

Rubino, O quam suavis est

Monteverdi, Salve Regina

Cappella Sanctae Catherinae

Marianne Crebassa: potent and versatile at Leeds Song

Richard Wilcocks, 12th April

Accompanied by Joseph Middleton, Marianne Crebassa performs an exquisite recital of Debussy, Mahler, Mompou and Ravel.

*****

Eroica: Riccardo Minasi and the WASO

Sandra Bowdler, 11th April

Guest conductor Riccardo Minasi leads the West Australian Symphony Orchestra with a program of old favourites, with outstanding contribution from trumpeter Jenna Smith

***11

A superb Salzburg sojourn: Philadelphia Orchestra plays Mozart

Cameron Kelsall, 11th April

Guest conductor Harry Bicket brings a sense of urgency to Mozart's Requiem and pulse-quickening energy to Symphony no. 40.

****1

Artistry at full throttle: Rafael Payare and the Pittsburgh Symphony

Sam Jacobson, 10th April

Can one be artful and musical while playing at maximum volume? In a program of López, Prokofiev and Stravinsky, Rafael Payare and the Pittsburgh Symphony answer a resounding yes.

*****

Chicago Symphony Orchestra music on death: whimper then bang

Graham Meyer, 9th April

Jakub Hrůša leads the CSO in pedestrian Janáček and Rachmaninov, but Strauss's Four Last Songs and Wagner's Tristan excerpts send audiences home deeply touched.

***11

Andris Nelsons and the BSO arrive in New York, with baggage in tow

Cameron Kelsall, 9th April

In his first New York appearance since the termination of his contract as BSO Music Director, Nelsons courts public sympathy and makes some thrilling music.

***11

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Anthony Hart

Anthony Hart, born in the UK, now lives in Malta. He was presented papers for Società Italiana di Musicologia and the International Musicological Society. He a Licentiate of the London College of Music. He has had papers published in Early Music, Studi Musicali and Fonti Musicali Italiane.