Colin Attard, artistic director at Gaulitana: A Festival of Music, speaks to Lara Zammit about the Gozo music festival upon its return in April
LZ: This edition of Gaulitana: A Festival of Music has prepared a month-long cultural programme for this coming April. What are some of the highlights audiences can expect?
CA: This 16th edition of Gaulitana: A Festival of Music marks a return to the festival’s fully-fledged live pre-pandemic format. After a number of hybrid and phased editions, an intensive month-long programme of events in various localities around the island is being presented.
International and local artists will be starring in a mix of musical styles, from orchestral to chamber, vocal to instrumental, evening to lunchtime concerts. The conductor Alexander Frey is returning as Artist-in-Residence.
We are lucky to have an array of international artists, notably Tom de Beuckelaer, awarded the “Young Steinway Artist” title in 2021, Matthias Gredler performing on his Guadagnini cello and guitarist Agatino Scuderi of Carnegie Hall fame.
The festival also seeks to bolster the local creative ecology. Michael Laus will be back for an all-Beethoven piano recital on Easter Sunday and fellow Maltese artists performing in Gaulitana include violinists Maria Conrad and Pierre Louis Attard as well as the Gaulitanus Choir which opens the festival.
A particular feature this year will be the exhibition on folk music in Gozo curated by Anna Borg Cardona and Joseph Calleja which shall shed some insight into the island’s rich heritage.
LZ: The opera La Traviata, held as part of the festival at the Aurora Theatre on April 29, includes several internationally renowned singers. What can you tell us about this production?
CA: We are excited to welcome back live opera in our festival. Verdi’s best-loved opera, La Traviata presents top names in the operatic world.
The title role features the soprano Ekaterina Bakanova who shot to stardom in 2015 with a last-minute debut at Covent Garden, while Francesco Meli, billed as “probably the best Alfredo in terms of timbre and vocal expression”, sings Alfredo.
Piero Terranova, returning to Gozo after his acclaimed Aida in October, complements them as the cast also includes local artists Alan Sciberras and Louis Andrew Cassar.
As usual, the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra and the Gaulitanus Choir shall feature, this time in a production directed by Enrico Castiglione.
This year, the concept is inspired by the camellia, the flower closely associated with Violetta in the original plot by Alexandre Dumas.
LZ: The Gaulitanus Choir, the organiser of the festival, has sedimented itself as a prime mover of culture in Gozo. What makes your role as artistic director rewarding and what are some of the challenges you have faced?
CA: Surely, being a key person in revitalising classical music events in Gozo since the early eighties is in itself very satisfying. We do this out of love for the arts and music; there are no financial rewards.
Of course, nothing comes easily. All is very challenging and we have huge limitations. We are a small organisation who doesn’t even have its own premises.
Resources – whether human or financial – are what they are. Organising a full operatic production in Gozo is already daunting; imagine having it in parallel with a full-scale festival! More so as funding is very limited – especially when compared to what it is like in the mainland.
LZ: What plans do you have for the choir and the festival?
CA: The upcoming edition of Gaulitana: A Festival of Music is surely a big test to assess our post-pandemic potential.
A few months ago, the Gaulitanus Choir has managed to re-embark on international touring and we are keenly looking forward to our forthcoming venture abroad.
Invariably, we have been quite discerning and open to endorse change. This is perhaps even more topical now. We hope to remain ever more relevant and sustainable, while enjoying ourselves, as always.
Gaulitana: A Festival of Music, an EFFE Label awardee, is principally supported by the Investment in Cultural Organisations – Gozo of Arts Council Malta and the Ministry for Gozo. Festival events are free of charge and no reservations are required. Booking for La Traviata is available on teatruaurora.com or via the ticket helpline 7904 5779. The full calendar of events can be accessed online.