Gaulitana: A Festival of Music returns in April, as the month-long cultural bonanza transforms Gozo into an island of creativity. The artistic endeavour organised by the Gaulitanus Choir reverts back to its fully-fledged live pre-pandemic format.
Following a number of hybrid editions featuring concerts fused with online productions – with the latest virtual series, Viva l’Opera, reaching 228 thousand online views – the 16th edition of the festival presents a multifarious programme. Tapping its mission to create a platform seeking to enrich Gozo’s cultural output in the leaner months of the year, events will be held in various localities around the island. International and local artists star in an eclectic mix of musical styles, from orchestral to chamber, vocal to instrumental, evening to lunchtime concerts.
Artist-in-residence Alexander Frey leads the array of artists with a lecture-recital on Cole Porter as well as an organ recital.
International chamber ensembles include the guitar duo Seis Cuerdas Dos (Italy), whose musicians have performed at Carnegie Hall, and the highly acclaimed Sapiace Duo (Austria). Piano aficionados are in for a treat as Chinese-Belgian Steinway Artist Tom De Beuckelaer gives a virtuoso recital and Michael Laus interprets an all-Beethoven concert on Easter Day. Daria Aleshina and Marco Podestà team up in a four-hand tribute to festival regular collaborator Giuseppe Fricelli who passed away recently.
The Gaulitanus Choir features in the opening concert on April 2 together with soprano Andriana Yordanova and the Gaulitanus String Orchestra as the latter closes the festival on May 1 alongside internationally renowned German-Austrian musician Matthias Grendler, performing with his Guadagnini cello.
'Manon Lescaut', the opera presented at Gaulitana in 2019.With the organisation aspiring to kindle creativity, educational events and an exhibition on folk music in Gozo curated by Anna Borg Cardona and Joseph Calleja run in parallel.
The festival’s highlight is the return of live opera, with Verdi’s La Traviata, an intrinsic feature in the OPERA+ Weekend, bringing the festival to a climactic end. The full-scale operatic production presents Francesco Meli, Ekaterina Bakanova and Piero Terranova in the main roles with stage direction entrusted once again to Enrico Castiglione. Held on April 29, with the participation of the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra and the Gaulitanus Choir under the baton of Colin Attard, the event will be held at Teatru tal-Opra Aurora under the patronage of George Vella, President of Malta.
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 www.teatruaurora.com or via the ticket helpline 7904 5779. The full calendar of events can be accessed at www.gaulitanus.com.