Concert
Duo Arcadia di Roma
Xewkija Rotunda

The first event I could attend of the fifth Gaulitana Festival was the Duo Arcadia di Roma, with Laura Biano on violin and Francesco Vignanelli on cello. The concert was held in the Sculpture Museum.

As Colin Attard, the festival’s artistic director said in his introduction, the festival aims at involving various localities in Gozo in its events. This one was held with the full collaboration of the archpriest, Mgr Carmelo Mercieca, and the Xewkija local council.

The venue proved ideal for this recital of chamber music. It involved a rather unusual line-up in these islands, one which only in relatively recent times, thanks to another such duo, has been delighting music-lovers. When the Duo Arcadia di Roma started off their recital with J.S. Bach’s Duet No.3 in G, one felt that the ideal balance was not fully achieved, with the cello often sounding too powerful and the violin at certain points seemingly not too decisive in delivery. However, with Pleyel’s very charming Duo in D, Opus 13, No. 2 that balance was achieved and remained paramount throughout the rest of the recital. The opening very melodious moderato was followed by a lively minuetto in which at times tempo tended to be too fast. As for the Choros bis, No. 1 by Villa-Lobos this provided an opportunity for the duo to display their versatility regarding colour, texture and idiom. There were some pungent touches to it and also some very colourful harmonic clashes.

The remaining works on the programme consisted of works in several movements, five in Swiss composer Walther Aeschbacher’s Duo in G minor, Opus 26 and eight in Federico Bonetti Amendola’s suite Oh Nuit. Aeschbacher (1901-69) wrote his Duo in G minor in a most approachable and pleasant idiom in which the melodic material is generally equally shared by the performers, with perhaps the second andante leaning more in favour of the violin.

Here Ms Bianco’s very smooth and enchanting cantabile was at its best. The work, which began with a mood-setting andante alternated in contrasting tempi with Invention preceding the second andante and continued with a Kanon and Doppelfuge. The duo’s interaction was very good and playing was decisively crisp.

This bode well for the final work which was especially dedicated to the duo by the composer himself. Bonetti Amendola’s music in his Oh Nuit evoked and conjured up different impressions of night. The opening adagio came across very serenely but the following allegro evoked a rather turbulent night. The cello’s obstinate and strongly rhythmic voice was maintained while the violin had its own comments and statements to utter. In the andante there was again some very beautiful violin work, while initially both instruments endowed the movement marked calmo with an eerie, almost unreal sensation until the sound mellowed into something more comforting. I liked the Bartokian touches to the allegro vivace. The three concluding movements kept up this wide-ranging tapestry of contrasts with yet another allegro full of urgency and sweep, an adagio libero which fully lived up to its description and the final allegro moderato bringing the suite to a decisive finish.

• The Gaulitana Festival runs until May 15. More information may be obtained from Maestro Attard by e-mail: colinatt@go.net.mt.