Louise Alder, the steadily growing star who hails from the UK, won the award for best Young Singer at the Critics’ Circle Music Awards 2019 and the International Opera Awards 2017. Alder also represented England in the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition 2017, where she won the third round and took home the Dame Joan Sutherland Audience Prize. These are only a handful of the awards the singer has received over the past few years since starting her illustrious career. 

With an impressive portfolio and a steady stream of engagements at international venues as revered as Graz Musikverein in Austria, Oper Frankfurt in Germany, the Southbank Centre’s Wigmore Hall and Holywell Music Room in the UK, Malta’s national theatre is now very excited to welcome the soprano to its stage.

“The level of excitement about the artists assembling for A Celebration of Opera is extraordinary, and we are especially delighted to present rising international opera superstar Louise Alder – in her Teatru Manoel debut with Cliff Zammit Stevens – as the icing on the cake,” said Teatru Manoel’s Kate Fenech Field. 

While this will indeed be Alder’s debut at the Manoel, it will not be her first visit to Malta, nor her first time singing opposite established local talent, Cliff Zammit Stevens. The pair sang together in the fifth edition of Zammit Stevens’ Annual Summer Concert in 2013, which was held in Archbishop Square in Mdina. 

Louise Alder. Photo: Gerard Collett

This esteemed soprano and tenor will reunite, joined by special guests, for Transatlantic Drift – the gala night celebrating opera’s Anglo-Americana oeuvre. The evening, on Saturday, March 12 at 8pm, will follow musical exchanges between the shores of the Atlantic, and will feature the classical work of Purcell, Handel, Britten and Stravinsky, and contemporary standard opera company repertoire such as Gershwin, Sondheim and Weill. 

“Transatlantic Drift signifies a journey for repertoire in the English language, starting with the Baroque delights of Purcell, navigating Stravinsky’s cerebral masterpiece The Rake’s Progress, and culminating in an evocative tribute to Stephen Sondheim, with excerpts from his masterpiece Sweeney Todd,” Fenech Field explained about the musical selection. 

A Celebration of Opera is directed for the stage by Caroline Clegg with music direction by Riccardo Bianchi, orchestral arrangements by Veronique Vella and Federico Bonoldi, and the musical accompaniment of the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO).

Teatru Manoel CEO Massimo Zammit looks forward to introducing the critically acclaimed talent to theatre audiences.

“A Celebration of Opera is an opportunity for everyone, whether they are seasoned opera buffs or especially new to this genre, to enjoy these four eclectic musical evenings, through an innovative reworking that celebrates its many variations. Just as our star guest, Louise Alder, is very excited to be performing at Malta’s operatic home, we at Teatru Manoel are equally thrilled to be hosting her.”

A Celebration of Opera will take place at Teatru Manoel on March 10, 11, 12 and 13, 2022 at 8pm, and is suitable for audience members aged six and above. All events are in line with the current public health guidelines. Tickets may be booked via e-mail at bookings.mt@teatrumanoel.mt, by telephone on 2124 6389 or online at www.teatrumanoel.mt.