Maltese culture promoted in Vienna

Soprano Lydia Caruana was the protagonist of a cultural event in Vienna held on the initiative of Malta International Airport's chief executive officer Peter Bolech.

The concert, held in the prestigious Palais Ferstel, right in the heart of the capital city of music, is "well in line with MIA's objective to promote Maltese culture, combining it with that of Austria and, more importantly, to enhance Malta's image beyond our shores in an effort to make it more known and therefore encourage the cultural tourist to visit the island", an MIA spokesman said.

Ms Caruana, who is increasingly making a name for herself also in the Austrian and German repertoires, proved her talent in a varied programme of exquisitely selected arias ably accompanied by the Wiener Klang Ensemble. This classical quintet is made up of high calibre string musicians, all soloist professionals in their own merit, who also form part of the Vienna State Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic.

The first part of the programme consisted of Austrian and German compositions while the second part featured mostly Italian operatic music that until recently was the dominant influence on Maltese music and is probably still the most popular genre in Malta.

The common element between the two parts was Mozart, an Austrian composer who was very German in his orchestral and chamber music and very Italian when it came to his vocal compositions. In fact, in the first part of the concert , the aria Chi sa, chi sa, qual sia could have been taken straight out of any of his operas. Even Mozart's instrumental music, however, shows the influence of the Italian school particularly in the writing out of his melodies which more often than not follow a vocal line.

The Wiener Klang Ensemble in this case differed from the classical chamber ensemble in that the double bass took the place of the cello. There were also two violins, first and second, as well as a viola. This meant that most of the works performed were arrangements, mostly from orchestral works for these particular instruments. Together with these instruments was a piano that more often than not took up the role of filling in the orchestral colours. Pianist Maria Elena Fernandez proved to be an asset to the performance of the ensemble.

The evening was concluded with Ms Caruana responding to the audience's enthusiastic applause with a rendering of popular encores to the delight of the 300 or so guests present.

The event was organised by MIA in conjunction with Vienna Airport and the Embassy of Malta in Vienna with the support of Raiffeisen Bank, Sparkasse, Bawag, Boesendorfer and The Knights of St John of Malta.