Valeriana: The Titan’s Rock premieres at Gozo’s Astra Theatre in Victoria on May 4 presented by Festivals Malta as part of the Malta Biennale, with the participation of the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra. Esther Lafferty talks to the production’s director DENISE MULHOLLAND who is delighted to be directing this new Maltese opera.

The premiere of Joseph Vella’s first opera, Valeriana: The Titan’s Rock, takes centre stage on May 4 at 7.30pm at the Astra Theatre in Gozo.

Valeriana: The Titan’s Rock Opus 155 is a four-act opera composed by the late Maestro Vella and completed by Maestro Christopher Muscat, himself a former composition student of Vella.

The opera is based on a libretto by Vincent Vella, the regional winner for Europe in the BBC World Service Radio Playwrighting Competition 2007. This opera will be conducted by Muscat himself, who will be leading the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra for this world premiere.

“I’m told that Mro Joseph Vella, who was a big part of the Astra Theatre ‘family’, had always talked of composing an opera,” explains director Denise Mulholland, “choosing to base his work on an award-winning play in English by Vincent Vella to maximise the opera’s appeal.

“Although he had sketched out his ideas for acts three and four, he had only completed the first two acts when he died [in 2018], and so, Christopher Muscat – who is also the conductor of the upcoming opera – stepped up and completed the work. Christopher was a former student of Joseph Vella’s, so the fact that he was able to do this is both a great tribute to the maestro and a fitting addition to Vella’s legacy.”

Mulholland says the opera’s music is “beautiful, with soaring melodies, and unexpected”, adding that Gozo is well-known for its opera and, while audiences are generally familiar with the classics, the upcoming opera will be new to everyone.

“We’ve worked hard to ensure the storytelling is spot on, especially for those who aren’t accustomed to contemporary music,” she adds.

The story is set on Valeriana, a fictional island in an Italian archipelago in 1943. It’s rooted in this specific time during World War II, before the overthrowing of Mussolini, and yet is very relevant today.

Miriam Cauchi as Teresa and Ilyas Ige Sultana as Nello. Photos: Marija Grech

The director went on to say the opera is an interesting piece about adversity and resistance, family and humanity, and it raises questions about what happens when people are given absolute power.

In the opera, two key characters are ranged against one another: Cirillo, played by Maltese baritone Louis Andrew Cassar who, having been bullied throughout his childhood, has a burning desire for revenge and, as a fascist despot, becomes increasingly unhinged; and Rosario, played by Mexican tenor Andrés Moreno García.

Rosario is a quick-tempered fisherman who was shipwrecked on the island and fell in love with a local girl, Teresa, played by Gozitan favourite Miriam Cauchi. During the war, as a Maltese citizen with a British passport on Italian soil, he’s confined to the island.

“It’s a feeling of isolation many of us can connect to, having been cut-off during COVID,” muses the director. “The cast performs on a simple set with a mirrored surface that serves as Valeriana and highlights the claustrophobic nature of life on a small rock in the middle of the sea.

“Other singers include Marvic Monreal, who is making a huge name for herself in the opera world, and Brian Cefai, a very well-known tenor,” adds Mulholland.

We’ve worked hard to ensure the storytelling is spot on, especially for those who aren’t accustomed to contemporary music

The director says she worked behind the scenes with a team including Luke Azzopardi as costume designer, who she says added a modern edge to period costumes.

The team also includes Anthony Bonnici as set designer, Moritz Zavan as lighting designer and Anthony Mizzi as the video artist who, because the play was written in a cine­matographic way, has added poignant additions to the show.

“Together they’ve created a clean aesthetic with a dream-like quality,” she says.

As director, Mulholland has taken a Verismo approach, keeping the onstage action natural and honest against abstract and projected backdrops that are continually changing – from a piazza to a beach, a kitchen, etc.

These backdrops add atmosphere and mood and serve almost as an additional character. The video element has also given them the scope to show a character’s thoughts in an innovative way – for example, you can see Cirillo’s imagined interactions with Mussolini as his fantasies unfold on the screen behind him.

Louis Andrew Cassar as Cirillo.

As Cirillo becomes increasingly psychotic, another of the characters – Il Professore (played by Noel Galea) – warns that “Today’s vengeance is the seed of tomorrow’s hatred”, concerned what the behaviour seen in Valeriana is teaching the island’s children. This is a universal premise that is valid today in the Middle East and other conflict zones around the world.

Il Professore also asks who will stop a tyrant doing what he wants if people behave with apathy and resignation. Mulholland sees apathy is a global challenge that affects all of us, and as Cirillo envisages building luxury villas along his island’s small coastline, the audience can draw their own comparison with contemporary politics.

“Although the themes are quite heavy, and the setting is a dark time in history, there’s still plenty of humour,” she smiles. “Also, the characters include Sanz Sel, a comical curmudgeonly old baker who is played by Spanish baritone Pau Armengol Torrella.”

The chorus also adds an additional lightness. Rather than simply being a set of voices, each member has their own character on-stage and act out their own mini-stories within the groups, a touch of which Mulholland is particularly proud.

And as the Malta Biennale continues, driving discourse on our heritage, on decolonisation, on peace and politics, the harmonic voices of Valeriana: The Titan’s Rock offer an operatic commentary on the past and the present in the Mediterranean, and beyond, in this glorious ground-breaking performance.