Walter Micallef and friends

Perhaps I am biased because he is my brother, but Walter Micallef's concert at St James Cavalier yesterday week was a very heartfelt and extraordinary experience.

Perhaps it was because he captured moments from our childhood, our upbringing - the love for animals and nature, which we were taught to respect. Or because he evoked memories of the aches and pains of growing up, of when we were young and uncertain, seeking the things that made us feel big and strong only to be disappointed with them. He took me back to the years of our youth when we were so sure of our loves and our ideals.

In his medley of love songs Walter reminded us of his first love, then took us through a journey where, as the years went by, love took on different feelings: sometimes exhilarating, sensual, fulfilling; sometimes frustrating and unreturned, feelings of guilt for love that should not be.

His pieces on social themes, on the other hand, brim with humour and irony, a humour also expressed in between songs when he was introducing his works to the audience. In these compositions he demonstrates his passion for all living creatures, our surroundings and our country.

His private life certainly may have inspired some of his songs, although the words are universal and his experiences common to all.

Certainly his touching frankness and the candid way he expresses himself so sensitively, with few words heavy with meaning, gives his work an aura of magic, as does the brilliant music that reflects the moods evoked by his words.

Music filled with haunting hints of percussions accompanying the vibrant warm notes on the guitars and bass, the wailing harmonica in tune with his disillusions. The piano accordion's soft enveloping notes dreamily float with his desires. All was so simply combined to produce a smooth and all-round feeling of words and music leaving me spellbound.