Salotto Musicale

Salotto Musicale Barocco Foundation in collaboration with Din l-Art Ħelwa presents sopranos Marouska Attard and Bianca Simone accomapanied by pianist Irina Fedcenko-Carbonaro during an enjoyable lunchtime concert at Our Lady of Victory church, Valletta to listen to the unique works of Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini and Viardot. This recital is on Tuesday 28 January 2025 at 12:30pm. Join us and take a peep at the atmosphere of a private 19th-century salon as we attempt to reconstruct the aura of the times. In the reception rooms of affluent families across Europe, it was customary to spend leisure time enjoying good music, often performed by the guests or the hosts themselves. The education of young ladies from well-to-do families always included adequate musical training, particularly in the study of the piano or harp, sometimes string instruments, but especially singing. In these cultured gatherings, one could hear both easily accessible arias, requiring little effort to perform, and pieces drawn from famous operas. Renowned composers among them Bellini with “Vaga luna, che inargenti”. “Plaisir d’amour " by Martini, and Donizetti’s “La lontananza” willingly engaged with this repertoire of entertainment, achieving results of great musical and poetic charm. Gioachino Rossini is undoubtedly one of the most representative composers of this Bel Canto period. His collection Soirées Musicales, published in 1835, is the crowning jewel of a rich production, where the vocal virtuosity required demonstrates that this repertoire was also frequented by professional musicians and provided an opportunity to display skill and vocal splendour. In the same vein are the little-known but magnificent pieces by Pauline Viardot. Pauline, the daughter of the great vocal pedagogue Manuel García and younger sister of the celebrated singer Maria Malibran, who was herself an excellent mezzo-soprano and a skilled pianist. She often had the opportunity to perform with Chopin, who approved of her arrangements of some of his mazurkas and other compositions. In the salons, people would play and sing together, and duets were undoubtedly the highlight of the evening: often sealing the harmony and shared sensibility of the artists but sometimes serving as an occasion for rivalry and playful quarrels, as might happen today! Salotto Musicale: will be held at Our Lady of Victory church, Valletta on Tuesday 28 January 2025 at 12:30pm. Entrance to the concert is at a suggested donation of €10. One can obtain the tickets prior to the concert from the venue itself or by email: baroccobookings@gmail.com / baroccomalta@gmail.com or phone 79680952.