Cultural Review

Ten years since its conception, Cecilia Xuereb traces the history and evolving vision of a local music festival renowned for its spectacular yet intimate settings as much as for its varied repertoire

It all started in 2013 with an informal telephone call from President George Abela’s office to Cynthia Caruana Turner, the doyen of Maltese pianists. His Excellency, a great music lover, wanted to open up the three presidential palaces—his official residence at San Anton Palace, his summer residence at Verdala Palace, and the Palace of the Grand Master in Valletta where he had his administrative office—to the general public who, he felt, should be more familiar with them. Dr Abela invited Ms Turner to organise a music festival with events to be held in the three palaces. Cynthia readily accepted the invitation but asked that pianist Lucia Micallef and music critic Albert Storace should join her as artistic directors. Thus, the Three Palaces Festival was born and the first edition was held in the first week of November 2013. The Festival immediately got the support of Festivals Malta, the Government Agency that oversees all the Festivals that are held in Malta during the year, and Dr Jose Herrera, then Minister for Culture and the Arts.

With only three months to go and a limited budget, the three directors had to get cracking. Their vision was to have a series of concerts, either recitals or chamber music, which lent themselves to intimate settings. For this, the three palaces were ideal venues since audiences like to be in small settings where they are close to the artist. Since it was envisaged that the Festival should be an annual event, it was decided that the tone and repertoire should vary from year to year. One year it could celebrate Beethoven and in other years the programme could be set around other themes such as war or Romanticism, juxtaposing classical with contemporary works. Programmes had to make sense both individually and as part of the whole. Once the theme was settled, artists who excelled in that particular repertoire were approached, something only possible at the time because of Lucia Micallef’s and Cynthia Turner’s international contacts.

‘Celebrating Music’, the first edition of the Festival, ran for six days. It brought together a glittering line-up of international artists as well as established and excellent upcoming local performers in a mixture of classical, modern, and jazz music. The music of all the programmes had to match the uniqueness of its setting.

The theme of the first edition was Romanticism and the festival opened at Verdala Palace with a chamber music concert by the Nash Ensemble from the U.K., preceded by a talk on ‘Romanticism: The Resonance of Silence’, delivered by Professor Peter Vassallo. Other events held at Verdala Palace were a chamber music recital by two members of the Nash Ensemble and a jazz performance led by ‘City’ Gatt, Malta’s leading jazz musician. Here, too, world-famous pianist and winner of the 1970 Tchaikovsky Prize John Lill gave a masterclass to young pianists, and the Dominic Galea Trio with guest vocalist Deborah Harrison gave another jazz performance.

Two vocal recitals were held at San Anton Palace by sopranos Miriam Cauchi and Lydia Caruana, accompanied by cellist Simon Abdilla Joslin and pianists Maria Frendo and Yvette Galea, respectively. Once again, John Lill performed a selection of Beethoven sonatas.

A vocal and instrumental recital of French music featuring soprano Gillian Zammit, mezzo soprano Clare Ghigo, flautist Rebecca Hall, and Britt Arend on the harp, was held at the Palace in Valletta.

On the final day of the Festival the grounds of Verdala Palace were opened to families who could, moreover, enjoy an afternoon concert by violinist Nadia Debono, pianist Joanne Camilleri, and double bass player Gjorji Cinciesvki. Pianist Charlene Farrugia brought the Festival to an end with a recital at San Anton Palace. Entrance to all events was free of charge.

Soon, The Three Palaces became well-known internationally as the foreign performing artists posted their very positive experiences about the Festival on their websites. Over the next three years, many top international artists agreed to perform for the Festival. These included Barry Douglas, Evelyn Glennie, Tasmin Little, Jaquin Achucarro, Adrian Brendel, and Narelk Hakhnazaryan. Maltese artists were also invited to perform alongside the foreign artists. Lectures, masterclasses, and events for children were also included in the programmes, but the emphasis always remained on the interaction between the music and the Palace.

After three years, there were new applications for Artistic Director; Peter Manning, a leading figure in the classical music world, was appointed for the role, one that he kept for three years.

Inevitably, the vision changed. The new director focussed especially on attracting a younger audience. Young people were invited to attend events specifically meant for them—a feast of classical, modern, and jazz music in rich settings that combined history to the timeless relevance of the music performed. Venues were no longer chosen for their grandeur but for the acoustic and ‘feel’ of the space for ‘music altered the space of buildings’. Manning also believed that the participation of artists with prominent profiles and new stars of the world stage would attract the curiosity and interest of the international arts community and ordinary folk everywhere.

For the first time, the Festival, which still featured local and international artists of exceptional talent, was organised in collaboration with Teatru Manoel. Among the artists who performed in the Throne Room of the Grand Master’s Palace, Verdala Palace, San Anton Palace, and the Manoel Theatre, were soprano Ailyn Perez and cellist Steven Isserlis, as well as classical guitarist Sean Shibe, violinist Ania Safanova, and The Wallace Collection, a brass ensemble. The local contribution to the festival included recitals by violinist Carmine Lauri, jazz pianist Dominic Galea, and soprano Nicola Said. Free masterclasses and workshops in brass, string, and guitar-playing, aimed mostly at performers of the respective instruments, were also open to the general public.

It was, however, becoming increasingly difficult to use the Grand Master’s Palace in Valletta as a concert venue since this still housed the Maltese Parliament. The Auberge de Provence, in Valletta, started to be used as an alternative venue.

‘The Artist As Hero’ was the theme chosen for the fifth edition, in 2017. Once again, Manning sought ‘to shine a focus on the contribution of extraordinary musicians and composers’. Renowned artists, including pianist Andrew Von Oeyen, the cello ensemble of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the Castalian String Quartet, and the Blenheim Singers from Oxford, were only too happy to perform within the beautiful setting of three of Malta’s historical Baroque palaces. This year’s novelty was a special event for young audiences: three morning concerts for school children at Verdala Palace. Local artists included tenor Nico Darmanin and jazz guitarist Sandro Zerafa with his jazz quartet. The Laefer Saxaphone Quartet, specialising in contemporary classical repertoire, brought the programme to an end.

The theme for the sixth edition of the Festival was ‘Youth’ with events, thus, focussed on attracting a younger generation of audiences. Young performers included the young virtuoso pianist Charlene Farrugia, violinist Ian Ellul, soprano Michaela Agius, and the Malta Youth Orchestra.

More established participants included soprano Claire Debono and the O Duo, with a marimba and percussion performance. Both events were held at the Auberge de Provence. This ‘Palace’ also hosted the Stockholm Philharmonic Wind Quintet, Phantasm, a consort of viols, the Koncz String Quartet from Vienna, and Les Musicians de Louvre, considered one of the best orchestras in the world. Veteran multi-talented musician Dominic Galea led a jazz trio.

In 2019, Michelle Cachia Castelletti took over from Peter Manning as artistic director of the Three Palaces Festival. Dr Castelletti’s interest in history favoured an interdisciplinary site-curated approach to the Festival. Underlying this approach was the concept that ‘our ordinary is actually extraordinary’ and that the value of what is so often taken for granted should be underlined. The music was to embrace architecture alongside history to create new experiences.

The 2019 programme included 23 tableaux vivants inspired by the works of Caravaggio presented by a Neapolitan company at the Church of St Mary Magdalene in Valletta, though the focus remained on the music. The programme included a piano recital by Angel Hewitt and a violin and theorbo recital by Sarah Spiteri and Zapico, as well as a trio recital by members of the Goldberg Ensemble. Sandro Zerafa and Vincent Bourgeyx jazzed up the music of Scriabin on the piano and the guitar. Julia Pölönen’s recital on the kantele, a traditional Finnish and Karelian plucked string instrument, was a first for Malta.

2020 brought to an end all live performances and, for the next two years, the Festival went online. Dr Castelletti sought ‘to create palaces in our minds’. Performances, chamber music, and choral, were streamed both from venues in Malta and abroad by local and by foreign performers. To celebrate the anniversary of the death of Caravaggio and the birth of Dante in 2021 various artists were invited to work on different themes related to these two geniuses. Nel mezzo del cammin, a title taken from the opening line of Dante’s Divina Commedia was a theatrical text-based piece that reflected the chiaroscuro technique of the painter and the journey from hell to heaven of the poet. It was performed by Maltese dancers to music written by Maltese composers and brought together music, spoken word, and dance. It was filmed in dramatic baroque corridors and deep below the earth in the air-raid shelter and catacombs below the Wignacourt Museum in Rabat. Online performances increased the size of the audience of the Festival as well as affecting its nature.

In 2022, restrictions were lifted and the Festival went back to ‘real life’. By now the Festival had completely lost its original criterion of being a Palaces Festival. The only surviving ‘Palace’ venue was the Auberge de Provence. Events were held in churches, theatres, or auditoria in different parts of the Island. Moreover, as Ms Stivala, Director of Festivals Malta pointed out, the programme needed to honour commitments which had been made for 2000 and 2001. Besides, a Festival of early music and opera which had been projected had to be incorporated within it. Thus, the Festival, now given the subtitle ‘Early Opera and Music Festival’, was a hybrid of events that fused classical music, jazz, film noir, and the fine arts with early opera and music. Music, both classical and contemporary, remained at its core and the educational element remained important throughout. What remained of the original idea was possibly the attempt to link site and performance and the international element of the programme. The attempt to push boundaries and engage more varied audiences remained strong throughout the fifteen days of the Festival.

Without exception all the events presented exciting programmes performed by excellent artists. On the classical side they included a fully-staged performance of Handel’s opera Partenope, performed by HGO Trust Ltd & Cappella Neapolitana di Antonio Florio Ensemble, and a performance of the composer’s oratorio Belshazzar’s Feast with Steven Devine directing the Valletta Baroque Ensemble and KorMalta, the participation of soloists Gillian Zammit, Marvic Monreal, Cliff Zammit Stevens, and Albert Buttigieg. A chamber music concert featuring works by Debussy and Alex Vella Gregory, and a recital of lieder by Sarah Connolly were held at the Auberge de Provence. Composer Joseph Vella and author Oliver Friggieri were commemorated by two performances: that of the oratorio Rewwixta, written in honour of the city of Birgu, at the Mdina Cathedral, and of the cantata Il-Belt Rebbieħa written in praise of the Maltese who fought in 1565, in the Birgu parish church. Ronnie Scott’s All Stars programme took the audience on a jazz trip round the solar system; a puppet show aimed at children presented a comic take on Mozart in the process of creating an opera; and the restaging of a 1920s gothic cult-horror silent movie The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, to live music by ‘Minima’, continued what seems to have been a successful experiment tried out online in 2021.

The Three Palaces Festival might have lost its raison du nom, but it is still being held in November 2023. This year, however, it will only run for four days with the Early Music Festival following immediately after it as a separate festival.

Calendar Highlights

A selection of upcoming events happening around Malta and Gozo over the next few months

Festivals

Ritmu

Formerly known as Għanafest, Ritmu features all the trimmings of a Mediterranean folk festival. Local għannejja—Malta’s unique folk musicians—share the main stage with contemporary local bands and international artists for a taste of Mediterranean culture.

Upper Barrakka Gardens, Valletta

9–10 June 2023 www.festivals.mt

Malta International Arts Festival (MIAF)

The MIAF presents a varied and multidisciplinary arts programme that embraces music, visual arts, theatre, dance, opera, installations, films, community projects, and interactive and participatory events.

Around Malta

16–25 June 2023 www.festivals.mt

Festival Pick

Malta Jazz Festival

Around Valletta

11–15 July 2023

Immanuel Wilkins, Samara Joy, and Ray Colom are some of the performers lined up for this year’s jazz festival. With its outstanding track record, this festival also features local jazz musicians in collaborations for the Jazz on the Fringe activities held around Valletta in the run up to the main event. www.festivals.mt

Dance Festival Malta Spread over four days, the festival will host a series of workshops, masterclasses, and performances that welcome the richness of the universal language of dance cultures, featuring international artists and choreographers.

Various locations, Malta & Gozo

27–30 July 2023 www.festivals.mt

Performing Arts

Wonderland Wives

It turns out that happily-ever-after did not quite work out that way for your favourite fairy tale characters! MADC presents this hilarious comedy by Buddy Thomas, directed by Francesca Briffa.

MADC Club House, Santa Venera

21–30 April 2023 www.madc.com.mt

Theatre Pick

TM Youth Theatre: Sin Circus

Teatru Manoel, Valletta

22 April 2023

Join the Ringmaster as he introduces us to our deepest darkest vices: Pride, Gluttony, Lust, Envy, Greed, Sloth, and Wrath. Sin Circus is brought to you by directors Douglas Comley, Charlotte Grech, and Clare Ghigo, showcasing youth drama, opera, and dance. www.teatrumanoel.com.mt

Coffinkey is a haunting Gothic fairy tale for grown-ups about loss and grief.

Spazju Kreattiv, Valletta

12–14 May 2023 www.kreattivita.org

DANCE PICK

Utopia

Teatru Manoel, Valletta

26–28 May 2023 www.teatrumanoel.com.mt

In a stream of choreographic consciousness, Utopia charts the personal journeys of ten individuals looking for connection and examining the role of the performer as an onstage, live creator. Utopia is the result of a collaboration between Emanuel Gat, one of Europe’s most prolific choreographers today, and the ŻfinMalta company dancers.

The Trials of Magnus Coffinkey

Written by Malcolm Galea, whose international awards include the Best Newcomer Award at Brighton Fringe (2022) and the Off-West End Theatre Award for Best New Musical (2011), The Trials of Magnus

Julia Miller Piano Concert

Pianist Julia Miller presents a programme of chamber music—Reinecke, Brahms, Beach, and Aulin—from the nineteenth century.

Concert Hall, Malta Society of Arts, Valletta

4 June 2023 www.artsmalta.org

Frida – My Two Accidents

‘There have been two great accidents in my life. One was the trolley, and the other was Diego. Diego was by far the worst.’

– Frida Kahlo

Frida is synonymously famous for her provoking art, however, this performance by Moveo Dance Company focusses more on the duality between the fragility of her body and the strength of her character and will.

Pjazza Teatru Rjal, Valletta

9 June 2023 www.moveodancecompany.com

Burlesque & Cabaret Evening

A night of cabaret and burlesque presented by Malta’s leading cabaret artist, Undine LaVerve, and other local and international artists.

Concert Hall, Malta Society of Arts, Valletta

9 June 2023 www.artsmalta.org

Twelfth Night

In this yearly summer Shakespearian event, the Bard’s fast-paced romantic comedy will have you thinking twice about who’s who!

Directed by Chris Gatt.

San Anton Gardens, Ħ’Attard

14–23 July 2023 www.madc.com.mt

Visual Arts

Exhibition Pick

Rituals of Passage

Valletta Contemporary, Valletta

3 March – 6 May 2023 www.vallettacontemporary.com

A collective exhibition featuring Ryan Falzon, Aaron Bezzina, Alexandra Fraser, Yasmine Akondo, Mladen Haszic, and Stefan Kolgen, which explores the meaning and place of rituals in everyday life. Curated by Ann Laenan and Stefan Kolgen.

Valletta Contemporary, Valletta

3 March – 6 May 2023 www.vallettacontemporary.com

Turning Tables

Francesca Balzan and Glen Calleja delve into the reserve collection of MUŻA, Valletta, and emerge with an exhibition that is playful, fun, and challenges the way we view our national patrimony.

MUŻA, Valletta

31 March – 7 May 2023 www.muza.com.mt

Outset

An exhibition by neo-artists Massimo Dimech and Steve Sciberras showcasing a selection of oils depicting Maltese landscapes, flora, fauna, and nature scenes.

Malta Society of Arts, Valletta

14 April – 4 May 2023 www.artsmalta.org

Transparencies of the Soul Basque artist Lucia Vallejo reveals an experimental body of works made of glass and canvas.

Spazju Kreattiv, Valletta

21 April – 28 May 2023 www.kreattivita.org

Joseph Chetcuti: A Retrospective

An exhibition on the sculptor and bronzesmith, Joseph Chetcuti. Curated by Lisa Gwen.

MUŻA, Valletta

19 May – 25 June 2023 www.muza.com.mt

Backlot

Backlot is a new exhibition by Charlie Cauchi. She uses video work, photographic images, built structures, and more, to break down the complex possibilities of Malta’s on-screen cinematic (mis)representation.

Spazju Kreattiv, Valletta

26 May – 25 June 2023 www.kreattivita.org

Il-Ħabba Tal-Għajn

A solo exhibition by Alex Dalli that brings together a body of work which represents a thirty-year career in the arts. The exhibition will trace Dalli’s painterly journey from the figurative into the abstract, following his investigation of the spiritual in art, looking for different, less encumbered, ways of seeing. Il-Ħabba Tal-Għajn is curated by Gabriel Zammit.

Malta Society of Arts, Valletta

8–28 June 2023 www.artsmalta.org

Irregularity

A solo exhibition by JP Migneco, featuring a series of artworks that explore the relationship between natural and artificial environments. The body of work involves a process of reinterpreting landscapes that are found near coastal areas in Malta, through photography, drawing, digital media, and painting.