Announcement : GALA CONCERT on the 16th

The Soloists of the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra & Armenian State Symphony Orchestra

Brit Arend Harp

Etienne Cutajar Horn

Rebecca Hall Flute

Carmine Lauri Violin

Sergey Smbatyan Conductor

16 APRIL 20:00

Venue: Republic hall, Mediterranean Conference Center

The Malta International Music Festival’s second day will be led by one of the top European ensembles — the State Symphony orchestra of Armenia, resident orchestra of the entire forum and participant to most of its concerts. You will see Maestro Sergei Smbatyan at the conductor’s podium. The leading musicians of the Malta Philharmonic orchestra will solo in Mozart’s and Richard Strauss’ opuses – Rebecca Hall (flute), Britt Arend (harp) and Etienne Coutajar (horn). Carmine Lauri (violin) — an international star of Maltese descent and soloist with the London Symphony orchestra will solo in the virtuoso concerto by Henryk Wieniawski. The musician’s outstanding style will certainly be in harmony with one of the most brilliant violin opuses. Lauri will be playing the ‘Baron Deurbroucq’ Stradivarius 1727 with kind permission of J & A Beare, London.

The Concerto for Flute, Harp, and Orchestra in C major, K. 299/297c, is one of only two true double concertos that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote, as well as the only piece of music by Mozart for the harp. He wrote the concerto in 1778, during his seven-month sojourn in Paris. It was commissioned by Adrien-Louis de Bonnières, duc de Guînes, a flutist, for his use and for that of his eldest daughter, a capable harp player Marie-Louise-Philippine. True, harp technique was not very far advanced in the late eighteenth century, and the instrument was often treated as a sort of plucked piano.

Richard Strauss wrote his first Horn concerto in E-flat Major n 1882-3 in two versions, one for piano accompaniment and one with an orchestra. His father Franz Strauss was one of the leading horn players of his day, and the fact that Richard grew up with the sound of the horn in his house led to his exploration of the great potential of the horn as both a solo and orchestral instrument. The horn concerto has become the most frequently performed horn concerto written in the 19th Century.

Henryk Wieniawski was one of the great violin virtuosos of the 19th century who began composing early and his first composition was published in 1847 when he was twelve years old. The Violin Concerto No.1 in F-sharp minor the eighteen-year-old virtuoso created in Weimar. The score is dedicated to King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia, also referred to as the “romanticist on the throne”.

2018-04-15 (6)