Valentine medley at San Anton Palace

Some concerts simply stand out in one’s memory and that of soprano Nicola Said and American baritone Christian Bowers is one of them. It took place at San Anton palace with pianist Sofia Narmania, who came to live here from far away Abkhazia and now, married to a Maltese and settled in Malta, accompanied them on the piano.

The singers seemed to find singing as easy as breathing.

*** There must be few who disagree that JS Bach, Mozart and Beethoven are the true giants of classical music composition. We know that Mozart was a child prodigy playing the piano at the age of three and composing by the time he was four years old. Although Mozart’s father was a composer and musician who worked for the Prince Archbishop of Salzburg his talent was nowhere near as great as that of his son. But music appears to have been in the Mozart family’s blood, and Wolfgang’s sister, Maria Anna is known to have been a fine pianist.

When Leopold realised just how gifted his children were, he decided to take them on a tour of Europe. This was an epic journey that lasted for four years. Mozart was just six when the tour began and by its end he was a star, having played in front of the most influential people wherever he had been.

Throughout his life, Mozart was a keen letter-writer and many of his notes to friends and family survive today, giving us an authentic glimpse into his life.

*** His biographers tell us that in 1781, after several years searching in vain for a suitable post with the European nobility, Mozart decided to settle in Vienna as a freelance composer and performer. There were ample opportunities in the city for a musician of Mozart’s talent and renown, but staying solvent necessitated a frantic round of piano lessons, concert performances, and social visits with the city’s wealthy patrons. At the same time, Mozart was also courting his future wife, Constanze, under the disapproving gaze of her mother. All this activity left him only a few hours a day to compose new works. In a 1782 letter to his sister, he gave a detailed account of these hectic days in Vienna.

“My hair is always done by six o’clock in the morning and by seven I am fully dressed. I then compose until nine. From nine to one I give lessons. Then I lunch, unless I am invited to some house where they lunch at two or even three o’clock, as for example, today or tomorrow at Countess Zichy’s and Countess Thun’s. I can never work before five or six o’clock in the evening, and even then I am often prevented by a concert. If I am not prevented I compose until nine. I then go to my dear Costanze, though the joy of seeing one another is nearly always spoilt by her mother’s bitter remarks... at half past ten or eleven I come home – it depends on her mother’s darts and on my capacity to endure them! As I cannot rely on being able to compose in the evening owing to the concerts which are taking place and also to the uncertainty as to whether I may not be summoned now here and now there, it is my custom (especially if I get home early) to compose a little before going to bed. I often go on writing, until one – and am up again at six.

“Altogether I have so much to do that often I do not know whether I am on my head or my heels,” Mozart wrote to his father. Apparently he was not exaggerating; when Leopold Mozart went to visit his son a few years later, he found the freelancer’s life just as tumultuous as promised. He wrote home from Vienna, “It is impossible for me to describe the rush and bustle.”

As far as I know the reason for Mozart’s death is still controversial. However, in a discussion I watched recently on one of the Italian channels, it was suggested that perhaps it was stress that caused it and I can well believe it. ***

When he visited Italy he was fascinated by the opera composers and by the end of his life he himself had written some of the greatest examples of the genre including Don Giovanni and Le Nozze di Figaro.

At that concert at San Anton Palace which took place on 13th February, a day before that commercial non-event, Valentine’s day, on the programme were arias/duets from two Mozart operas.

As an aside, many mango seasons ago, I remember enjoying Le Nozze di Figaro in what was then West Berlin. I was very impressed not only with the singing and acting but with the fact that the stage and costumes were all in some shade of blue. I hadn’t seen that before and certainly not since.

*** Gustave Flaubert called Don Giovanni along with Hamlet and the sea “the three finest things God ever made.” There is room for disagreement here. Much as I like Mozart’s music give me a Verdi or Puccini opera anytime.

Don Giovanni is one of the all time greats. It has a good story and wonderfully tuneful music. It has everything – power, glamour, tragedy, ghosts and above all else, romantic intrigue. It just goes to show that a handsome philanderer has managed to retain his popularity throughout the centuries.

Right from the very first duet La ci darem la mano from Don Giovanni we knew that we were in for some fine singing. Nicola also gave us an aria from Don Giovanni Batti, Batti, o bel Masetto while Christian Bowers sang the Count’s aria Hai già vinta la causa... from La Nozze di Figaro and Deh vieni alla finestra from Don Giovanni. Really splendid: the mannerisms, the emotion – an unflinching grasp of his technical prowess. Dignified. Every word as clear as crystal. (Sometimes ones doesn’t even recognise the language in which some of our singers are singing.) Christian Bowers has presence and is easy on the eye. Let me just say bravo e anche bello. *** The second half of the programme consisted of popular songs from musicals which will never die. Who can forget Judy Garland singing in The Wizard of Oz? Nicola’s interpretation of Somewhere Over the rainbow was beautiful. Who, from time to time, doesn’t want to disappear over the rainbow in search of silence and peace? I wonder if Judy Garland ever found the place she spent her life seeking?

The baritone gave us the Soliliquay from Carousel. This is when Billy has just found out that Julie is pregnant and he is prepared to take decisions that will change his life forever, as the birth of a child does for all of us. Moving – and these young artists can act too. Both were warmly dramatic when required.

People will say we’re in love – that great duet was sung convincingly by the artists that evening. ***

Nicola interspersed the singing with a somewhat verbose story of how the couple fell in love. The programme was designed to back this love story. The couple were a perfectly matched duo in Carousel’s If I loved you. Great singing. An achingly expressive performance.

Each of the arias/duets whether classical or popular were sung with elan by these crème de la crème performers. To listen to these arias unfold so beautifully in the hands of two talented young artists was indeed a pleasure.

Nicola, wearing a more comfortable dress, will no doubt lead Christian to their own personal velvet cave and only come out to sing.

They have a great future, whether alone or together. mbenoit@independent.com.mt