This month sees the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra travel to Italy’s Spoleto to open the Festival dei Due Mondi (“Festival of Two Worlds”) with a performance of Rufus Wainwright’s opera Hadrian.
The festival, now in its 68th year and known for its eclectic programming spanning music of different genres, dance, theatre and visual arts, will welcome some 700 creative professionals from around the world for a series of 60 performances.
Opening the festival billed as Italy’s oldest performing arts festival, Malta’s national orchestra will take to the stage for an operatic interpretation of the last day of the Roman emperor’s life who ruled from 117-138 AD.
The performance, conducted by German conductor Johannes Debus, will be accompanied by images of the late American photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and is supported by the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA).
Known for his recording of Leonard Cohen’s famous Hallelujah and self-penned smash hits Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk, Jericho and Poses, Wainwright has enjoyed a varied career that has included two operas – Hadrian his second.
Premiered in 2018, the opera in four acts explores the Roman Emperor’s politics, grief and homosexuality in a fusion of classical and contemporary musical language, evoking impressionism, mid-20th century classical and even elements of film music for this X2 writer.
Indeed, Canadian newspaper Globe and Mail points to “nods to Satie, Debussy, Puccini and Mahler”, with the latter of particular relevance to the MPO’s upcoming performance; the festival organisers note the work of Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer Mahler is “subtly woven into the lineup, both directly and indirectly”.
The festival’s artistic director Monique Veaute explains how Mahler’s orchestral work Das Lied von der Erde (“The Song of the Earth”), the inspiration for the festival, “encapsulates a multiplicity of meanings about living in our time”.
And, indeed, the festival itself is nothing short of multiplicitous, with the MPO performance no exception; the festival website depicts performers onstage accompanied by large projections as an orchestra performs, evoking a starkly modern aesthetic tinged with imposing classical Roman imagery.
Speaking to X2, MPO CEO Vanessa Mangion said the performance would “not only mark the festival’s dramatic opening” – pointing to the opera’s “lush orchestration and emotionally resonant vocal writing,” – but continue the MPO’s mission of “showcasing Maltese musical excellence abroad”.
“This international collaboration emphasises the orchestra’s expanding role as a cultural ambassador, supported by the MTA’s commitment to promoting Maltese talent across Europe and beyond,” she said, stressing the collaboration with the festival had been “successful thanks to the MTA”.
The orchestra will perform the opera at Spoleto’s Teatro Nuovo Gian Carlo Menotti – a historic theatre in the ancient city that opened in 1864 – on two dates during the festival programme; for its opening night on Friday and again next Sunday June 29.
Directing the orchestra will be maestro Johannes Debus, music director of the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto since 2009 and returning favourite of the MP, who conducted Wainwright’s Hadrian in previous performances – including at its Toronto premiere in 2018.
The Coro del Teatro Lirico Sperimentale di Spoleto (“Choir of the Teatro Lirico Sperimentale of Spoleto”) will join the MPO for the performance, with concept, stage direction and design by Jörn Weisbrodt.
Hadrian will be played by Germán Enrique Alcántara, Plotina by Sonia Ganassi and Hadrian’s lover Antinous by Santiago Ballerini.
“With grand staging, a compelling modern score, and a top-tier cast and orchestra, Hadrian promises to be a stunning and unforgettable opening to this year’s Festival dei Due Mondi”, Mangion said.
The Festival dei Due Mondi was first conceived by Italian-American composer and librettist Gian Carlo Menotti in 1958, featuring a performance of Verdi’s Macbeth its opening year. Since then, the annual event has grown to encompass a vast array of artistic performances from different disciplines and attracted performers and audiences from across the globe.
