La Traviata Melodrama in Three Acts Music: Giuseppe Verdi Libretto: Francesco Maria Piave World Premiere: Teatro La Fenice, Venice, 6 March 1853 First performance in Malta: Teatro Manoel, Valletta, 1 October 1855 Violetta Valéry, a courtesan Miriam Cauchi Alfredo Germont Giulio Pelligra Giorgio Germont, his father Maxim Aniskin Flora Bervoix Oana Andra Annina, Violetta’s maid Dorienne Portelli Gastone, Alfredo’ friend Frans Mangion Barone Douphol Louis Andrew Cassar Marchese d’Obigny Alberto Munafò Siracusa Dottore Grenvil Riccardo Bosco Giuseppe, Violetta’s servant Federico Parisi Servo di Flora Mario Portelli Commissioner Marco Tinnirello Friends of Violetta and Flora; picadors and gypsies; servants of Violetta and Flora; maskers. Beginning of the 18th century. Paris and its vicinity. Malta Philharmonic Orchestra Teatru Astra Opera Chorus in collaboration with Coro Lirico Siciliano Conductor: Philip Walsh Artistic Director: Enrico Stinchelli Orchestra Leader Maria Conrad Scenography Joseph Cauchi Chorus Instructors Maria Frendo Assistant Scenographer Andrew Portelli Francesco Costa Costumes Arrigo Costumi Stage Managers Carmel Zammit Sartoria Pipi Johnny Micallef Manuel Grima Bradley Xuereb George Farrugia Andrew Portelli Lights George Zammit Assistant Directors Angie Bizimoska Nexos Maria Selene Farinelli Juan Vella Production Assistants George Camilleri Projections MAV Multimedia George P Cassar Ismael Portelli Giulia Mandruzzato Choreography Felix Busuttil Rehearsal Pianist Christian Maggio Mediterranea 2018 Enrico Stinchelli Artistic Director Rome-born Enrico Stinchelli is the author and conductor of what has become the most established and respected programme on RAI Radio-Tre, La Barcaccia, dealing with anything that has got to do with the opera world. The much sought-after programme, on air without fail since 1983, has attained ‘cult’ status in Italy and beyond. A universally acknowledged expert in the field, Enrico Stinchelli has a wide network of contacts and huge expertise. His impressive baggage includes intense opera related activity all over Italy, and beyond, working closely with the top professionals in the opera world. He has been assistant and consultant with various significant directors, such as Comencini, among others. His repertoire includes the major titles from the Baroque to the verismo. His ouvre has gained widespread critical acclaim and several prestigious prizes. Philip Walsh Conductor British conductor Philip Walsh is the artistic director of the French opera festival Lyrique-en-mer, on Belle-Ile in Brittany, for whom he has conducted over 170 performances, including Rigoletto, Così fan tutte, Tosca, Falstaff, Don Giovanni, La Cenerentola, Madama Butterfly, La Bohème, Dido and Aeneas, Acis and Galatea, Die Zauberflöte, Otello, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Orphée et Eurydice, Don Pasquale, Le Nozze di Figaro, La Traviata, L’Elisir d’amore, I Pagliacci and Gianni Schicchi as well as Bach’s St John Passion, Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem, Mozart’s Requiem and Haydn’s Creation. He made his debut at La Fenice in Venice conducting Pier Luigi Pizzi’s production of Thomas Ades’ opera Powder her Face. Other appearances in Italy have included the Teatro Comunale di Bologna and the Lugo Opera Festival, and he is a regular guest conductor of the Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini, having appeared with pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet in concerts in Parma, Modena and Ferrara, and with jazz legend Dee Dee Bridgewater in the Verona Jazz Festival. Born in Southampton, England, Philip studied piano and organ and went on to study music at Cambridge University as organ scholar of Queens’ College, where his organ teacher was the renowned Bach specialist Peter Hurford. After graduating he spent a number of years in New Zealand, where he was a regular guest conductor of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, and conductor of the Orpheus Choir, performing works such as Stravinsky’s Les Noces, Beethoven Missa Solemnis, Tippet A child of our time, Bach’s Mass in B minor, and the Verdi Requiem. In Europe he has worked for L’Opéra de Metz, l’Opéra de Bordeaux, English Touring Opera, Almeida Opera, London, and the Aldeburgh Festival. He made his Spanish debut conducting Don Giovanni for Opera en Vigo. Orchestras he has conducted include the London Sinfonietta, the City Chamber Orchestra, Hong Kong, Orchestra del Teatro La Fenice, Orchestra del Teatro Comunale, Bologna, l’Orchestre National de Lorraine, RTS Symphony Orchestra, Belgrade, and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. In Malta he has conducted Teatru Manoel’s productions of L’Elisir d’amore, Orphée et Euridice, Le Nozze di Figaro, and Don Giovanni, and returns in 2019 for Così fan tutte. He also conducted the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra in the opening and closing concerts of the Victoria International Arts Festival 2018. He will be returning to VIAF in 2019. He is a passionate advocate of new music and has commissioned and conducted numerous premiere performances. 33 La Traviata Miriam Cauchi Violetta (Soprano) Critically acclaimed as “soprano lirico di bello spessore vocale e di grande intensità (Andrea Merli Jesi, Opera Actual), and as having “a beautiful clear and very expressive voice which she uses expertly and to the best advantage” (Albert Storace Times of Malta), Maltese soprano Miriam Cauchi is a household name and has performed extensively in most of the important opera productions and concerts happening locally over the past 25 years. Miriam has been a regular soloist at Teatru Astra, Teatru Aurora, Teatru Manoel, Mediterranean Conference Centre, St. John’s Co-Cathedral, Victoria International Arts Festival (Malta) and with the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra. International venues include Berlin Konzerthaus, Festival-Mitte-Europa (Germany), Maribor National Theatre (Slovenia), Varna Theatre, Provadia Theatre, National Palace of Culture-NDK (Bulgaria), Tabor Theatre (Czech Republic), Alice Tully Hall at the Lincoln Center (New York), as well as in Portugal. She has also shared the stage in main operatic roles with world-renowned singers like Maria Guleghina, Francesca Patanè, Joseph Calleja, Badri Maisuradze, and others. She has worked with international conductors Lior Shambadal, Eric Hull, Steven Mercurio, Hans- Peter Hofmann, David Svec, Ivan Vulpe, Michalis Economou, Joseph Vella, Philip Walsh, Brian Schembri and directors Mario Corradi and Marco Gandini. Operas performed to critical acclaim include L’Elisir d’Amore (Adina), Un Ballo in Maschera (Oscar), Pagliacci (Nedda), Le Villi (Anna), Suor Angelica (Suor Angelica), Turandot (Liù), La Bohème (Mimi), Rigoletto (Gilda), La Traviata (Violetta) and Otello (Desdemona). She has successfully performed sacred, orchestral and chamber works, including Handel’s Messiah, the Stabat Mater by Rossini, Abos and Pergolesi, Mozart’s Mass in C, Vassallo’s Requiem, Camilleri’s Pawlu ta’ Malta, Lloyd Weber’s Requiem, Strauss’ Vier Letzte, Berg’s Sieben Frühe Lieder and Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5. She also premiered Joseph Vella’s Dust on the Path orchestra cycle and Alex Vella Gregory’s song cycle Mill-Qamar sal-Qabar. Both compositions were composed with her voice in mind. After graduating in 1997 with full honours from the Sofia State Music Academy “Panchio Vladigerov” in Bulgaria under the tuition of Prof Blogovesta Dobreva, she furthered her studies with Juliette Bisazza Zanni and Magda Olivero. She is also the recipient of the Gheorghi Slatev Cherkin Competition and the Bulgarian XIV National Competition Svetoslav Obretenov. Miriam is a major ambassador of Maltese vocal music and has recorded important compositions by Abos, Camilleri, Diacono, Isouard, Vassallo, Vella and Zerafa. Her latest CD (Miriam Cauchi, Riflessi – Art Songs from Malta) was recorded with the main intention of promoting and nurturing the love for Maltese art songs. Recordings from the CD are being included in a Maltese text book used in our primary schools, thus promoting Maltese cultural heritage. She has at heart the educational aspect of singing and performing, and is enthusiastic in her work with young promising singers, coaching them in their development and careers. She has held the post of voice tutor at Malta School of Music, which is Malta’s main music institution, since 1999. In 2013, she was invited to be the principal voice tutor of the Manoel Theatre Youth Opera (TMYO) within the Toi Toi educational programme, a post she held until June 2018. In the same year, Miriam was the artistic co-ordinator of first edition of Singer Artistic Tool Box 2018, a course held by the Malta School of Music’s voice department, aimed at classical voice singers interested in furthering their holistic skills on stage. On the 13th of December 2009, Miriam Cauchi was awarded the National Order of Merit (M.O.M.), an honour conferred by the President of Malta upon citizens who distinguish themselves in their respective fields. www. miriamcauchi.com 34 Mediterranea 2018 Giulio Pelligra Alfredo Germont (Tenor) Giulio Pelligra is one of the emerging Italian tenors of the younger generation. Born in Catania, he debuted in Puccini’s La Petite Messe Solennelle and in Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia in 2006. His mellow, ringing vocal tones enable to sing leading roles in the bel canto tradition operas of Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini. Despite his young age, Giulio has already sung in such important venues as the Teatro dell’Opera, Rome, Teatro Filarmonico, Verona, Grand Théâtre, Genève, Rossini in the Wildbad Festival at the Landestheater,