Concert at St Emilion

In the church at St Emilion, Eglise Collégial de Saint-Emilion, we heard a concert of opera sung by Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja, accompanied by Brian Schembi on the piano. Both musicians are to be honored at the Sunday Ban de Vendanges, i.e. the beginning of the grape harvest. On the Saturday evening, la Juarade de Saint-Emilion et le Conseil des Vins de Saint-Emilion presentent Calleja et Schembri at this récital lyrique.

The church is high, the benches in our zone sit six each side, rather too cosily,another eleven rows in the zone in front, more behind our zone, so it's a big church, and perhaps the acoustics are not the best.

Yet Calleja's voice is powerful. It fills the church. He's a powerful tenor. He's to sing nine pieces. I thought I'd record a piece on my digital recorder, then realised I'd set it to voice activate, which isn't a good idea for singing, because the silent parts that are so important to music, don't activate the recorder. The video (below) is better for sound, though you can't see much. There are official recordists present - perhaps people from Maltese television.

The pianist, Schembi has half a dozen Rachmaninoff preludes to play. How can he remember all these pieces by heart. Isn't Rachmaninoff tricky to play?

The programme includes:

G.F. Handel - Xerxes (HWW 40) Fronde tenere.. Ombra mai fu
C.W. Gluck - Orpheo ed Euridice - Che faro senza Euridice
Verdi - Macbeth - O Figli! Ah La Paterna Mano
S. Donaudy - Vaghissimma Sembianza
G. Puccini - Tosca - Recondita Armonia
G. Bizet - Les Pecheurs des Perles - Je crois entendre encore
G. Bizet - Carmen - La fleur que tu m'avis jetée
C. Gounod - Romeo et Juliette - L'Amour ...Ah lève toi soleil
J. Massenet - Le Cid - Ah! Tout est bien... Ô souverain

The audience demands several encores. It's been powerful, but not as lyrical as some.