le="text-align: justify;">Schola Cantorum Jubilate presented the fifth edition of the so-much acclaimed ‘Carols by Candlelight'. It was held at St. Augustine 's Monastery in Victoria . The concert started at 7.30pm. The whole evening focused on harmony…harmony in music, harmony in the ambience, harmony in the prose reading and harmony in the cloister where all blended well with the preparation of the food by the Ta' Frenc Restaurant Chefs. The setting in the church was a unique one which created the perfect spirit for the Candlelight evening. The concert started with two male singers lighting some candles while an introductory address was done by the compere: Dianne Angie Galea. On arriving on stage, the choristers held candles in their hands which served as backdrop to the first solo piece: ‘O Holy Night' interpreted by Marouska Attard. Eventually, ‘Silent Night' followed. The choristers sang it by heart and on reaching the end, they blew the candles randomly.
5th Edition
le="text-align: justify;">The programme continued with other pieces by Rutter, Bartolucci, Wade, Mendelssohn, Willcocks and Hopkins. Marouska Attard interpreted also ‘The Candlelight Carol' by John Rutter which is sung in almost all ‘Carols by Candlelight' around the world. A new composition ‘Candlelight Fantasia' was written by Paul Portelli. It was written in occasion of the fifth edition of ‘Carols by Candlelight'. It is a medley which includes pieces performed along the five years of this production. Other soloists were: Christabella Vella (soprano), Janice Gatt (alto) and Fabian Galea (tenor) who together interpreted the solo parts in ‘We Three Kings of Orient are'. The organist Joseph Camilleri gave two numbers on the monastery Mascioni organ. These were: 'Prelude on Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen, Op.122 no. 8' by Johannes Brahms and ‘Fugue on Magnificat SextiToni No. 6 2' by Johann Pachelbel. There was also a reading ‘Harmony' which was read by Maria Attard and written by Silvana Sultana. It was about thoughts awakened after the choir's visit in Assisi , the birthplace of St. Francis who realized that harmony in nature leads us to the Harmony Himself. The choir was accompanied by Mro. Stephen Attard on the organ, Jean Noel Attard (violin), Naomi Attard (flute/piccolo) and Joseph Xerri (trumpet). The audience admired modern paintings of Christopher Saliba as they left the church for the dinner inside the monastery,. Then inside the cloister, another environment, complimenting that of the church was presented. The audience appreciated and enjoyed every minute of the concert. They left the monastery at around midnight with a smile on their face and with encouraging and positive words to all involved in producing such a unique event in Malta.
