'The Sound of Music' to open Gaulitana music festival

The ninth edition of Gaulitana: A Festival of Music opens on Saturday April 11 with a semi-staged performance of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s most-loved musical The Sound of Music. Also celebrating the 50th anniversary of the immortal movie, the event will be held at the Grand Hotel, Mgarr and starts at 20.00hrs.  Entrance is free on a first-come-first-served basis.

The cast, featuring a good number of Gaulitanus Choir soloists, will be led by Annabelle Zammit as the novice-turned-child governess Maria and Terry Shaw as Captain Von Trapp of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. Marthese Borg as the Mother Abbess will be accompanied by Miriam Curmi, Tricia Azzopardi and Stephanie Buttigieg as Sister Sophie, Sister Margaretta and Sister Berthe respectively.

Patricia Buttigieg will interpret the wealthy Elsa Schraeder with David Jones as the impresario Max Detweiler. The seven children of Captain Von Trapp will be led by the elder daughter Micaela Bajada whose first taste of love is found in David Mario Fenech’s Rolf. The Gaulitanus Choir female section of course also appears. Rob Ricards will narrate the proceedings.

The singers will be accompanied by a combo orchestra made up of the Keats (String) Quartet (who will be featured in some other concerts in the festival as well), the Gaulitana Wind Ensemble and Gaulitanus resident pianist Stephen Attard. Gaulitanus’ own Colin Attard and Terry Shaw will conduct and direct respectively. The former was also responsible for the musical arrangements and the latter for the show’s adaptation.

The Sound of Music opens a 28-event international festival whose highlight is the full-scale production of Verdi’s opera Rigoletto, being staged at the Aurora Theatre, Gozo, on Friday 22 May.