573373 bk Camilleri.

qxp_573373 bk Camilleri 28/05/2015 12:23 Page 1

Malta Philharmonic Orchestra

Photo: Joe Smith

CAMILLERI
Mediterranean
Piano Concerto No. 1 Accordion Concerto Malta Suite
Charlene Farrugia, Piano Franko Boac, Accordion

Malta Philharmonic Orchestra Miran Vaupoti

Photo: Nikolai Ivanovich Semenov

Acclaimed as dynamic and knowledgeable by the Buenos Aires Herald, Croatian conductor Miran Vaupoti has
performed extensively in Europe, the Middle East, the United States, Latin America and Asia, conducting many
eminent orchestras in numerous major halls including the Wiener Musikverein, Smetana Hall, Prague, Cairo Opera
House, Forbidden City Concert Hall, Beijing, Oriental Art Center, Shanghai, and the Tchaikovsky Hall, Moscow. In 2011
Vaupoti made his operatic dbut in the United States, conducting Mozarts Le nozze di Figaro at the Atlantic Coast
Opera Festival in Philadelphia. In the same year he conducted Piazzollas rarely performed operetta Maria de Buenos
Aires in a new production at Lisinski Concert Hall, Zagreb. In 2012 he conducted the Empire Opera premires of
Saavedras Sweet Dreams and Roses Rumpelstiltskin directed by the American puppeteer Tyler Bunch at The
National Opera America Center in NYC. Miran Vaupoti won the 2015 Global Music Award for Best of Show and was
awarded the Honorary Diploma by the International Academy of Rating Technologies and Sociology Golden Fortune
for his significant contribution to the development of symphonic music.

Special thanks to Neva Begovi and Krunoslav Mari for their professional assistance,
and to Vito Gospodneti and Edo Forman (manufacturers of the excellent
ambient microphone Feature 2S) for their kind support.

8.573373

Charles

Miran Vaupoti
The Malta Philharmonic Orchestra is
Maltas foremost professional musical
institution. Under the helm of its current
Artistic Director and Principal
Conductor Brian Schembri, the
orchestra has been striving for musical
excellence by investing more
intensively in a varied symphonic
repertoire throughout its concert
seasons. The orchestra is involved in
opera productions in Malta and Gozo,
community outreach programmes,
concerts of a lighter musical genre as
well as international concert tours. The
MPO is also actively involved in
education programmes on local
television and radio, workshops and
bespoke performances with programmes
targeting children from a young age.
For a number of years the orchestra
has been collaborating with various
entities in order to expose Maltese
artists and composers both locally and
abroad, and thanks to their collaboration
with conductor Miran Vaupoti and the
Valletta 2018 Foundation (the organizing
body of the European Capital of Culture).

8.573373

573373 bk Camilleri.qxp_573373 bk Camilleri 28/05/2015 12:23 Page 2

Charles Camilleri (1931-2009)

Piano Concerto No. 1 Mediterranean Accordion Concerto Malta Suite
Charles Camilleri was born in Hamrun, Malta, in 1931. He
showed early promise as an accordionist and pianist and
started composing at the age of eleven. By the end of his
teens he had written a number of compositions inspired
by Maltese traditional music and, particularly, by the local
style of folk singing known as gana. When Camilleri was
eighteen, he emigrated to Australia and eventually moved
to London where he earned his living as a successful
light-music arranger, performer, composer and conductor,
assisting Sir Malcolm Arnold on the Oscar-winning
soundtrack of The Bridge on the River Kwai. In 1958
Camilleri left London for New York and then Canada,
where he studied composition whilst working as resident
conductor for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He
would eventually describe these electrifying years as
amongst the most exciting of his life. They certainly gave
him the confidence to dedicate himself to composition,
which he did on his return to London in 1965. The
following years brought him ever-increasing critical
acclaim and prestigious collaborations. 1977 saw
Camilleris appointment as Professor of Composition at
the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto. Camilleri also
gave lectures at Buffalo State University, a hotbed of
musical modernism, where he met experimental
composers such as Carter, Feldman and Cage. Their
influence took root in a number of works of this period
including the Organ Concerto (1981).
Camilleri could not, however, resist the call of his
beloved Malta and in 1983 it became his permanent
home. The return to his roots led to a flowering of
inspiration. In 1984 he completed an opera written in
Maltese Il-Weghda which was followed in the
subsequent year by the oratorio Pawlu ta Malta. He also
composed another full-length opera (The Maltese Cross)
and oratorio (Dun or) as well as several concertos,
music theatre pieces and other vocal, choral, orchestral
and instrumental works. One of his very last works, the
New Idea Symphony, was posthumously given its
premire in Brussels in January 2009.

8.573373

It is not easy to categorise the output of a composer as

complex and prolific as Camilleri. If pressed to do so, one
could distinguish three overlapping phases. The earliest
may be referred to as nationalistic and is typified by an
attempt to marry traditional Maltese and Mediterranean
folk-tunes and dances to art music, much as Bartk, de
Falla and Vaughan Williams had done with the music of
their respective countries. This period produced some of
Camilleris most endearing and enduring works.
Camilleri soon directed his attention to the culture of a
wider geographical area. During what has been described
as his Afro-Arabic-Hindu phase he explored the intricate
rhythms and improvisatory aspects of North-African and
Middle Eastern music in such compositions as the
Second Piano Concerto Maqam (1970) and the Piano
Trio (1972). This led him to develop the concept of the
atomisation of the beat a universal type of rhythm
made up of small, apparently unconnected, units the
universal rhythm which in its turn forms part of an even
greater rhythm, the rhythm of the universe. Camilleri also
became highly interested in the writings of the Jesuit
theologian and scientist Teilhard de Chardin. This found
expression in the organ masterpieces Missa Mundi and
Morphogenesis as well as in compositions for other
media, including Cosmic Visions for 42 strings (1976) and
Noospheres for piano (1977).
The final phase in Camilleris output has been
referred to as universal, since it merges the seemingly
disparate facets and concerns of his earlier works into a
cohesive whole. This incessant traveller had completed
his most impressive journey that which led him from the
songs of a small Mediterranean island to a cosmic
language of universal relevance.
The works on this disc date from early in Camilleris
career. Indeed, the Piano Concerto No. 1 Mediterranean is
probably his first mature large-scale composition. Its
original version was written in 1948, although the composer
revised and re-orchestrated it thirty years later. It is this
latter version of the piece which is more often performed.

Camilleri attributed the genesis of the concerto to a

visit to London where he attended a Promenade Concert.
There, for the first time I heard a live professional
orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, performing
under Malcolm Sargent. That evening so fired my
imagination that not only did I decide to commit myself to
music but went straight into composing a large scale
Piano Concerto.
The work is cast in a traditional three-movement fastslow-fast structure. It owes much to the epic Romantic
concerto tradition but fuses into this familiar language
musical elements drawn from Southern Europe and North
Africa. A distinctive flavour is given, for instance, by the
modal and chromatic inflexions of the music (despite the
work being nominally in G minor) and the use of striking
rhythms, by turns elaborate and disarmingly simple. The
opening movement of the concerto contrasts a linear and
agile first theme with an expansive and lyrical second idea
redolent of Rachmaninov. The central Adagio, heralded by
an unaccompanied horn recitative, is the emotional core of
the piece. The piano weaves intricate improvisatory
arabesques over a languid accompaniment, evoking the
image of folk guitarists playing on a balmy summer night.
The concerto ends with a sprightly rondo which, driven by
a recurring tarantella, builds up to a rousing close.
In the 1950s and 1960s Camilleri was widely
respected as an accordion virtuoso and pedagogue.
Besides performing internationally, he published an
accordion method and recorded a solo LP. During this
time he composed several pieces for himself and his
pupils to perform, amongst which the most substantial is
the Concerto for Accordion and String Orchestra. Rather
surprisingly, the concerto lay forgotten for two decades
until leading Canadian accordionist Joseph Macerollo, its
original dedicatee and one-time Camilleri student,
decided to record it.
The work is in three movements. The opening
Andante moderato follows a classical sonata-form
structure and could be mistaken for a lost eighteenthcentury concerto, were it not for the unusual solo
instrument and the fact that the main subject sounds
suspiciously like a Maltese traditional melody. The slow

8.573373

movement starts with an extended dirge-like accordion

solo in C minor, the chordal harmonies suggesting the
sound of a church organ, before the strings join in
creating a warm aural halo. A dissonant fortissimo chord
dispels the rapt, prayerful atmosphere and announces the
final Allegro vivace a manic atonal toccata based on a
dodecaphonic theme which, stylistically, propels the
concerto into the twentieth century. Camilleris sense of
humour was well known and this exhilarating finale, so
different from the preceding movements, must have been
written with a twinkle in the composers eye. It could also
have been a foretaste of the more experimental idioms
Camilleri would soon be exploring.
There are no modernist surprises in the Malta Suite,
in which the composer takes a number of recognisable
Maltese folk-tunes and reworks them into a set of
colourful orchestral dances. Rather ironically for what has
become the most popular and regularly performed of
Camilleris works, there is some uncertainty as to when
exactly it was composed. It appears that the Suite had its
premire in the early sixties when the composer was
living in Canada. Camilleri himself, however, claimed that
he had written it in 1946 during a holiday on the island of
Gozo. He once observed how at that time he was already
much in love with gana, whose melodic contours
permeate the work. The Suite expresses a youthful
exuberance, whilst displaying a precocious command of
orchestration. Each of its four movements presents a
vignette of village life, culminating in a raucous depiction
of the festa the yearly celebrations in honour of the
village patron saint which, up to this day, remain a central
event in most Maltese localities.
Camilleris early nationalistic works, including the Malta
Suite, were vital creations for a composer seeking a
personal voice, and were received enthusiastically by a
newly independent state which was also, in its own way, in
search of an identity. The composer would be proud to learn
that a recording of the Suites second movement the Waltz
is aired daily in one of the main squares of Valletta, the
capital city, as a musical emblem of Malta and its traditions.

Charlene Farrugia
Charlene Farrugia is one of the best pianists to have emerged
from Malta. At the age of thirteen she was the youngest soloist
ever to perform with the National Orchestra of Malta. Since
then she has regularly appeared as soloist with several
orchestras, such as the Gnessin Academy of Music Orchestra,
Kaliningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, Blackheath Halls
Orchestra, Rotterdam Ensemble, Wintergreen Orchestra, Arad
Philharmonic Orchestra and the Camerata Classica. She has
also toured China as guest soloist with the Malta Philharmonic
Orchestra. Her performances have been well received by
several heads of state, including members of the British Royal
Family. After finishing her musical education in Malta with Doris
Amodio Chircop, she continued her studies at the Royal
Academy of Music in London with Diana Ketler. Charlene Farrugia holds a Doctorate in Piano Performance from the
class of Kenneth Hamilton. Her mentor is Boris Petrushansky. She is an EMMA for peace artist.
Photo: Mario Mintoff

Franko Boac

Photo: Neven Udovicic

Franko Boac, a gifted accordionist and an EMMA for Peace artist (with honorary
president Riccardo Muti), has appeared as soloist with the Royal Academy of
Music Symphony Orchestra (London), Kaliningrad Philharmonic, Austrian
Symphony Orchestra, Arad Philharmonic, Ulyanovsk State Symphony Orchestra,
Camerata Classica, Wintergreen Festival Orchestra, Varadin Chamber
Orchestra, Croatian Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra, University of Pula
Symphony Orchestra, Gnessin Russian Academy of Music Orchestra and the
Lugansk Philharmonic. He has also collaborated with the London Sinfonietta,
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Ensemble 10/10. His playing has
been broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Scotland on several occasions.
He is in great demand among contemporary composers, having given the
premires of several works composed for accordion and orchestra. This has led
him to collaborate with eminent musicians such as Bashkim Shehu and Garry
Carpenter. After his early studies in Croatia, Franko Boac continued his studies
at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Owen Murray and currently
teaches accordion at the Music Academy in Pula, Croatia.

Dr Joseph Camilleri

8.573373

573373 bk Camilleri.qxp_573373 bk Camilleri 28/05/2015 12:23 Page 2

Charles Camilleri (1931-2009)

Piano Concerto No. 1 Mediterranean Accordion Concerto Malta Suite
Charles Camilleri was born in Hamrun, Malta, in 1931. He
showed early promise as an accordionist and pianist and
started composing at the age of eleven. By the end of his
teens he had written a number of compositions inspired
by Maltese traditional music and, particularly, by the local
style of folk singing known as gana. When Camilleri was
eighteen, he emigrated to Australia and eventually moved
to London where he earned his living as a successful
light-music arranger, performer, composer and conductor,
assisting Sir Malcolm Arnold on the Oscar-winning
soundtrack of The Bridge on the River Kwai. In 1958
Camilleri left London for New York and then Canada,
where he studied composition whilst working as resident
conductor for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He
would eventually describe these electrifying years as
amongst the most exciting of his life. They certainly gave
him the confidence to dedicate himself to composition,
which he did on his return to London in 1965. The
following years brought him ever-increasing critical
acclaim and prestigious collaborations. 1977 saw
Camilleris appointment as Professor of Composition at
the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto. Camilleri also
gave lectures at Buffalo State University, a hotbed of
musical modernism, where he met experimental
composers such as Carter, Feldman and Cage. Their
influence took root in a number of works of this period
including the Organ Concerto (1981).
Camilleri could not, however, resist the call of his
beloved Malta and in 1983 it became his permanent
home. The return to his roots led to a flowering of
inspiration. In 1984 he completed an opera written in
Maltese Il-Weghda which was followed in the
subsequent year by the oratorio Pawlu ta Malta. He also
composed another full-length opera (The Maltese Cross)
and oratorio (Dun or) as well as several concertos,
music theatre pieces and other vocal, choral, orchestral
and instrumental works. One of his very last works, the
New Idea Symphony, was posthumously given its
premire in Brussels in January 2009.

8.573373

It is not easy to categorise the output of a composer as

complex and prolific as Camilleri. If pressed to do so, one
could distinguish three overlapping phases. The earliest
may be referred to as nationalistic and is typified by an
attempt to marry traditional Maltese and Mediterranean
folk-tunes and dances to art music, much as Bartk, de
Falla and Vaughan Williams had done with the music of
their respective countries. This period produced some of
Camilleris most endearing and enduring works.
Camilleri soon directed his attention to the culture of a
wider geographical area. During what has been described
as his Afro-Arabic-Hindu phase he explored the intricate
rhythms and improvisatory aspects of North-African and
Middle Eastern music in such compositions as the
Second Piano Concerto Maqam (1970) and the Piano
Trio (1972). This led him to develop the concept of the
atomisation of the beat a universal type of rhythm
made up of small, apparently unconnected, units the
universal rhythm which in its turn forms part of an even
greater rhythm, the rhythm of the universe. Camilleri also
became highly interested in the writings of the Jesuit
theologian and scientist Teilhard de Chardin. This found
expression in the organ masterpieces Missa Mundi and
Morphogenesis as well as in compositions for other
media, including Cosmic Visions for 42 strings (1976) and
Noospheres for piano (1977).
The final phase in Camilleris output has been
referred to as universal, since it merges the seemingly
disparate facets and concerns of his earlier works into a
cohesive whole. This incessant traveller had completed
his most impressive journey that which led him from the
songs of a small Mediterranean island to a cosmic
language of universal relevance.
The works on this disc date from early in Camilleris
career. Indeed, the Piano Concerto No. 1 Mediterranean is
probably his first mature large-scale composition. Its
original version was written in 1948, although the composer
revised and re-orchestrated it thirty years later. It is this
latter version of the piece which is more often performed.

Camilleri attributed the genesis of the concerto to a

visit to London where he attended a Promenade Concert.
There, for the first time I heard a live professional
orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, performing
under Malcolm Sargent. That evening so fired my
imagination that not only did I decide to commit myself to
music but went straight into composing a large scale
Piano Concerto.
The work is cast in a traditional three-movement fastslow-fast structure. It owes much to the epic Romantic
concerto tradition but fuses into this familiar language
musical elements drawn from Southern Europe and North
Africa. A distinctive flavour is given, for instance, by the
modal and chromatic inflexions of the music (despite the
work being nominally in G minor) and the use of striking
rhythms, by turns elaborate and disarmingly simple. The
opening movement of the concerto contrasts a linear and
agile first theme with an expansive and lyrical second idea
redolent of Rachmaninov. The central Adagio, heralded by
an unaccompanied horn recitative, is the emotional core of
the piece. The piano weaves intricate improvisatory
arabesques over a languid accompaniment, evoking the
image of folk guitarists playing on a balmy summer night.
The concerto ends with a sprightly rondo which, driven by
a recurring tarantella, builds up to a rousing close.
In the 1950s and 1960s Camilleri was widely
respected as an accordion virtuoso and pedagogue.
Besides performing internationally, he published an
accordion method and recorded a solo LP. During this
time he composed several pieces for himself and his
pupils to perform, amongst which the most substantial is
the Concerto for Accordion and String Orchestra. Rather
surprisingly, the concerto lay forgotten for two decades
until leading Canadian accordionist Joseph Macerollo, its
original dedicatee and one-time Camilleri student,
decided to record it.
The work is in three movements. The opening
Andante moderato follows a classical sonata-form
structure and could be mistaken for a lost eighteenthcentury concerto, were it not for the unusual solo
instrument and the fact that the main subject sounds
suspiciously like a Maltese traditional melody. The slow

8.573373

movement starts with an extended dirge-like accordion

solo in C minor, the chordal harmonies suggesting the
sound of a church organ, before the strings join in
creating a warm aural halo. A dissonant fortissimo chord
dispels the rapt, prayerful atmosphere and announces the
final Allegro vivace a manic atonal toccata based on a
dodecaphonic theme which, stylistically, propels the
concerto into the twentieth century. Camilleris sense of
humour was well known and this exhilarating finale, so
different from the preceding movements, must have been
written with a twinkle in the composers eye. It could also
have been a foretaste of the more experimental idioms
Camilleri would soon be exploring.
There are no modernist surprises in the Malta Suite,
in which the composer takes a number of recognisable
Maltese folk-tunes and reworks them into a set of
colourful orchestral dances. Rather ironically for what has
become the most popular and regularly performed of
Camilleris works, there is some uncertainty as to when
exactly it was composed. It appears that the Suite had its
premire in the early sixties when the composer was
living in Canada. Camilleri himself, however, claimed that
he had written it in 1946 during a holiday on the island of
Gozo. He once observed how at that time he was already
much in love with gana, whose melodic contours
permeate the work. The Suite expresses a youthful
exuberance, whilst displaying a precocious command of
orchestration. Each of its four movements presents a
vignette of village life, culminating in a raucous depiction
of the festa the yearly celebrations in honour of the
village patron saint which, up to this day, remain a central
event in most Maltese localities.
Camilleris early nationalistic works, including the Malta
Suite, were vital creations for a composer seeking a
personal voice, and were received enthusiastically by a
newly independent state which was also, in its own way, in
search of an identity. The composer would be proud to learn
that a recording of the Suites second movement the Waltz
is aired daily in one of the main squares of Valletta, the
capital city, as a musical emblem of Malta and its traditions.

Charlene Farrugia
Charlene Farrugia is one of the best pianists to have emerged
from Malta. At the age of thirteen she was the youngest soloist
ever to perform with the National Orchestra of Malta. Since
then she has regularly appeared as soloist with several
orchestras, such as the Gnessin Academy of Music Orchestra,
Kaliningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, Blackheath Halls
Orchestra, Rotterdam Ensemble, Wintergreen Orchestra, Arad
Philharmonic Orchestra and the Camerata Classica. She has
also toured China as guest soloist with the Malta Philharmonic
Orchestra. Her performances have been well received by
several heads of state, including members of the British Royal
Family. After finishing her musical education in Malta with Doris
Amodio Chircop, she continued her studies at the Royal
Academy of Music in London with Diana Ketler. Charlene Farrugia holds a Doctorate in Piano Performance from the
class of Kenneth Hamilton. Her mentor is Boris Petrushansky. She is an EMMA for peace artist.
Photo: Mario Mintoff

Franko Boac

Photo: Neven Udovicic

Franko Boac, a gifted accordionist and an EMMA for Peace artist (with honorary
president Riccardo Muti), has appeared as soloist with the Royal Academy of
Music Symphony Orchestra (London), Kaliningrad Philharmonic, Austrian
Symphony Orchestra, Arad Philharmonic, Ulyanovsk State Symphony Orchestra,
Camerata Classica, Wintergreen Festival Orchestra, Varadin Chamber
Orchestra, Croatian Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra, University of Pula
Symphony Orchestra, Gnessin Russian Academy of Music Orchestra and the
Lugansk Philharmonic. He has also collaborated with the London Sinfonietta,
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Ensemble 10/10. His playing has
been broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Scotland on several occasions.
He is in great demand among contemporary composers, having given the
premires of several works composed for accordion and orchestra. This has led
him to collaborate with eminent musicians such as Bashkim Shehu and Garry
Carpenter. After his early studies in Croatia, Franko Boac continued his studies
at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Owen Murray and currently
teaches accordion at the Music Academy in Pula, Croatia.

Dr Joseph Camilleri

8.573373

573373 bk Camilleri.qxp_573373 bk Camilleri 28/05/2015 12:23 Page 2

Charles Camilleri (1931-2009)

Piano Concerto No. 1 Mediterranean Accordion Concerto Malta Suite
Charles Camilleri was born in Hamrun, Malta, in 1931. He
showed early promise as an accordionist and pianist and
started composing at the age of eleven. By the end of his
teens he had written a number of compositions inspired
by Maltese traditional music and, particularly, by the local
style of folk singing known as gana. When Camilleri was
eighteen, he emigrated to Australia and eventually moved
to London where he earned his living as a successful
light-music arranger, performer, composer and conductor,
assisting Sir Malcolm Arnold on the Oscar-winning
soundtrack of The Bridge on the River Kwai. In 1958
Camilleri left London for New York and then Canada,
where he studied composition whilst working as resident
conductor for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He
would eventually describe these electrifying years as
amongst the most exciting of his life. They certainly gave
him the confidence to dedicate himself to composition,
which he did on his return to London in 1965. The
following years brought him ever-increasing critical
acclaim and prestigious collaborations. 1977 saw
Camilleris appointment as Professor of Composition at
the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto. Camilleri also
gave lectures at Buffalo State University, a hotbed of
musical modernism, where he met experimental
composers such as Carter, Feldman and Cage. Their
influence took root in a number of works of this period
including the Organ Concerto (1981).
Camilleri could not, however, resist the call of his
beloved Malta and in 1983 it became his permanent
home. The return to his roots led to a flowering of
inspiration. In 1984 he completed an opera written in
Maltese Il-Weghda which was followed in the
subsequent year by the oratorio Pawlu ta Malta. He also
composed another full-length opera (The Maltese Cross)
and oratorio (Dun or) as well as several concertos,
music theatre pieces and other vocal, choral, orchestral
and instrumental works. One of his very last works, the
New Idea Symphony, was posthumously given its
premire in Brussels in January 2009.

8.573373

It is not easy to categorise the output of a composer as

complex and prolific as Camilleri. If pressed to do so, one
could distinguish three overlapping phases. The earliest
may be referred to as nationalistic and is typified by an
attempt to marry traditional Maltese and Mediterranean
folk-tunes and dances to art music, much as Bartk, de
Falla and Vaughan Williams had done with the music of
their respective countries. This period produced some of
Camilleris most endearing and enduring works.
Camilleri soon directed his attention to the culture of a
wider geographical area. During what has been described
as his Afro-Arabic-Hindu phase he explored the intricate
rhythms and improvisatory aspects of North-African and
Middle Eastern music in such compositions as the
Second Piano Concerto Maqam (1970) and the Piano
Trio (1972). This led him to develop the concept of the
atomisation of the beat a universal type of rhythm
made up of small, apparently unconnected, units the
universal rhythm which in its turn forms part of an even
greater rhythm, the rhythm of the universe. Camilleri also
became highly interested in the writings of the Jesuit
theologian and scientist Teilhard de Chardin. This found
expression in the organ masterpieces Missa Mundi and
Morphogenesis as well as in compositions for other
media, including Cosmic Visions for 42 strings (1976) and
Noospheres for piano (1977).
The final phase in Camilleris output has been
referred to as universal, since it merges the seemingly
disparate facets and concerns of his earlier works into a
cohesive whole. This incessant traveller had completed
his most impressive journey that which led him from the
songs of a small Mediterranean island to a cosmic
language of universal relevance.
The works on this disc date from early in Camilleris
career. Indeed, the Piano Concerto No. 1 Mediterranean is
probably his first mature large-scale composition. Its
original version was written in 1948, although the composer
revised and re-orchestrated it thirty years later. It is this
latter version of the piece which is more often performed.

Camilleri attributed the genesis of the concerto to a

visit to London where he attended a Promenade Concert.
There, for the first time I heard a live professional
orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, performing
under Malcolm Sargent. That evening so fired my
imagination that not only did I decide to commit myself to
music but went straight into composing a large scale
Piano Concerto.
The work is cast in a traditional three-movement fastslow-fast structure. It owes much to the epic Romantic
concerto tradition but fuses into this familiar language
musical elements drawn from Southern Europe and North
Africa. A distinctive flavour is given, for instance, by the
modal and chromatic inflexions of the music (despite the
work being nominally in G minor) and the use of striking
rhythms, by turns elaborate and disarmingly simple. The
opening movement of the concerto contrasts a linear and
agile first theme with an expansive and lyrical second idea
redolent of Rachmaninov. The central Adagio, heralded by
an unaccompanied horn recitative, is the emotional core of
the piece. The piano weaves intricate improvisatory
arabesques over a languid accompaniment, evoking the
image of folk guitarists playing on a balmy summer night.
The concerto ends with a sprightly rondo which, driven by
a recurring tarantella, builds up to a rousing close.
In the 1950s and 1960s Camilleri was widely
respected as an accordion virtuoso and pedagogue.
Besides performing internationally, he published an
accordion method and recorded a solo LP. During this
time he composed several pieces for himself and his
pupils to perform, amongst which the most substantial is
the Concerto for Accordion and String Orchestra. Rather
surprisingly, the concerto lay forgotten for two decades
until leading Canadian accordionist Joseph Macerollo, its
original dedicatee and one-time Camilleri student,
decided to record it.
The work is in three movements. The opening
Andante moderato follows a classical sonata-form
structure and could be mistaken for a lost eighteenthcentury concerto, were it not for the unusual solo
instrument and the fact that the main subject sounds
suspiciously like a Maltese traditional melody. The slow

8.573373

movement starts with an extended dirge-like accordion

solo in C minor, the chordal harmonies suggesting the
sound of a church organ, before the strings join in
creating a warm aural halo. A dissonant fortissimo chord
dispels the rapt, prayerful atmosphere and announces the
final Allegro vivace a manic atonal toccata based on a
dodecaphonic theme which, stylistically, propels the
concerto into the twentieth century. Camilleris sense of
humour was well known and this exhilarating finale, so
different from the preceding movements, must have been
written with a twinkle in the composers eye. It could also
have been a foretaste of the more experimental idioms
Camilleri would soon be exploring.
There are no modernist surprises in the Malta Suite,
in which the composer takes a number of recognisable
Maltese folk-tunes and reworks them into a set of
colourful orchestral dances. Rather ironically for what has
become the most popular and regularly performed of
Camilleris works, there is some uncertainty as to when
exactly it was composed. It appears that the Suite had its
premire in the early sixties when the composer was
living in Canada. Camilleri himself, however, claimed that
he had written it in 1946 during a holiday on the island of
Gozo. He once observed how at that time he was already
much in love with gana, whose melodic contours
permeate the work. The Suite expresses a youthful
exuberance, whilst displaying a precocious command of
orchestration. Each of its four movements presents a
vignette of village life, culminating in a raucous depiction
of the festa the yearly celebrations in honour of the
village patron saint which, up to this day, remain a central
event in most Maltese localities.
Camilleris early nationalistic works, including the Malta
Suite, were vital creations for a composer seeking a
personal voice, and were received enthusiastically by a
newly independent state which was also, in its own way, in
search of an identity. The composer would be proud to learn
that a recording of the Suites second movement the Waltz
is aired daily in one of the main squares of Valletta, the
capital city, as a musical emblem of Malta and its traditions.

Charlene Farrugia
Charlene Farrugia is one of the best pianists to have emerged
from Malta. At the age of thirteen she was the youngest soloist
ever to perform with the National Orchestra of Malta. Since
then she has regularly appeared as soloist with several
orchestras, such as the Gnessin Academy of Music Orchestra,
Kaliningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, Blackheath Halls
Orchestra, Rotterdam Ensemble, Wintergreen Orchestra, Arad
Philharmonic Orchestra and the Camerata Classica. She has
also toured China as guest soloist with the Malta Philharmonic
Orchestra. Her performances have been well received by
several heads of state, including members of the British Royal
Family. After finishing her musical education in Malta with Doris
Amodio Chircop, she continued her studies at the Royal
Academy of Music in London with Diana Ketler. Charlene Farrugia holds a Doctorate in Piano Performance from the
class of Kenneth Hamilton. Her mentor is Boris Petrushansky. She is an EMMA for peace artist.
Photo: Mario Mintoff

Franko Boac

Photo: Neven Udovicic

Franko Boac, a gifted accordionist and an EMMA for Peace artist (with honorary
president Riccardo Muti), has appeared as soloist with the Royal Academy of
Music Symphony Orchestra (London), Kaliningrad Philharmonic, Austrian
Symphony Orchestra, Arad Philharmonic, Ulyanovsk State Symphony Orchestra,
Camerata Classica, Wintergreen Festival Orchestra, Varadin Chamber
Orchestra, Croatian Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra, University of Pula
Symphony Orchestra, Gnessin Russian Academy of Music Orchestra and the
Lugansk Philharmonic. He has also collaborated with the London Sinfonietta,
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Ensemble 10/10. His playing has
been broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Scotland on several occasions.
He is in great demand among contemporary composers, having given the
premires of several works composed for accordion and orchestra. This has led
him to collaborate with eminent musicians such as Bashkim Shehu and Garry
Carpenter. After his early studies in Croatia, Franko Boac continued his studies
at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Owen Murray and currently
teaches accordion at the Music Academy in Pula, Croatia.

Dr Joseph Camilleri

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Malta Philharmonic Orchestra

Photo: Joe Smith

CAMILLERI
Mediterranean
Piano Concerto No. 1 Accordion Concerto Malta Suite
Charlene Farrugia, Piano Franko Boac, Accordion

Malta Philharmonic Orchestra Miran Vaupoti

Photo: Nikolai Ivanovich Semenov

Acclaimed as dynamic and knowledgeable by the Buenos Aires Herald, Croatian conductor Miran Vaupoti has
performed extensively in Europe, the Middle East, the United States, Latin America and Asia, conducting many
eminent orchestras in numerous major halls including the Wiener Musikverein, Smetana Hall, Prague, Cairo Opera
House, Forbidden City Concert Hall, Beijing, Oriental Art Center, Shanghai, and the Tchaikovsky Hall, Moscow. In 2011
Vaupoti made his operatic dbut in the United States, conducting Mozarts Le nozze di Figaro at the Atlantic Coast
Opera Festival in Philadelphia. In the same year he conducted Piazzollas rarely performed operetta Maria de Buenos
Aires in a new production at Lisinski Concert Hall, Zagreb. In 2012 he conducted the Empire Opera premires of
Saavedras Sweet Dreams and Roses Rumpelstiltskin directed by the American puppeteer Tyler Bunch at The
National Opera America Center in NYC. Miran Vaupoti won the 2015 Global Music Award for Best of Show and was
awarded the Honorary Diploma by the International Academy of Rating Technologies and Sociology Golden Fortune
for his significant contribution to the development of symphonic music.

Special thanks to Neva Begovi and Krunoslav Mari for their professional assistance,
and to Vito Gospodneti and Edo Forman (manufacturers of the excellent
ambient microphone Feature 2S) for their kind support.

8.573373

Charles

Miran Vaupoti
The Malta Philharmonic Orchestra is
Maltas foremost professional musical
institution. Under the helm of its current
Artistic Director and Principal
Conductor Brian Schembri, the
orchestra has been striving for musical
excellence by investing more
intensively in a varied symphonic
repertoire throughout its concert
seasons. The orchestra is involved in
opera productions in Malta and Gozo,
community outreach programmes,
concerts of a lighter musical genre as
well as international concert tours. The
MPO is also actively involved in
education programmes on local
television and radio, workshops and
bespoke performances with programmes
targeting children from a young age.
For a number of years the orchestra
has been collaborating with various
entities in order to expose Maltese
artists and composers both locally and
abroad, and thanks to their collaboration
with conductor Miran Vaupoti and the
Valletta 2018 Foundation (the organizing
body of the European Capital of Culture).

8.573373

573373 bk Camilleri.qxp_573373 bk Camilleri 28/05/2015 12:23 Page 1

Malta Philharmonic Orchestra

Photo: Joe Smith

CAMILLERI
Mediterranean
Piano Concerto No. 1 Accordion Concerto Malta Suite
Charlene Farrugia, Piano Franko Boac, Accordion

Malta Philharmonic Orchestra Miran Vaupoti

Photo: Nikolai Ivanovich Semenov

Acclaimed as dynamic and knowledgeable by the Buenos Aires Herald, Croatian conductor Miran Vaupoti has
performed extensively in Europe, the Middle East, the United States, Latin America and Asia, conducting many
eminent orchestras in numerous major halls including the Wiener Musikverein, Smetana Hall, Prague, Cairo Opera
House, Forbidden City Concert Hall, Beijing, Oriental Art Center, Shanghai, and the Tchaikovsky Hall, Moscow. In 2011
Vaupoti made his operatic dbut in the United States, conducting Mozarts Le nozze di Figaro at the Atlantic Coast
Opera Festival in Philadelphia. In the same year he conducted Piazzollas rarely performed operetta Maria de Buenos
Aires in a new production at Lisinski Concert Hall, Zagreb. In 2012 he conducted the Empire Opera premires of
Saavedras Sweet Dreams and Roses Rumpelstiltskin directed by the American puppeteer Tyler Bunch at The
National Opera America Center in NYC. Miran Vaupoti won the 2015 Global Music Award for Best of Show and was
awarded the Honorary Diploma by the International Academy of Rating Technologies and Sociology Golden Fortune
for his significant contribution to the development of symphonic music.

Special thanks to Neva Begovi and Krunoslav Mari for their professional assistance,
and to Vito Gospodneti and Edo Forman (manufacturers of the excellent
ambient microphone Feature 2S) for their kind support.

8.573373

Charles

Miran Vaupoti
The Malta Philharmonic Orchestra is
Maltas foremost professional musical
institution. Under the helm of its current
Artistic Director and Principal
Conductor Brian Schembri, the
orchestra has been striving for musical
excellence by investing more
intensively in a varied symphonic
repertoire throughout its concert
seasons. The orchestra is involved in
opera productions in Malta and Gozo,
community outreach programmes,
concerts of a lighter musical genre as
well as international concert tours. The
MPO is also actively involved in
education programmes on local
television and radio, workshops and
bespoke performances with programmes
targeting children from a young age.
For a number of years the orchestra
has been collaborating with various
entities in order to expose Maltese
artists and composers both locally and
abroad, and thanks to their collaboration
with conductor Miran Vaupoti and the
Valletta 2018 Foundation (the organizing
body of the European Capital of Culture).

8.573373

CMYK

NAXOS

NAXOS

Charles

Playing Time

60:21

CAMILLERI
(1931-2009)
Allegro moderato
Adagio (French horn solo: Marco Cola)
Allegro molto vivace

Concerto for Accordion and String Orchestra (1968)

Andante moderato
Andante
Allegro vivace

5:43
4:42
4:00

Charlene Farrugia, Piano 1-3 Franko Boac, Accordion 4-6

Malta Philharmonic Orchestra Miran Vaupoti

8.573373

8.573373

This recording was made possible thanks to support from the Valletta 2018 Foundation
(the organizing body of the European Capital of Culture) and the Mediterranean Conference Centre.
Recorded at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, Valletta, Malta, from 21st to 23rd July, 2014
Producer: Christopher Muscat Engineers: Davor Rocco and Alec Massa Editor: Davor Rocco
Publishers: Goodmusic Publishing (tracks 1-3); Novello & Co., Ltd. (tracks 4-6);
Alfred Lengnick & Co. (tracks 7-10)
Booklet notes: Dr Joseph Camilleri Cover photograph by Claire Calvagna

& 2015 Naxos Rights US, Inc.

3:20
4:03
4:31
5:17

Booklet notes in English

17:11

Made in Germany

Country Dance
Waltz (Clarinet solo: Joseph Camilleri)
Nocturne
Village Festa

14:25

www.naxos.com

Malta Suite (1946)

7
8
9
0

10:31
11:11
7:03

4
5
6

28:45

47313 33737

Piano Concerto No. 1 Mediterranean (1948, rev. 1978)

1
2
3

DDD

CHARLES CAMILLERI: Mediterranean

8.573373

CHARLES CAMILLERI: Mediterranean

The three works on this recording come from the first phase in the musical development of
Maltas prolific composer Charles Camilleri, and are some of his most rewarding and enduring
works. The Piano Concerto No. 1 Mediterranean owes much to the Romantic concerto tradition
but is suffused with the distinctive flavours of music from southern Europe and North Africa. A
virtuoso of the accordion, Camilleri wrote a Concerto for the instrument that journeys
humorously from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. The Malta Suite, a set of colourful
dances, is widely considered the islands musical emblem.