Joseph Vella, Valeriana : The Titan’s Rock, Teatru Astra, Victoria, May 2024 [Review]

Abstract

I will begin this review with a brief précis of Maltese and Gozitan operatic culture for the benefit of those unfamiliar with it – Maltese and Gozitans can skip to the next paragraph. Non-locals will notice that I have already made a distinction here that Maltese politicians are careful to make when speaking broadly and inclusively to their constituents: ‘Maltese and Gozitans’. Gozo is a small, hilly, trapezoidal island north of Malta, itself a small, but comparatively larger, island. It has a distinct culture, cuisine and dialect – and, with a population of around 40,000, it has two separate opera houses within roughly 50 metres of each other. I raise this point because Joseph Vella, the composer of the opera Valeriana, was a Gozitan composer, and it was at one of these two Gozitan opera houses – Teatru Astra – where he worked and where his final work was posthumously premièred. [excerpt]