Since 1998 the Orquestra Clássica da Madeira has been performing the island’s Flower Festival Concert. The 2023 edition on April 29 starred the Lithuanian soprano Viktorija Miškūnaitė, with the orchestra being directed by guest conductor Gianluca Marcianò. They offered one popular opera highlight after another.
Interestingly, at the Congress Center (Centro de Congressos), you could chose your seat freely, there were no assigned seats.
The evening started with the Ouverture of Giuseppe Verdi’s I vespri siciliani, with calm, romantic strings in the beginning, followed by dramatic wind instruments, again dancing, romantic passages before, after several attempts, the ouverture ends in a dramtic, great finale.
The aria “Mercè, Dilette amiche”, also from Verdi’s I vespri siciliani, followed. Viktorija Miškūnaitė showed from the very first note that her outstanding soprano voice needed no warm-up. As the orchestra before her, she received a well deserved round of applause.
Then, the orchestra played solo again. Giacomo Puccini’s symphonic intermezza “La tregenda” (The Spectre) from the opera-ballet Le villi (The Fairies) offered great emotions, waves of warmth, fast rhythms and great entertainment.
With the following soprano aria “Quando m’en vo’” (aka “Musetta’s Waltz”) from Puccini’s La bohème, Viktorija Miškūnaitė showed that she could offer great emotions too.
The soprano Viktorija Miškūnaitė and Gianluca Marcianò conducting the Madeira Classical Orchestra at the Flower Festival Concert Gala de Ópera. Photo copyright © Mafalda Bompastor/Orquestra Clássica da Madeira.
Subsequently, the orchestra played Franz Lehar’s waltz “Gold und Silber” with a rich string sound, creating a pleasant, dancing atmosphere, transporting you back to turn of the century Vienna. It was the best moment so far.
However, my highlight of the evening came next: Giuditta’s aria “Meine Lippen, Sie küssen so heiss” from Franz Lehar’s operetta Giuditta in an arrangement by Fedor Vrtacnik. During her entire performance this evening, in all languages (Italian, German, French, English), Viktorija Miškūnaitė pronuncation was excellent. During “Meine Lippen, Sie küssen so heiss”, the orchestra and the soprano formed one unity, offered perfect harmony. This composition all too often ends up as a superficial crowd-pleaser. But in Funchal, all artists on stage managed to play and sing it with finesse. And, in the instrumental part, Viktorija Miškūnaitė found the time and space to offer the public a few dancing steps. The public’s response was rightly hot, enthusiastic about the performance of “Meine Lippen, Sie küssen so heiss”.
The interlude “La boda de Luis Alonso” by Geronimo Gimenez showcased dramatic and entertaining sounds by the orchestra and its guest conductor.
Viktorija Miškūnaitė was back for the melodramatic “Granada” by the Mexican composer and Agustín Lara — and the public loved the highly emotional rendition by both the orchestra and the soprano.
Jacques Offenbach’s famous “Cancan” from his opéra bouffe Orphée aux Enfers was another favorite of the public — I was just missing some long-legged dancers.
Before the performance of “La vie en rose”, the conductor, Gianluca Marcianò, said that he dedicated the song to his friend, the French-Italian Mario De Andreis, who had recently passed away. Louis Guglielmi aka Louiguy, Edith Piaf’s pianist and composer, had composed the music in 1945. The lyrics of this highly emotional love song were written by Edith Piaf herself. This classic has been covered by many famous artists, including Tony Martin, Bing Crosby, Grace Jones, Donna Summer, Michael Bublé and even Lady Gaga. Gianluca Marcianò, the Madeira Classical Orchestra and Viktorija Miškūnaitė performed it with grace a style, and as a unity.
Viktorija Miskunaite even danced a few steps during the instrumental part of Franz Lehar’s “Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiss” from Giuditta at the Gala de Ópera at the Concerto Festa da Flor. Photo copyright © Mafalda Bompastor/Orquestra Clássica da Madeira.
Subsequently, the orchestra played Leonard Bernstein’s fast-paced “Mambo” from his musical West Side Story, with the orchester musicians shouting the famous word “mambo”. Obviously another crowd-pleaser.
Viktorija Miškūnaitė came back on stage for a fabulous interpretation of “I Could Have Danced All Night” from the musical My Fair Lady, a song written by Frederick Loewe, with lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, in an arrangement by Fedor Vrtacnik.
The official part of the concert ended with the 1935 song “Non ti scordar di me”, written by Ernesto De Curtis, with lyrics by Domenico Furnò, again in an arrangement by Fedor Vrtacnik. The soprano and the orchestra sent warm waves of love through the public.
The first encore “O mio babbino caro” (“Oh my dear Papa”) is a soprano aria from the opera Gianni Schicchi (1918) by Giacomo Puccini. With this short, heartache song, Viktorija Miškūnaitė moved once again the public.
The second encore was the popular “Thunder and Lightning Polka” op. 3 24 by Johann Strauss II (German: Johann Strauß Sohn). The public clapped hands to the Madeira Classical Orchestra’s performance.
The third encore, “Con te partirò” (“With You I Shall Depart”), highlighted once again the Lithuanian soprano Viktorija Miškūnaitė and offered a brilliant end to the great 2023 Madeira Flower Festival Concert.
Incidentally, the song written by Francesco Sartori (music) and Lucio Quarantotto (lyrics) was first performed by the famous, blind Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli at the 1995 Sanremo Music Festival. In 1996, a duet version of “Con te partirò”, pairing Andrea Bocelli with the English crossover soprano Sarah Brightman, was released with new lyrics and the new title “Time to Say Goodbye”, giving the song a different meaning. But that’s another story.
If you are in the USA, find Giacomo Puccini sheet music at Sheetmusicplus.
Giacomo Puccini at Amazon Germany
A short biography of Viktorija Miškūnaitė
The Lithuanian soprano Viktorija Miškūnaitė studied vocal performance at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theater with professor Asta Krikščiūnaitė. Thanks to the 4th International Singing Competition in Russia’s Saint Petersburg in 2009, she could participate in the master classes of jury members Carmen Balthrop (USA) and Mauro Trombetta (Italy). In 2011 and 2012, she studied with Sylvia Koncza at the State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart. In addition, she took courses of vocal and dramatic interpretation organized by the Baltic States’ “NordOpera” biennale and bel canto master classes of professor Delfo Menicucci at the Verdi Conservatory in Milan, Italy.
In 2013, Viktorija Miškūnaitė participated in the summer academy masterclasses — which, as a spectator, you can attend free of charge! — organized by the Verbier Festival in Switzerland. Among her teachers were Barbara Bonney, Claudio Desderi and Tim Carroll. In addition, in Switzerland, Viktorija Miškūnaitė took master classes with director Peter Konwitschny, organized by the “OpernWerkstatt”.
Since 2006, the soprano has been working as a soloist. Among others, she performed with the National Symphony Orchestra in Lithuania, the Čiurlionis Quartet, the Vilnius State Choir, the Vilnius City Opera, and she sang at the summer festival in Tytuvėnai. In 2012, Viktorija Miškūnaitė particapted in the European tour of the SWR Symphony Orchestra Baden-Baden under the direction of Sylvain Chamberlain.
Viktorija Miškūnaitė made her debut at the Lithuanian Natinal Opera and Ballet Theatre in the role of Rosalinde in Strauss’ “Die Fledermaus”. In 2015, she became of the member of opera company. The same year, she received the Opera Soloist of the Year award for her role of Manon and, in 2016, was awarded the Golden Stage Cross, Lithuania’s highest theater award. Numerous engagements followed, e.g. at the Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik 2018 in the role of in Saverio Mercadante’s “Didone Abbandonata” (relased on Naxos in 2019; order the Blu-ray from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de).
Viktorija Miškūnaitė’s opera repertoire includes the roles of Rosalinde in Strauss’ “Die Fledermaus”, Manon Lescaut in Massenet’s “Manon”, Micaela in Bizet’s “Carmen”, Violetta Valéry in Verdi’s “La traviata”, Mimi and Musetta in Puccini’s “La bohème”, Elisabeth in Verdi’s “Don Carlo”, Rachel in Halévy’s “La Juive”, Tatjana in Tchaikovsky’s “Eugne Onegin”, Turandot in Puccini’s “Turandot”, etc.
Gianluca Marcianò conducting the Madeira Classical Orchestra. Photo copyright © Mafalda Bompastor/Orquestra Clássica da Madeira.
Gianluca Marcianò was born in Lerici (Liguria) on the Italian Riviera in 1976. First, he trained as a classical pianist. According to a Financial Times interview, he became disillusioned because it was a very lonely kind of life, with the dialogue just between him and the instrument. With conducting, he thought, he would be able to make music yet also be part of a communal experience.
Gianluca Marcianò Marcianò left Italy, taking a job as an assistant conductor in Ljubljana, Slovenia. He made his debut as a conductor at the Croation National Opera in Zagreb in 2007. Since then, he was worked at opera houses in Oviedo, Minsk, Ljubljana, Yerevan and many other places. In the United Kingdom, he has conducted the English National Opera, the Grange Park Opera, the Scottish Opera, the Opera North and at the Longborough Opera Festival. In addition, he has conducted the English Chamber Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC Concert Orchestra and other orchestras.
Gianluca Marcianò is the founder and Artistic Director of the Festival Suoni dal Golfo in his birthplace Lerici. He has worked as Principal Guest Conductor at the National Opera in Minsk, Belarus and as Artistic Director of the Al Bustan Festival in Beirut, a festival which was entirely sponsored by private donors.
From 2011 until 2014, Gianluca Marcianò worked as Musical Director a the State Opera in Tiflis, Georgia. From 2017 until 2019, he was the Principal Conductor at the Serbian National Theater in Novi Sad. In 2022, Gianluca Marcianò has been appointed Principal Conductor of the Orchestra della Magna Grecia in Matera and Taranto, Italy.
Gianluca Marcianò has worked with soloists such as Khatia Buniatshvili, Elina Garanča, Nina Kotova, Maria João Pires, Arabella Steinbacher, Alexander Buzlov, Gautier Capuçon, Renaud Capuçon, Denis Kozhukin, Giovanni Sollima and many others.
Gianluca Marcianò conducting the Madeira Classical Orchestra. Photo copyright © Mafalda Bompastor/Orquestra Clássica da Madeira.
Concert review added on May 1, 2023 at 23:34 German time/22:34 Madeira time. Updated at 23:42 German time.
