KEVIN ABELA Conductor

Joseph Vella Rebbieħa, Op. 45

The MPO closes Public Service Week with a work by one of Malta’s foremost composers, Joseph Vella, performed at Fort Saint Elmo in Valletta 

Rebbieħa is one of his most popular orchestral works and includes references of the Maltese anthem. Performed by the orchestra in the United States and Russia during the MPO Valletta18 International Tour, the symphonic poem was defined by the New York Classical Review as “a dramatic overture with energy, imagination and an individual voice” positioning the composer “somewhere between Ralph Vaughan Williams and Shostakovich”.