Malta Concert

[Boots]

Welcome Angel and attardchar. "Dream (Scream) Along With Me, I'm on my Way to the Stars", an old Perry Como hit. If you want to see a really great smile, check out the Amore DVD right after Andrea sings "Mi Manchi"(my favorite song). Oh, baby, a million watts! Are those dimples? Ay, ay, ay!!!

[jackyd]

Welcome back Gill, was wondering how your trip went. I also can't wait to read about your experience.

Welcome Attardchar(Charlene) to the forum. Great people here and a LOT of information. You will enjoy this. How many times have you been able to attend Andrea's live performance?

jacky

[gill mclennan]

Hi all. It was absolutely fantastic. The venue, the audience, the staff and a beautiful printed programme for £3 which was so much better than anything we had in Birmingham. The concert was a sell out and we were lucky enough to get seats l5 rows from the stage and a little towards the right of where Andrea stood. A fantastic view but no photos I'm afraid.

The National Orchestra of Malta conducted by Carlo Bernini opened the concert with Bizet but I was just holding my breath waiting for the MOMENT to arrive. He came on stage with Bernini wearing his black suit and the applause was deafening. The audience clapped and cheered and he just stood there quietly waiting ..and waiting ..and waiting. I sat there just drooling and then he finally started to sing E Lucevan le stella and again the applause was overwhelming. I felt so pleased with the audience for being so enthusiastic - imagine how proud his mother is to hear such a welcome for him!!

He was joined on stage by the baritone and they sang Au fond du Temple Saint, which I just loved. The Maltese soprano Lydia Caruana also appeared and they sang together. I won't go into all the detail because its too long but it was over so quickly.

After the interval the orchestra played Carmen Preludio and the audience joined in and after a while Bernini turned to us and started conducting and laughing. Then it was Andrea's turn again and he sang Granada which the audience loved and they were clapping and cheering as he was still holding the last notes.

He finally changed into his white jacket and said in English that he expected everyone here could speak Italian, so he would speak in Italian. I understood the joke about the jacket but then he spoke for a while and everyone cheered but I couldn't understand a word of it. Thanks Angel for letting us know about the dedication. He sang the old favorites Besame Mucho, Somos novios and Because we Believe. The cheering and clapping were amazing and everyone was standing. He came back for three curtain calls and sang The Prayer, Time to Say Goodbye andCan't Help Falling in Love. Every time he left the stage and waved goodbye, the audience went on and on with the cheering and clapping so he came back again and stood there with the others, just smiling and bowing. I think he came back three times in all and I couldn't decide whether I was excited about him being on stage again, or worried that he must be so tired and feeling guilty after he had given such a wonderful performance!!!

At the airport the next day, I saw the Malta Times with Andrea's photo on the front page. It was too soon after the concert for there to be a report but there was a story that on the Friday, people waiting for friends and relatives at the airport were excited to see the famous tenor arrive and broke into applause as he came through the airport. He said he was feeling tired after the flight from USA but thanked them for the warm welcome and was looking forward to seeing them at the concert next day.

Hope this makes sense because I'm also feeling a bit tired after all the excitement but it was worth it and the people of Malta as well as the excellent venue and facilities made it a fantastic experience.

Cheers Gill

[Michelle]

Thanks Gill - I'm glad you had a trip to remember!

[carolina1954]

Thanks Gill, nice report.
Planning your next concert trip?

[patriciabutler]

Oh Gill it sound so wonderful, you had such a great time. hope to hear from you soon
Tricia

[angel27]

Hi Gill,

Wasn't he GREAT!!! I'm happy for you that you had a good seat, and enjoyed the whole experience. He came to Malta just 4 hours before he was on stage, my friend got to see him coming out of arrivals and touched his hand! Ohhhhhhh! He arrived with his lovely family. There's a photo of his mum and one of the sons on the Times (Malta) of today. Lovely family he has.

Gill, your report is very real, thanks. I couldn't get round to writing, partly because of my feet still not touching the ground yet. It must have been great to see him from where you were sitting. All the cheering and clapping every time he came back on stage was just our yearning for him to stay. I felt like running up to the stage, to hug him, thank him and beg him to stay. You know the feeling....I guess no-one wanted him to leave.

Was it your first time to Malta? If not, you must be used to our warm welcomes then. So, did you have a gold ticket? I mean, were you having dinner at Hilton where he was? If so, we need some reporting on that too

[gill mclennan]

Hello Angel, It was my second time in Malta but there was a gap of about 25 years between the visits so I noticed a lot of changes. The people were just as warm and friendly though and the buses just as great!

We had gold tickets but we were sitting in the row next to the Diamond tickets and they were the ones who had the meal as well. I had no idea that his mother was in the audience as well - that was really special.

It's a good thing we didn't go to the Hilton because we travelled very light and just had a rucksack so very few clothes with us.

Cheers Gill

[angel27]

Hi, yeah there have been a few changes in 25 years, hope you'll return in less than that.

I made a little mistake about the family's photo, it's in a local Sunday paper called Il-Mument, not in today's Times. Sorry about that.

[gill mclennan]

Yes, I was just wondering where the picture was in the Times but there was a great report about the success of the concert, so that's OK.

I'll be back but I'll just check to see first where Andrea will be and when?

[jackyd]

Gill, thanks so much for writing of your experience. Many thanks for sharing with us.

Were cameras allowed? At the Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida when purchasing tickets (I did not attend) it was made very clear 'no cameras or video equipment allowed'. I have seen this for other places he has performed at.

jacky

[Baroque1685]

Oh thanks so much gill and Angel for your reports! They were a delight to read! And welcome to the forum Angel and Attardchar.

[Lelly]

Gill - what a wonderful experience. It sounds very much like the first time I saw Andrea, and I'm still disappointed that he didn't sing Lucevan when he was in Birmingham. Already I'm desperate to see him again!