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Maltese ‘Contemporary Colours’ featured in New York Music Daily Top 50
Maltese ‘Contemporary Colours’ featured in New York Music Daily Top 50
The Malta Philharmonic Orchestra released an album called Contemporary Colours last year and has since been place in the New York Music Daily’s Top 50 Best Albums of 2021. The same publication also referred to the album as full to the brim with “colourful, often Middle Eastern-tinged works.”
The album features works by Maltese composers with the orchestra being led by conductor Sergey Smbatyan. Released by Navona Records, Contemporary Colours presents works by innovative composers, as well as a combination of pre-recorded elements, full orchestration, traditional instruments and contemporary sounds, making it one of the most unique compilations out there.
Featured on the album is Three Pieces by Euchar Gravina, Fine Line by Veronique Vella, Xamm (which means scent) by Albert Garzia, Riħ (which means wind) by Alexander Vella Gregory and Waiting by Mariella Cassar-Cordina, as well as Mesogeios by Christoper Muscat, which shines a spotlight on Maltese music, as it features traditional instruments such as the żaqq, żummara and flejguta.
The album, supported by Festivals Malta, has a mission and that mission is to highlight Maltese music and tap into the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra’s aim of acting as a keen exponent of Maltese composers locally, as well as overseas.
Contemporary Colours was recorded at the start of 2021, at the orchestra’s music hub Robert Sammut Hall and released in November of the same year. It was produced by PARMA Recordings and is available both in digital and physical format. Check it out online here.
