Sunday 19th June shall see a very special concert coming to the stage of the Robert Samut Hall in Floriana, with the European Foundation for Support of Culture and the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra presenting a musical celebration of fraternity and the enduring relationship between Malta and Ukraine. Featuring the Kyiv Virtuosi Orchestra from the Ukrainian capital, under the baton of the acclaimed Maltese conductor Alan Chircop, the evening shall also showcase the talents of two two Maltese soloists – violist Nadia Debono, and horn player Etienne Cutajar – in a varied and interesting programme of works by Joseph Haydn, Edvard Grieg, Max Bruch, and Benjamin Britten. Commencing with Haydn’s Horn Concerto No. 2, a short, lively work in three movements which is very characteristic of Haydn’s court compositions of the period, the concert then moves on to Grieg’s Holberg Suite. Composed in 1884 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of the celebrated playwright Ludvig Holberg, the work, written in five movements, is based on eighteenth-century dance forms, and is often held to be of equal importance and value as the composer’s more famous Peer Gynt suites, despite not being as well-known. Next, the orchestra, along with Cutajar, will interpret Bruch’s Romance in F major for Viola and Orchestra, which, although having been composed in 1911, retains many romantic ideals and characteristics, with its simple structure delivering a beautiful melodious work, with lush tunes and an overall serene character that is occasionally interspersed with moments of agitated tension. Finally the Kyiv Virtuosi will close the evening off with Britten’s Simple Symphony, a modern work which was completed in 1934, but is based on material that the composer had written much earlier in his life. Composed over four movements, the work explores eight different themes, resulting in an interesting variation of tone and style throughout the work’s progression.