Corto Maltese: the Ballad of the Salty Sea 

Libretto                            Corina van Eijk, based on the original text  by Hugo Pratt, 

                                               author of the graphic novel Corto Maltese: una Ballata del 

                                                Mare Salato

Commission                  Teatru Manoel, Valletta, Cultural Capital of Europe 2018

Premiere                         September 20th, 2018 Teatru Manoel in  Valletta, Malta 

Instrumentation        fl, cl, bs, hn, perc, vi1, vi2, vla, vc, cb

Teatru Manoel: 

‘Swashbuckling pirates, damsels in distress, plots to thwart and mysteries to uncover –  No, this is not The Pirates of the Caribbean or The Princess Bride, but instead the cult graphic novel series Corto Maltese created by Hugo Pratt.  A total of twenty-nine stories were written and published about Corto Maltese – beginning with The Ballad of the Salty Sea which first appeared in the ‘Sgt. Kirk’ magazine in 1967. […]

 

Our story is set around a collection of islands in Papua New Guinea from 1913 – 1915 at the outset of World War I. We meet Corto Maltese marooned on a raft in the middle of the pacific ocean where he is surreptitiously saved by fellow pirate Captain Rasputin and introduced to Pandora and her cousin Cain who are both prisoners on board, held for ransom.  He assumes the role of their protector. Rasputin is trading coal with the German Navy, headed by Lt. Slütter who falls immediately in love with hostage Pandora. They are set upon with further threats of gunfire – seemingly from the elusive ‘Monk’ and land upon the island Escondida where the showdown begins. Can Corto save the day?’