The wisdom of The People (1)
“In several of my articles, I had recommended that the opera house should be built resembling as much as possible the old structure. The reason is very simple. The rest of the area has not changed since the end of World War II and the old Opera House seemed to have fitted in quite nicely, melding well with its surroundings. It fitted well at the time of the Rexford where barmaids danced the flamenco and the foxtrot with British soldiers, with the naughty Maltese nobility and with the island’s elite in the gut in Strait Street. If built in its traditional manner the new Opera House will meld even better with the rest of Valletta even though Strait Street has lost much of its charm. The last thing that we would like to see is another modern monstrosity a la Richard England.”
– Maurice Mizzi, Malta Today, Sunday 1 February
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Those who want the old theatre ‘as it was’ are for the most part elderly people for whom it would symbolise a sort of reenactment of their youth. They do not realise that the world has moved on and others don’t have the same fond memories and don’t share their nostalgia.
Incidentally, contrary to what Mr Mizzi states, the area has changed considerably since WWII. Apart from the hideous city gate and car-park there are the equally hideous flats on the bastions and the large towering box which is the Bank of Valletta building on the corner of Zachary Street.
Does anyone know what the French said before the Pyramid was built – did they have the equivalent of our know-it-alls? To be honest, I think it will take quite some time to accept a modern building on the opera house site or a modern ‘gate` in the bastions.
[Daphne – Apparently, yes. They had the equivalent of our know-it-alls, but not the equivalent of our rocky parliament, nor was it allowed to become a feeding frenzy of personal grudges. There were certainly plenty of disparaging remarks about having such a prominent piece of architecture designed by a Chink, or whatever the equivalent French word might be.]
Maurice Mizzi should forget about seeing the opera house as it was. Times have changed and so have we. And today opera means financial losses. Is Mr Mizzi prepared to set up a foundation for opera lovers and leave his money to it, so that the Maltese can enjoy beautiful operas? Make way for more novel ideas. Times have changed.
Emotionally, I tend to agree with you Daphne. However (there is always a ‘ however ‘), I am not sure that just rebuilding in a previous style is what we should do. I remember being disappointed that when there was a fire at Windsor Castle in 1992 , after much debate all that could be agreed upon was that it should be replaced with a replica of what had been there before. Where has this lack of confidence in contemporary design come from? If you look at buildings from previous centuries they have been added to and repaired in whatever was the contemporary style at the time. I doubt anyone in the 18th century would have said, let’s rebuild that in a 17th-century design.
[Daphne – Errrrm, it’s not me saying the above. I’m quoting something Maurice Mizzi wrote for Malta Today. I would hate to have (1) an opera house and (2) Barry’s hideous and ill-proportioned building.]
I.M. Pei is American, not Chinese.
[Daphne – He was Chinese to the French.]
Marika Mifsud: This is an extract from a document that can be downloaded from http://ecole.org/seminaires/FS6/IN_32/IN200300-ENG.pdf
A more difficult step was the presentation to the Commission supérieure of historical monuments
which had to give its opinion before work could begin. Émile Biasini had warned Peï, who was
not used to these commissions, that he most likely would be heavily criticised by the architects
and inspectors who made up the commission, but that this would not in any way prevent the
continuation of the project. The government officials, for their part, had received instructions to
‘kindly follow the government line, regardless of personal opinions’. Journalists were also invited
to this meeting.
Firstly Peï presented his project, then the discussion started. Criticism immediately came from all
sides : what right did he have to cast a slur on the grandeur of this place ? During the slide show,
under the cover of darkness, people were talking during Peï’s explanations, laughing at
inopportune moments, making fun of this Chinaman, or shouting out « It isn’t Dallas here ! » etc.
In the end, the translator was struck dumb and then burst into tears. According to Émile Biasini,
whereas Peï had thought that he had come to meet representatives of French culture, the
atmosphere he found was closer to that of a classroom racket.
….
As soon as the project became public, there was a general outcry. When the Mayor of the first
arrondissement, Michel Caldaguès, found out about the model of the pyramid, at first he thought
it was a joke, but soon after, he took charge of the petition against the project. The press flew into
a rage against the scandal and Le Monde published a particularly vicious article. In certain
fashionable Parisian social circles, one risked being thrown out, treated as a good-for-nothing, or
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tel : 01 42 79 40 80 – fax : 01 43 21 56 84 – email : ecopar@paris.ensmp.fr – http://www.ecole.org
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even accused of being a philistine traitor, if one admitted to having anything to do with the
Louvre project.
Michel Macary, Peï’s French partner, was a favourite target of the journalists : that an American
architect did not understand a thing about French culture was normal (according to Macary, who
knew of Peï’s immense culture, such an affirmation was totally out of place), but that, of all
things, a French architect could lend his support to such a project was simply appalling.
According to an saying quoted by Émile Biasini, « when the troughs aren’t very full, the horses
fight »; it seems that Michel Macary suffered a great deal from the jealousy of his fellow
architects.
Daphne, After reading the quote, I simply say: Non confundar in aeternum – I hope everyone understands this very simple Latin phrase.
[Daphne – May I not be confounded forever?]
I. M. Pei, I believe , was born in China and educated in Hong Kong. Certainly when I lived in HK he was considered to be ‘ one of their own ‘ . Obviously at some point in his life he moved to the US and acquired citizenship there.