So much for our desperate need for a theatre with a roof
Gvern bla qalb - the govermnet he deterred us of an oprahouse
timesofmalta.com, a few hours ago
Hooked on classics….at Mater Dei
A composer who has grown increasingly frustrated by the small number of people who attend classical music concerts has decided that if the people won’t go for the concerts, he’ll take the concerts to them.
Karl Fiorini, who is currently holding the fourth edition of the International Spring Orchestra Festival at the Manoel, this evening delighted patients and their families when he held an hour-long concert of light classical music at the foyer of Mater Dei Hospital – a first for Malta. The concert was held by the 30-strong Rotterdam Sinfonietta, whose performances at the Manoel earlier this week were very well received.
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and Health Minister Joe Cassar joined the patients for the concert, which featured works by Debussy, Tigane and Saint-Saens.
“I felt that if people will not go to the concerts, I’ll take the music to them. Patients are the people who most cannot go to the concerts,” Mr Fiorini said.
Each time I read the kvetching and bitching about ‘roofless’ theatres and opera houses, I wondered what in god’s name all those people were going on about.
Did they really think there’s a demand for concerts (to say nothing about the supply)? Or were they thinking only of themselves and what they would like to do, perhaps once every month or two, and preferably for peanuts?
As for those who wanted an opera house (and still do), I was never in any doubt that they didn’t actually want an opera house as such, that is somewhere they could go and listen to opera.
No. What they wanted was a symbol: ‘Look, we have an opera house’.
It’s the same thinking that makes the mittilkless spend a small fortune on a car that’s brought out of the garage on Sundays, on the garage itself (two children share a bedroom so that the car has a bedroom of its own), a status kitchen that’s never used while the lady of the house cooks on an old stove in the – yes – garage, a linfa bil-plastic, a sufan bil-plastic and a swimming-pool that takes up the entire backyard.
I looked at the people clamouring for an opera house – preferably a replica of the old one – and I thought, ‘You probably think The Barber of Seville is where Byon Jo and Quinton get their hair cut on a gita ghal Spanja ma’ Super One.’ That Nikita Zammit Alamango, token woman on the Labour executive, for instance: “I wnat the opera huose rebuilt!!!!!!” Yes, right. She must really be into opera.
Well, it’s all over bar the shouting, and thank heavens for that. Now we’ve got to listen to the chief opponents to the project as they queue up to persuade us that they were never against it in the first place.
Amazing how nobody likes to be on the losing side, not even those who had so much courage in their convictions when they thought The People were behind them.
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Rotterdam! Indhil baRRani! U min jaf kemm gabu seks u traks maghhom!
Exactly my opinion on this issue. At this point in time cultural operators need to worry on demand and supply rather than buildings.
There are some who described the open air performance space as useless. Yet this is what with Adrian Buckle wrote way back in July “I agree with the concept of an open-air theatre because it will offer theatre new possibilities in the summer months, when everything connected to theatre seems to die off.”
A new national theatre or a new opera house, in conjunction with Manoel Theatre and MCC, will most likely be grossly under utilised. As you say, Daphne, for many having a new national theatre or an opera house is more of a status symbol, irrespective of the costs of building it and operating it.
For Astrid it was more than a status symbol. It was the cornerstone of her tourism policy for Malta. As soon as cruise passengers set their feet on land, she would pack them off into the new theatre to listen to a classical performance.
And to hell with St. Johns Cathedral, the Archaeology Museum, Hypogeum, Hagar Qim, Mdina, Valletta, Birgu and so many other attractions which, by the way, are unique and which the tourist will not find them anywhere else.
I suppose Labour will be happy for a theatre where “Zeza tal-Flagship” or It-Tieg ta’ Karmena Abdilla” could be staged for their supporters – I am sure that these people do not really know (or care) what opera is.
You forgot “Gensna.”
Nikita Zammit Alamango loves that. She has a dream of staging Gensna in the newly built replica of Barry’s opera house, hence her ‘Stop Project Piano’ anonymous campaign.
Yes, I forgot Gensna – so sorry – if I remember rightly about 500 Americans wanted to book a seat for that one.
Red-nose, Was there a cruise ship coming into Malta with 500 Americans?
Exactly my thoughts on this issue. Cultural operators should be worrying about demand and supply rather than missing roofs on theatres.
I am now convinced about the Renzo Piano concept for the old theatre site. I have to confess that, although I liked the idea immediately, I had some reservations about the logistical aspects (ambient noise, weather issues and the like).
I was never impressed with the proposal by some to build an opera house, much less with rebuilding a replica of the Barry opera house. I guess it must be because the kolonni, balavostri and statwi of the original remind me uncomfortably of many house facades in Malta – aside from the obvious fact that poor attendance would render it a white elephant pretty quickly.
This week I had an experience that dispelled any remaining doubts I had. I am no culture vulture, but I love attending cultural events occasionally, especially when I can take my son along with me. My experience of these events is that they are hardly full house or anywhere near that.
On Wednesday I had the good fortune to attend the circus show Urban Rabbits in Birkirkara, a creative and spectacular performance by young graduates of a circus school in France. Entrance to the show was a miserly 5 euros, yet the tent was only 2/3 full, even when a significant part of the audience was made up of French residents in Malta who got free tickets from the French Embassy.
On reading the blog of one of the performers (http://urbanrabbits.eu/?cat=8), I learned that their first two shows, where there were no French Embassy freebie ticket holders, attracted around 40 and 80 patrons respectively in a tent that can hold 500. I will leave you to read about the performers’ frustration and disappointment about the Maltese audience attendance and participation directly from the blog.
Now I ask myself, if we do not even patronise a circus act during the Easter school holidays and with a subsidised price, what in the name of God do we need another theatre for? I say, improve the existing theatres within the realm of the possible and forget about yet another opera house or theatre.
At least an open air performance space lends itself better to a wider range of artistic expression, including street performance which intrinsically can cope well with noise and weather elements. It may even lend itself well to events organised by our beloved political parties, so there.
I find myself in the uncomfortable position of agreeing with you. We are – on average – a country devoid of interest in any form of art. I have always found it hard to believe that St James Cavalier (bar the cafeteria) would amount to anything. Why anyone would want to build a second white elephant a stone’s throw away was beyond me … unless we have an Istitut Kattoliku MkII.
Why do you feel uncomfortable agreeing with something that makes sense?
I feel uncomfortable agreeing with something Daphne Caruana Galizia wrote.
I think a clarification is in order here. We can only dis/agree with or dis/like her public persona. We cannot logically say we dis/like her personally, as I don’t think many of us who comment here are in a position to form a valid opinion in that regard.
How odd. That suggests that your prejudice is stronger than your inclination to rational thought.
Just mention the word “free entrance” and you will soon see a queue forming.
Trid izzid “ikel b’xejn”. Taf int, bhal Xarabank.
A nice and noble gesture by Karl Fiorini.
This goes to show that cultural events do not necessitate a theatre with a roof, or great acoustics, but the right talent and audience.
“‘You probably think The Barber of Seville is where Byon Jo and Quinton get their hair cut on a gita ghal Spanja ma’ Super One.’”
And they would probably think that “Un Ballo in Maschera” was one of Consuelo’s New Year’s Eve masked balls.
Well, although I agree 100% with you regarding the supply. I think the main concern was about the ROOFLESS theatre. I still think this is a big mistake. However, perhaps it would be better to simply scrap the whole theatre (not to mention the waste of money for the parliament) and see what we should do about the supply part. Art in Malta is really in a sad state (I leave you people with the reasons as to why things got so bad).
Gvern bla qalb. Teatru bla saqaf. Oppozizzjoni bla bajd. Leader bla ideat. Lino bla Leadership.
Can somebody provide the figures of how many people attended, by performance, and by payable/complementary tickets the BOV Opera Festival from the 24 to the 27 March? This will give a good indication of the cultural standard of the Maltese people and the need or otherwise of an opera house, besides, we will have also the number of the people on whose behalf FAA and the rest are talking. I hope the total figure will exceed the 200 odd that attended the protest in Valletta a couple of weeks ago.
@a.briffa
Habib, ghamilt mistoqsija “tajba u tahraq”! Jista xi hadd jaghti statistika kredibbli ta’ kemm nies jattendu fit-tejatri, miftuha u maghluqa? Jien qatt ma mort nara l-opra, pero ghandi l-impressjoni li din timla l-platea, fiz-zewg tejatri tar-Rabat, Ghawdex. Pero kuncerti ta’ muzika u sfin klassiku mort kemm il-darba u nista nghid li dejjem l-istess nies nara. L-aktar li jkun hemm attendenza ghal kuncerti ta’ muzika sagra, specjalment meta jinzammu fil-Kon Kattidral ta’ San Gwann. Anke hawn, tara l-istess udjenza. Fi ftit kliem, ma nistenniex li ser nawmentaw in-numru ta’ spettaturi jekk noholmu bi kwalunkwe tijatru! Biex ikollok udjenza kif mixtieqa, l-ewwel trid TEDUKA lil poplu japprezza dawn l-affarijiet, possibilment min fuq il-bank tal-iskola. Altrimenti, jibqa jkollna nies li flok imorru jaraw film, jew jaghmlu passiggata x-xatt ta’ Tas-Sliema, jilbsu l-glekkijiet jew il-kowtijiet u jmorru sat-tejatru!! Jien nghid li s’issa, kultura artistika hi nieqsa hafna fostna ghalkemm supposta kellna bosta mezzi kif niddakkru minnha.
Rest assured that many of the seats will usually be filled by complementary-ticket holders, many of whom would otherwise not bother attending, and many of whom still would leave during the intermission if there is one.