A piece worth reading, from another blog
Don't they know it always rains in Regents Park? Where's that Kenneth?
This piece is from the Malta9Thermidor blog. Please read it.
Propologia
Fausto Majjistral – 7 July 2009 at 9:39 am
Yesterday we had Victor Ragonesi telling us to keep our hands off the “original” entrance of Valletta which nobody has a right to “desecrate”.
Ragonesi was Borg-Olivier’s Private Secretary in the 1960s.
Which begs the question: did his former political master have any right to desecrate the city entrance the way he did?
Today, Kenneth Zammit-Tabona writes on the Piano plans in The Times:
“Meanwhile, the government, with pennants flying and trumpets blowing, announced Renzo Piano’s blueprint for Valletta and, if their perennial apologists are anything to go by, are in a right royal miff because it was not received with the right amount of adulation. What on earth did they expect? After waiting for 67 years for something to happen on the opera house site, the government’s brief to Mr Piano was devoid of any thought, sensitivity and without reflection as to what the long-term consequences of this open-air theatre that we need like a hole in the head will mean with regard to Maltese culture or the lack of it.”
I don’t know what government’s brief to Piano was and if it said “make the old Opera House into an open-air theatre”. If anything, Piano, it seems, dissuaded the government from constructing a parliament on the theatre’s site. And as I have pointed out elsewhere, Piano is not a starving architect waiting for some commission to come in. I’m sure he has enough artistic and professional dignity to tell the government to find someone else if he felt the “brief” he was given was below him.
But Zammit-Tabona seems to know something the rest of us don’t. He was one of the plans’ first critics:
“Art and theatre critic Kenneth Zammit Tabona was not at all amused: “I have never felt so insulted in my life. This is another confirmation of the poor attitude this government has shown towards culture. We’re going to have a roofless theatre which can only be used when the weather permits. But they’re not going to be roofless in Parliament, are they?””
That, by the way, was soon after it was announced that it would be an open-air theatre but before the plans were unveiled. And notice the criticism was directed at the government: Zammit-Tabona, unlike the paTRioTs wIth a caPs loCK prOBlem who comment on The Times, is not so philisitine to accuse Piano of philistinism. Such charges work better with Austin Gatt so that’s where he directs it.
But then Zammit-Tabona goes on:
“Last Tuesday, La Traviata, starring Renee Fleming and our own Joseph Calleja, was transmitted live from Covent Garden to an enthusiastic and numerous paying audience at Argotti Gardens. A son of Malta has really made it to the top echelons and will, any minute now, reach iconic status. A suggestion, which, I hope, the ministry will take up should this lovely event happen again, is that it should be shown free of charge in all the towns and villages in Malta that have a suitable open space.”
It’s heartening to note that on this occasion — end of June — it was a case of “weather permits” in an “roofless” venue as was the Argotti Garden. And why does Zammit-Tabona suggest that the screening be held in “towns and villages in Malta that have a suitable open space”?
No fear of wind, rain and hail? Adrian Buckle, who had been one of the most vociferous opponents of having parliament built on the old opera house site, spoke in favour of an open air theatre because, bar the ludicrous venue at Ta’ Qali, there is no such thing in Malta. Both Buckle and Zammit-Tabona seem to be aware that the performing arts have stiff competition in the summer and both realise that an open venue is the answer.
But while Buckle’s reaction is the obvious reaction of someone who got something he could have wished for, Zammit-Tabona persists in criticising the plan and the government (not Piano). Why? Is it the cheap and easy way to sophistication?
Coda: Another point in Zammit-Tabona’s op-ed is worth addressing:
“This [foreign governments’ attempts to popularise opera] was an exercise that took up the trend set by Pavarotti, Carreras and Domingo when they performed together in that unforgettable Three Tenors Concert in Rome 19 years ago and which I had the unforgettable privilege of attending. In those days one could hear men attempting to sing Nessun Dorma in the shower as they lathered themselves: so much for the irrelevance and mustiness of opera Lou Bondì.”
That’s a hypothesis. Here’s another: Pavarotti’s Nessun Dorma (one of the worst renditions of the piece, one should add) was the theme song used for the BBC’s coverage of the 1990 World Cup finals. Most people learned of the piece (and its existence) thanks to that, not the Three Tenors concert. Which might explain why it was men attempting to sing it in the shower.
Was the BBC’s then attempt a laudable case of “popularising”? Yes. But as “propologia” is pig-Greek so is Puccini-before-a-football-match “pig-opera”.
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And here’s the link:
http://malta9thermidor.wordpress.com/2009/07/07/propologia/
And what about the Greek Theatre in Taormina, just to mention one, should our dear Kenneth wish to put a roof on that one too? It seems that granting him an interview about his works on One TV has worked wonders in converting him to the socialist fold.
Where have all these self-appointed experts sprung up from? It is sickening! I sincerely hope that the government proceeds with the project. It is about time to remind these ‘experts’ that the government was elected to govern and make decisions. We are simply making a mockery of the term democracy. It’s just crazy and so very frustrating. Let’s get on with the Piano project.
If I am not mistaken the Three Tenors concert in Rome was held at the Baths of Caracalla, which I do not believe has a roof. Others followed, amongst them:
Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles for the 1994 World Cup finals, Wembley Stadium in 1996, the Champ de Mars, below the Eiffel Tower in Paris during France ’98, Beijing, Imperial Palace Courtyard, 2001, and in Yokohama 2002.
All of these concerts were in open-air theatres in countries where the weather is more frivolous than ours.
Kenneth Zammit-Tabona (he was present, after all) should have pointed out that the “unforgettable … concert in Rome 19 years ago” was held at the Baths of Caracalla which have been an open-air venue for a little less than 2,000 years.
The concert was in July, in a venue in the general proximity of Malta … and it didn’t even rain.
It is such a bore to have to explain to you time and again that we do not have a concert hall in Malta. Our symphony orchestra is homeless after 13 years since the divorce from the Manoel Theatre. The Manoel is far too small and the Conference Cenre has hopeless accoustics as it was designed as a conference centre and not a concert hall.
With that out of the way I think it is pretty obvious that I simply adore Piano’s work and hoped that where the gate was concerned and also the opera house site, something more iconic would have been forthcoming than what is being proposed.This is especially true when you research Piano’s work and see wonderful buildings like those in New Caledonia and Potsdam or even Rome. Possibly the stunning bit of creativity will be parliament. The rest could have been designed by ‘anyone’. This is why I blame the brief.
Again, I am, having been an aficionado all my life, VERY aware of where all the open air theatres are ( including Regent’s Park). The radical difference to the Malta situation is that in countries like the UK and Italy, homes to Regent’s Park and Caracalla, there is a plethora of concert halls that are soundproof and weatherproof and have been for centuries!
No, Manuel, the Terme di Caracalla was not an open-air venue but roofed over. Time and barbarism have rendered the Terme as roofless.
Again, may I point out that it is not only the weather that is the problem but the fireworks. From next weekend, The feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Valletta, till the 8th of September, Our Lady of Victories, the murtali are continual from both the Three Cities side and the Marsamxett side, making any sort of music-making in Valletta compete with kaxxex infernali from Monday to Sunday.
Above all other considerations, we have been waiting for something significant to be created instead of the ruin that has marred Valletta like a festering wound for all my life. The open air solution is therefore no solution.
[Daphne – Thank you for contributing to the discussion going on here, Kenneth, but “we have been waiting for something significant to be created….”? I really wish that this use of the Royal We by you and others would cease. Who are these ‘we’? Another point: a concert hall is just one of the ‘things’ that Malta doesn’t have. It shouldn’t be given priority over all else just because the few individuals promoting the idea tend to be more vociferous than the rest. I think an open-air theatre is a wonderful idea, not least because it will put an end to the misery of sitting on roughly assembled chairs in some public square, trying to catch a glimpse of the ‘stage’ hastily set up on some church parvis.]
Daphne my dear,
Roughly assembled chairs? Public Square? Church parvis? Do you put the courtyard of the President’s Palace in that category? That is where the Arts Festival is taking place at the moment. Do come to the Horn Trio Recital on Friday and you will see what I mean. There are also plenty of places available; Mdina Square and the Granaries spring to mind. We do not need another.
[Daphne – That Royal We again, Kenneth! You know very well that the places you mention are entirely unsuitable for theatrical productions and that many compromises must be made. They are even unsuitable for the performance of music, unless the audience is particularly select and restricted. The last time I went to a performance in Mdina Square – Joseph Calleja sang – there was mutiny, with hundreds of people complaining and many demanding a refund. The only people who could see anything other than the heads of those in front of them were the ones sitting in the first few rows. The rest were reduced to squinting at screens put up down the sides of the square, and might as well have sat at home and watched it on television. Also, I think it is extraordinary that you put forward petards and fireworks and feasts as a problem only with the proposed open-air theatre, while they mysteriously appear to present no problem at all for the arts festival in the courtyard at the Grandmaster’s Palace.]
If it pleases you I will use “I”; no probs! There are as you know a great many people who think that the open air theatre idea sucks. I speak for them too.
[Daphne – Unfortunately, Kenneth, you do not. You have neither their power of attorney nor their vote, and you are not the chief executive of an organisation to which they have signed up for membership. You, like me, speak only for yourself.]
And yes….and again, yes! The concert hall idea MUST be given priority. I am not being vociferous here, just well informed. Had Malta had a proper indoor concert hall that could be used all the year round I would not have batted an eyelid about this outdoor idea for the opera house ruin.
[Daphne – Why must it be given priority, Kenneth? The assumption that the decision to have an open-air theatre on the opera house site means that Malta will be without a concert hall for all time is an illogical one. I am quite sure we would both agree that the opera house site is not the only place in Malta where a concert hall can be built. A concert hall does not need to be within the city walls. Indeed, that is the worst possible place to put it, given that there is absolutely no parking and the sort of people who would patronise it are not too fond of using the bus, and even resent paying for market-priced tickets, let alone a taxi there and back.]
It is like building a tent when you have no house to live in; rather like Colonel Gaddafi who took his tent to Rome.
[Daphne – I just don’t see the parallel between the two, Kenneth, but that’s because I don’t share your view of an open-air theatre as somehow being a compromise or a ‘lesser being’ than a roofed theatre.]
Kenneth ZT is another one who strongly believes that he has the authority to speak in the name of “the people” and that he is an authority on anything cultural. However, though he does write about culture he seems to be more intent on attacking the government, particularly Lawrence Gonzi. Yes, he did enjoy the opera in the open air (“en plein air” as FAA says) at Argotti. I was there and I believe that an open air theatre should be complementary to the closed theatres we already have.
I really do not know why I bothered! I will never convince you or your anonymous cohorts, and you will never convince me! Let’s just agree to disagree. You think my arguments suck and I think your argument sucks. Just leave it at that.
[Daphne – That’s fine with me as long as it is understood that there is no quarrel between us. Those commenting here are not my cohorts but The People (well, anyway, they’re certainly not Martians).]
Nine times out of ten I disagree with the likes of Kenneth Zammit Tabona, George Debono and Astrid Vella. This does not bother me because, more often than not, it is out of differing opinions that the best solutions are derived.
What really bothers me is when these individuals claim to be speaking on behalf of the people. I never gave them the right to speak on my behalf and as far as I know none of the other 400,000 people living on these islands gave them that right. What also bothers me is the patronising way they seek to impose their views and values on everybody else, based on the illusion that most other people share their opinion.
In the case of Astrid Vella and George Debono, I am also bothered by how they systematically distort the truth to suit their own agenda. Judging from the various comments in this blog, there are many people who get annoyed by the way these people put forward thier views.
Kenneth Zammit Tabona says “If it pleases you I will use “I”; no probs!” If any good has come out of this exchange it is that maybe, just maybe, Kenneth will not claim to speak on behalf of of “the people” when he expresses HIS opinion. Or am I being too optimistic?
Kenneth Zammit Tabona’s criticism of Piano’s Valletta plan doesn’t hold water. Piano’s qualities are unique. Would Kenneth ever criticise his beloved Pablo Picasso? I am sure that he would not hesitate to buy any of his masterpieces without even bothering to see them if it were possible. My father, who loved the arts, and who was a dear friend of our famous ‘Willie Apap’ kept a few sketches and drawings of his. I promise you that the demand for them, even from people who hardly know of his grandeur, is so great that I could part with them quicker than lightning which is something I will never do. Without even seeing them, people want them. Why? Because Apap is Apap is Apap and George Debono is nothing.
It is so simple, so obvious, that anyone ought to see the truth of it at a glance, yet you will find from the anti-project letters and comments that most of them violate this important canon of common sense.
I don’t think we shall be deprived of a concert hall and neither do I believe Kenneth has any hidden agenda.
While Daphne and I have agreed to disagree on this issue, I have one final comment for Karl.
I have never criticised Renzo Piano. I adore his work and have been studying it and following him for the last 25 years. Read what I write and you will not find one word against him – only praise. He is a genius but, please note, not Merlin. What I disagree with is the brief that Piano was given.
Of course, I agree with you about Apap and Picasso and artists in general, of whom Piano is one, and you are spot on when you say I have no hidden agenda. My agenda is there for all to see: namely that culture can never be too expensive which is where I disagree with Daphne forever.
Incidentally, Daphne you were spot on about the Metropolitan – however someone has to get the ball rolling and there is a vast hoard of ‘modern’ paintings in the government collection and yet another that I know of in storage that used to belong to Mid Med, gathering dust because HSBC has no use for it.
Provided that the mechanisms are put in place that will encourage collectors to leave a prestigious piece or two to the nation as there is in the US and other civilised countries, a museum of modern art is not unrealisable.
Embor,
I or we, Mr Embor, is immaterial. I really could not care less either way. There are a whole load of people who think as I do, notably musicians who have not the privilege of being able to express themselves freely as the greater part of them are employed by the government.
To Kenneth Zammit Tabona: maybe you do not care, but there are people who get annoyed when you claim to speak on behalf of “the people” and hence also on their behalf.
Even if there were 10 or 20 or 100 people who share your opinion you still have no right to speak on behalf of “the people” If and when you get yourself elected to parliament or to your local council then, maybe, your claim to speak on behalf of the people would not be so annoying.
PS It would be so much more productive were insults, insinuations and suchlike phrases to be kept out of this exchange.
This comment is surprising coming from someone who compared the actions of government to those of a caged gorilla (in the June issue of The Economic Update).
Maybe you should send this comment to your friend George Debono and others who insult left, right and centre anyone who dares criticise Astrid Vella.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but surely the entire debate over whether an open or closed theatre would be preferable (or, indeed, whether either could be considered a priority) is rendered irrelevant by Piano’s team’s official explanation, as part of their reasoning behind the open-air theatre, that “a modern opera, of conventional size, would equally not fit in this place considering today’s requirements for rehearsal, back stage facilities and accessibility, besides generating exorbitant running costs” – as reported on news sites and the Valletta Projects government site.
I’m aware of the differences between an opera house and a concert hall, of course, but I’d imagine these limitations would apply to both, surely?
Just as an aside to my comment, I’ve noticed both Kenneth Zammit Tabona and Daphne seem to have a problem with anonymous posts – although for differing reasons.
Kenneth thinks the likes of me are pretty much Daphne’s Army. Daphne, in a separate riposte on this site, accused one particular anonymous poster of being a “….loser. People like you, who lack the balls to put your name to your opinion…”, which I thought was (ahem) somewhat below the belt for the other, non-insulting, non-libellous but nonetheless nameless and opinionated posters among us.
They could both be right, of course, but they’re not. It’s pretty standard behaviour on blogs and articles all over the internet, including widely followed forums such as my personal favourite, The Guardian’s ‘commentary is free’. The way I see it, a contribution to a (informal and open) debate doesn’t need a name attached to it as long as it adds to the debate and perhaps provides a new point of view. It’s not important that it’s MY point of view, unless the debate revolves around me as it does around Kenneth, in this case.
In my case, I guess it’s also because my real name isn’t much help if you’re trying to pin me down!
Chris Camilleri
Chris,
No, a concert hall and an opera house are two separate species; both happen to use orchestras but that’s like saying that a mammal and a reptile are the same because they happen to have four legs.
Incidentally, it has just been worked out how expensive it is to maintain an open-air venue like that being proposed. AND please note the government is still having to pay Riccardo Muti LM200,000 a year for doing sweet FA as Malta has NOT fulfilled its part of the agreement when the Academy was set up.
Three guesses what Malta’s obligation was and still is?
Why is Kenneth Zammit Tabona so set to see only the negative? In his article in The Times, he claims that nothing is being done for art and culture.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090714/opinion/tilting-at-windmills
For example, instead of welcoming the investment in the restoration of the Auberge de Castille façade, he finds some lame excuse to disparage it. He fails to mention the one most important decision relating to art and culture: the vacating of the Grandmaster’s Palace (except for the President’s office) so that the building will be used for museums and for other cultural purposes. Kenneth Zammit Tabona claims that “200 years of art remain hidden in governmental reserve collections” and without a home. These may well end up in a museum on the ground floor of the Palace.
Why is he so determined to give a negative twist to everything?
The decision on the opera house site and Freedom Square is being seen within the overall context of Valletta, including the Grandmaster’s Palace. On the other hand, Kenneth Zammit Tabona keeps looking at the issues with blinkers and fails to see the wider picture.
At least he gave up claiming to speak on behalf of the “people”.
I have wanted to post something like this on my website and this gave me an idea. Cheers.