Beware the Ides of March

My brother's various contributions to The Times in support of rebuilding the opera house has prompted me to throw more light on the subject.

Minister Jesmond Mugliett has become the modern crusader in his plight to build a new Parliament on the ruins of the opera house. It seems that this project has become his quest for the Holy Grail. May the minister be reminded that he owes his prestigious position to the party, which he represents, and to its glorious past.

In their frantic plight to persuade voters to join the European Union, the minister and his party harped on the argument, time and again, that this promise had been enshrined in the electoral programmes and repeatedly voted upon by the electorate since 1981.

The promise to rebuild the opera house goes even further back to the times of the late George Borg Olivier and his electoral programmes in the 1960s. The minister and his supporters were not about at that time. The project of building a new Parliament would be a betrayal of all Nationalists and opera loving voters, including my father, Giorlando Valente who started his career as a member of the orchestra at the age of 12 in Barry's opera house.

Our capital city prides itself on being a world heritage site. Our present and past administrations have left the site of the opera house in a neglected and shameful state for the past 62 years. What eventually remains of that masterpiece of architectural and sculptural art resembles a rigid mutilated corpse, a symbolic figure of deadly destruction, an open wound in the sorrowful memory of the past and present generations and an eyesore for visitors and residents alike.

Once eclipsed in its glorious structure, Barry's opera house left a great impact on Maltese opera lovers. The names of great foreign operatic singers appeared on the billboards of our Teatro Reale as it was known in those pre-war days. In its heydays our opera house was the most privileged in the Mediterranean after that of La Scala in Milan. It was in this same opera house where Lorenzo Refice, the well-known Italian composer, conducted his new opera Cecilia at its world premiere. This great opera, which depicted the apotheosis of St Cecilia, was given a repeat performance at the Radio City Opera House where my father played first violinist under the baton of Maestro Luigi Cantoni.

The opera house forms part of our nation's heritage. One has every reason to ask: Why deprive the nation of its glorious past and of its rightful heritage in order to substitute it by a spurious building dedicated to Parliament? This project would mean nothing less than the desecration of the people's shrine once dearest to their heart, their sole pride of art and music.

The spin politicians are now in a spin themselves over a row that has highlighted social divisions in this history-conscious land.

A new Parliament building would breed new politicians.

We have witnessed and heard enough politicians of all types and calibres in our past and recent decades.

The opera house once instilled great vocations in the hearts alike of our young Maltese talented singers and musicians. We need to appreciate more operatic singers like Oreste Chircop, Bice Ciappara, Antoinette Miggiani, Paul Asciak, Myriam Gauci and the latest revelation, Joseph Calleja. Thanks to their operatic vocation and personal sacrifices, all these famous performers have put Malta on the world map long before Malta's entry into the European Union.

Lawrence Gonzi, the Prime Minister, himself boasts of his motto Niggeddu ghall-Gejjieni (Renewal for the Future). Yet, with his statement concerning the City Gate project, he has tarnished his populist credentials. Why not uphold and respect the party's solemn promises declared in its electoral programmes and deliver to the electorate that which is theirs by right?

In his thoughtful deliberation about the rebuilding of the opera house, the Prime Minister seems to be only concerned about its running costs. What will be his estimated running costs of a new Parliament?

If a new Parliament were to be built, it would turn out to be another white elephant and a heavy burden to the taxpayer without any source of revenue. On the contrary, the rebuilding of the opera house as a cultural centre, if wisely administered, would certainly contribute towards the island's economy.

Experience proved that Maltese opera lovers, given the opportunity, were prepared to pay Lm25 to secure a seat, plus the inconvenience of having to cross over to the sister island and to stay overnight. What has our island got to offer to the tourists in terms of operatic performances in a real opera house?

I would like to remind the Prime Minister and readers of an article written by "Opera Lover" and published on page 16 of The Times way back on August 8, 1972. In his contribution entitled The Royal Opera House -To Be Or Not To Be, the writer stated: "Of the total amount of the Lm29 million allotted to Malta, (though the proper damage value was originally assessed at Lm31m) a large sum was earmarked to cover all necessary expenses to rebuild the opera house and, taking into account the interest which has accrued on that sum, there can be no justified cause or reason for antagonism in reconstructing our national opera house, which in the olden times was the most privileged in the Mediterranean".

It seems that this huge amount vanished into thin air! Even though decades have now passed, the people still have the right to know if the amount allotted for the reconstruction of the opera house has been utilised elsewhere.

If this argument held good in 1972, one is bound to ponder where does it stand today, 32 years later? Ask the electorate. They are the supreme judge who have the final say about this and all related matters.

One final bit of advice - try to deprive the electorate of its rightful heritage by building a new Parliament instead of the opera house and you will be witnessing the soothsayer foretelling the Ides of March.