History of opera in Malta

If whoever wrote the piece All Set For A Lyrical First (March 21) had checked their facts before stating so confidently that this week's production of Cimarosa's opera Il Matrimonio Segreto would be this opera's first-ever production in Malta they would speedily have realised how wrong they were.

My book - The Manoel Theatre: A Short History - says that this opera was first performed at the Real Teatro (now the Manoel) in 1808, together with a ballet. Alfred G. Miceli's L-Istorja Ta' L-Opra f'Malta records that the same opera was performed in Malta during six different seasons! Miceli also states that this opera was last performed at the Radio City Opera House during 1945-46 but I suspect he may be wrong about this particular production. If he is wrong, then the last production before this week's would be the one performed at the Teatru Rjal during the 1937-38 season.