Italian expert perfecting sound for Muti concert

The Mediterranean Conference Centre, in Valletta, is about to undergo a temporary technical facelift in preparation for the upcoming concert by world-famous Riccardo Muti, who is renowned for seeking acoustic perfection when performing.

Organisers Renaissance Productions Ltd have brought over Italian sound engineer Stefano de Stabile, whose job is to study and understand the acoustics of the MCC and carry out the necessary changes to ensure top quality sound and zero disturbance.

The idea is to squeeze the best out of the theatre, RPL directors Anton Tabone and Amabile Zammit said.

Mr de Stabile has worked on the Auditorium di Milano and the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome and is the permanent adviser to the Ravenna Festival, which is collaborating with RPL on the July 9 concert by Mro Muti.

For the MCC, he has designed a panelling system around the stage that should contain the music and propel it towards the audience - a temporary measure that would offer the audience better acoustics, adding extra volume.

The panelling is important, however, first and foremost for the musicians, so they can hear the music better, Mr de Stabile explained.

It is necessary to create a camera acustica (acoustics chamber), which the MCC lacks, to contain the music in the large theatre, the sound engineer said.

In the case of the MCC, this consists of wooden panelling around the stage, which is being halved in depth, despite the fact that it will be jutting out into the hall by two metres.

The extra two metres are to be occupied by the violins and the panelling will serve to enhance the sound of the music from the musicians at the back, Mr de Stabile continued.

Ideally, the panels would also be hung on the top to close off the high ceiling and stop the music from escaping upwards, so the side panels are having an extra arm fixed to their backs and jutting out at an angle to minimise the loss of sound from the top, he explained.

MCC chairman Peter Fenech said the centre was looking into whether it could apply for EU funding under the Culture 2007-13 Programme, or other sources, to upgrade the theatre so that it would be more geared up for large concerts and not just conferences.

The MCC had already been told that redoing the theatre for first-class concerts would cost Lm2 million, he said.

Among the problems were the carpets in the hall that absorbed the music as well as the brass railings.

Dr Fenech said the funds would be used to build a camera acustica, making the hall more attractive for future large orchestral performances. The idea was for the stage to be more flexible, amalgamating theatre, concerts and conferences and to have better changing rooms and other facilities.

Mro Muti's quest for perfection is recalled also by retired Maltese violinist Simonide Chapelle Paleologo, of Gzira, who attended the same Milan conservatory as the maestro and witnessed the early days of his "rise" as a conductor.

Ms Chapelle Paleologo said she remembered Mro Muti to be a loner, serious, particular, finicky and "furioso" even at the age of 18.

She left Malta in 1954, aged 12, to attend a 10-year course in violin studies at the Milan Conservatorio Verdi and in Florence at the Conservatorio Cherubini, returning to Malta 10 years ago.

She met the young man while studying in Milan when, in the 1960s, he was brought over from Naples by the then director of the Verdi Conservatory, Jacopo Napoli.

They were in their late teens and Mro Muti was already a good pianist, having obtained his diploma under the tuition of Vincenzo Vitale, teacher of many great Italian pianists. In Milan, he started studying composition with Bruno Bettinelli and conducting with Antonino Votto, then a famous La Scala conductor.

The Maltese violinist attended the same weekly lessons of orchestra practice by Mro Votto at the Milan conservatory. As a student and part of the orchestra, it was an "exciting experience", she recalled.

To be able to build his knowledge in the world of opera, Mro Muti offered his services as piano accompanist in the class of soprano Maria Carbone, who was teaching at the conservatory at the time. Among her students was Cristina Mazzavillani, who was later to become Mro Muti's wife.

"In 1963, my violin teacher asked Riccardo to accompany his advanced students in a school concert. I was one of these students and I shall never forget the time we spent together practising our pieces.

"The precision in his stylistic approach and his endless patience in correcting and improving even the slightest flaw were present even back then. His only aim was perfection!

"Money was tight for us students and we often ended up having a cheap meal - fried eggs - together in some latteria close to the conservatory," Ms Chapelle Paleologo told The Times.

When Mro Muti won the Premio Cantelli for Young Conductors in 1967 "we knew it was the beginning of a promising and brilliant career, which is what he deserved".

Tickets for the concert - the first overseas performance of Mro Muti's Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini - are still on sale. "Surprisingly, seats are still available in the stalls, which are closer to the maestro and the orchestra and, therefore, offer a better and a closer view of the star of the show," the organisers pointed out.