In praise of Maltese composers

I refer to the news item BoV Opera Festival: Spotlight On 'Forgotten' Maltese Composers (March 15). Its message is that Maltese composers are forgotten and the purpose of presenting a concert of arias from Maltese operas, as part of the BoV Opera Festival, was to highlight and revive them.

In the interest of accurate Maltese musical history and respect to readers, facts should have been checked. That the works of Maltese composers are forgotten, or not being performed in certain circumstances or by particular organisations does not mean that the rest of the Maltese nation is not acquainted with or does not appreciate its musical heritage.

Allow me to mention, for example, the wonderful series of ongoing flagship concerts sponsored by APS Bank totally devoted to works by Maltese composers.

APS Bank's initial four-year project, launched in November 2001, consisted of four concerts that focused on short, sacred music of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Thirty Maltese composers, including Paolino Vassallo, Carmelo Pace, Charles Camilleri and Anton Nani, featured in the series. Encouraged by this acclaimed initial cycle, and as part of its commitment towards Maltese society and its authentic cultural heritage, APS Bank has now launched another cycle of four concerts highlighting 19th century grand Masses. The first concert was held at St John's Co-Cathedral, in Valletta, on December 1, 2005, when the Grande Messa (1889) performed was Vassallo's. The next, scheduled for December, will revive one by Giuseppe Spiteri Fremond (1804-1878).

The Teatru Manoel Orchestra also used to feature Maltese composers regularly. Take the final two concerts given before its disbanding. That conducted by Brian Schembri on February 25, 1997, included Carmelo Pace's overture Hamlet, spectacularly interpreted, while Windows on Opera of June 6, 1997, conducted by Silvano Frontalini, included Diacono's intermezzo from L'Alpino and Vassallo's entr'acte from Amor Fatal.

The information given in the article about the opera festival is both inaccurate and unfair. The Manoel Theatre, mainly on an inspired initiative by Tony Cassar Darien, its artistic director, launched the festival in 1999 with the specific aim of encouraging cultural tourism. After numerous discussions in which I, being at that time a committee member, was involved, it was decided that the initial festival should feature three works, two being by Maltese composers: Bellini's Norma (March 2, 4), Isouard's Messa De Rohan (March 7) and Pace's I Martiri (March 9). The grand purpose was to craft the festival into a shop window of both Maltese and repertory works in order to make it more attractive to the rapidly expanding cultural tourism market.

The opera festival is now what it is but, if the original purpose were still being observed, I am sure that, on the 150th anniversary of his birth, Vassallo would have been honoured not by a small piece included in Mro Muscat's concert but by a revival performance of his opera Frazir. Vassallo, the Maltese people, Malta's cultural tourism and the opera festival deserved no less.