National theatre chairman's comments raise opera buffs' ire

Dwindling numbers of opera lovers should not hamper plans to build a new opera house, theatre buffs have insisted in the face of statements to the contrary by the chairman of the national theatre.

"The national theatre is not there to make profit but to serve the people irrespective of the cost," culture watchdog and opinion columnist Kenneth Zammit Tabona said.

"It is an accepted fact that opera today is not a profit-making genre, however, it is still going strong, the proof being that contemporary composers are still creating them," he added.

His words come in reaction to comments made by the chairman of the Manoel Theatre, Peter Fenech, against the idea to have another opera house, arguing that there was hardly enough interest to keep the existing theatres in business.

Experience of the BOV Opera Festival, which has struggled for the last decade, reinforced his belief.

However, opera buffs disagree, pointing out that, while it may not be feasible to dedicate the derelict site in Valletta solely to opera, the idea of housing the grand musical genre there should not be discarded.

"The site has to be connected with culture and the performing arts as Malta should not lose that," culture columnist Tony Cassar Darien said.

"Nowadays no one is building specific opera houses. Technological advances allow for the building of venues that, at the push of a button, could double up into multi-purpose halls that could serve as opera houses, drama theatres and even boxing rings," he said.

Former Tourism and Culture Minister Francis Zammit Dimech also insisted on this point, saying no one was suggesting an exclusive opera house but a multi-functional venue.

Consultants had already established that this was possible, he said, adding that he was "rather surprised" at Dr Fenech's stand since the chairman of the national theatre should be promoting interest in culture at all levels.

Culture was essential in measuring a nation's quality of life and human fulfilment, he said. Moreover, once the cultural centre was built and promoted it would serve to attract people to culture and foreigners to Malta.

Soprano Miriam Gauci shares Dr Fenech's views and said that the Manoel Theatre and the Mediterranean Conference Centre provided "two marvellous spaces" for opera.

Despite the fact that she had attracted two full houses during her recent performance of Mozart's The Magic Flute, her audience was mainly made up of foreigners.

She noted that an opera house had to be maintained and run by a professional full-time staff all year round as it would not be feasible to have an opera house unless at least six or seven productions were staged every season.

A compromise would be possible by having a venue that hosted opera and catered for other performances too.

Conductor Brian Schembri, who was actively involved in the movement to build the new opera house in the 1980s, stood by his guns and insisted on the need for a venue that would operate as a multi-purpose cultural centre.

Mr Zammit Tabona added to that the need to have a concert hall that catered for a full-sized symphony orchestra, something he said the island still lacked.

The Manoel Theatre was too small and the MCC's acoustics were not up to scratch.

"The Astra and Aurora have been staging opera for the last three decades without fail and their productions get better and better. It is baffling how the national theatre cannot do the same," he said.

Last December, debate on the future of the opera house ruins was rekindled when the government announced that the site would house a new Parliament building designed by renowned architect Renzo Piano. The building is also intended to house a cultural centre with a separate entrance.