Wrecking the Opera House (2)

What a wise-guy our Maltese equivalent of Larry King is - so "with-it" and young at heart for his age, too. So he enjoys Beatles and Pink Floyd music, "low culture" at its best, and actually travels to Rome for a Jackson Browne concert. Wow, I am impressed. Seriously, I reckon the likes of Jackson Browne will long be forgotten in 50 years' time but the music of Puccini, Verdi, Mozart and Wagner will live on.

Our Larry demolishes every single argument in favour of rebuilding the Opera House. In a disparaging tone, he informs one and all that there are exactly 700 "opera buffs" in Malta - with Gozo included, I presume. He knows what Maltese taxpayers want or do not want and they definitely do not want their money squandered on a grand theatre that will grace the entrance of their capital city.

Admittedly, this year's BOV Opera Festival did not hit the right note, very likely because of the choice of operas. However, in previous years the performances had always been a tremendous success and our small but lovely Manoel Theatre used to be packed to the rooftop.

I know of no capital city in the civilised world that does not have a well-equipped theatre large enough to host all kinds of concerts, spectacular musicals, ballet performances, special events and yes, grand opera too - in other words shows to suit everybody's tastes.

Malta aspires to be a centre of excellence and Valletta a city of culture - both high and low - by the year 2015. Our long neglected capital deserves a theatre and cultural centre every Maltese taxpayer can be proud of.

But, of course, our very own Larry King knows better.