Kenneth Zammit Tabona, St Julians
No right to Opera
Lou Bondì (May 14) claims that my reasoning regarding opera is abysmally shoddy and that he "gently" suggests my re-reading his original bloomer of an opinion piece which I have several times. My opinion about what he wrote remains unchanged.
Like a bull in a china shop he rushed in to a province about which, clearly, he knows little or nothing.
Had he even a basic knowledge of opera he would never have written as he did. I have been reviewing music and opera since I was 17, a very long time, and I have also been on the committees for Muzikafest, Maltafest and the Manoel Theatre, organising, among other things, very successful opera. Such experience has taught me a thing or two about it.
In other EU countries opera is flourishing so there is no reason why we should not enjoy this renaissance here too. I have no hidden agenda and for many years I have always maintained that Malta cannot afford an opera house which caters exclusively for the genre but a multipurpose festival hall designed on the lines of the Jean Nouvel iconic Kunst und Kongresshaus on Lake Luzern that can cope with opera, ballet, orchestral and chamber music and yes, Mr Bondì, Led Zeppelin too. This is what should be created by Renzo Piano on the opera house site and ex-Freedom Square.
So please, before we accuse each other of misreading, misunderstanding and misrepresenting each other's arguments, let us first ensure that we do have a common aim, which should be to provide quality cultural entertainment for all.
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Anthony Paris
May 16th 2009, 16:41
My I remind KZT that there are four stages of personal development. These being "Unconscious incompetence", "Conscious incompetence", "Conscious competence", and "Unconscious competence". This means that we start at a point where "we do not know what we do not know" and finish at a point where "we know it so well that we do not even realise how much we know" Now the likes of Lou Bondi are, and will always be, at the "Unconscious incompetence" stage. So it is an utter waste of KZT's time entering into this debate.
Kenneth Zammit Tabona
May 16th 2009, 15:43
@Mr Farrugia
What Palace are you talking about?
The MCC is what it is; a conference hall. It is not suitable for opera, ballet, orchestral concerts or chamber music and should become Parliament. Once the tapestries are installed in the Sacra Infermeria hall the Maltese Parliament, at very little relative cost can become the most stunning in Europe!
That would solve the HOLE problem
@Everyone else
Many thanks for pinpointing in no uncertain terms that Kenneth Zammit Tabona does NOT repeat NOT want an opera house.
With that out of the way maybe Mr Piano can get on with it
M Callus
May 16th 2009, 15:28
I support the removal of parliament from its premises to somewhere else. I would concur that the projected build instead of the royal opera house would incorporate various cultural activities as suggested. With the removal of parliament from the magisterial palace, I suggest that it can host the renovated tapestries since their proposed allocation was aborted. I think the site of the former Royal Opera House is small to be fit for a proper opera house by today's standards.
James A. Tyrrell
May 16th 2009, 14:18
J Farrugia, did you actually read Kenneth Zammit's letter before you jumped in? Where in this letter does Mr. Zammit call for the building of an opera house? He specifically states, 'I have always maintained that Malta cannot afford an opera house which caters exclusively for the genre but a multipurpose festival hall'.
And the 'tiny minority who have nothing to do' which you refer to would for the most part be tourists. Yes the hall could be used for staging all types of entertainment and that would include opera but it would not be built exclusively for that purpose. Also you don't have to be rich in order to enjoy culture Mr. Farrugia. I have a very good friend who regularly goes to the Belfast Opera House because she loves opera and ballet. She washes dishes for a living at minimum wage.
Would an opera house be a waste of money? No I don't think so. Would a multipurpose festival hall be a waste of money? Certainly not. It would be a money-spinner, which would have a massive cultural impact on Malta as a whole.
jcmicallef
May 16th 2009, 13:31
@ J Farrugia
You have to hear it from casettes??? Not even a CD or an LP?????
Kidding apart, I feel we have maanaged to kill off a range of cultural habits and now finding it difficult to even have some decent debate on the subject.
The so-called usually tolerant ppl seem very intolerant at those who want to promote this otherwise wonderful possibility of having a decent combo-art-musical theatre.
St James is too small, while the Manoel and MCC suffer from a number of limitations - including poor acoustics.
But I would leave all those for the opera house to raise their argument and come up with good reasosn to justify building a new oepra house, before killing them off.
We are still in a free country, not?
Astrid Vella
May 16th 2009, 12:54
J Farrugia can write, but he seems to have some difficulty in reading, so I will repeat what KZT has written that he would like to see a theatre "that can cope with opera, ballet, orchestral and chamber music and yes, Mr Bondì, Led Zeppelin too"
Since Mr. Farrugia claims to be impecunious, it is very strange that he prefers that 80 million euros of his tax money be used to build a parliament which can be housed in a palace, instead of a theatre that would provide jobs and boost Malta's tourism by attracting cultural tourists to Malta.
Peter Sammut
May 16th 2009, 12:50
I see the New Age of the Vandals has now dawned.
The same mentality of "The dog in the manger" syndrome is now prevalent in Malta; where the attitude of "I cannot afford the entrance fee, so nobody should attend" prevails.
I remember my father saying "F`Malta il-pastas biss jinstemgha". With apologies for my spelling Maltese.
Franco Farrugia
May 16th 2009, 11:39
@ J Farrugia: KZT writes: 'for many years I have always maintained that Malta cannot afford an opera house which caters exclusively for the genre but a multipurpose festival hall designed on the lines of ...'
If you suffer from problems of basic comprehension, how come you write about the culturally-elevated subject of opera?
J Farrugia
May 16th 2009, 10:57
If this guy wants to hear opera he should go to the Palace. There are concerts every month. But the one thing we dont need is an opera house. That time is finished. How long must I say it. One may go to Gozo there are two there. One can go to MCC or St James, both are good venues. But a new opera house, NO. Better a house of budgies than a loss making opera house just to please some tiny minority who have nothing to do. An opera house is a waste of money. Unless off course there are some nice benefactors the types of the correpsondent who want to built a private opera house. Malta would be eternally grateful, but I, for one being a poor fellow cannot afford the ticket, even though I love opera and all classical music. I will have to hear it only from the casettes.