Saturday, 4th July 2009
Debate continues on Piano's City Gate plans (6)
Inevitably the papers have been full of letters commenting on the new plans by Renzo Piano for the main entrance into Valletta and the restoration of the opera house ruins. Although I feel I am not qualified to approve or criticise the designs from a technical point of view, as a layperson I am impressed and find the blending of old and new imaginative and exciting. My quarrel is not with the architect or his design but with the brief he was given.
The facts are:
1. We are in desperate need of an all-weather theatre designed especially for dance/opera/drama productions. The Manoel Theatre is too small, the MCC is a conference centre and not a real theatre, as any producer will confirm, St James Cavalier can only be used for the smallest most intimate productions, and never for dance, or opera, or musicals.
2. Valletta is our capital city and deserves a theatre capable of hosting such productions. It is not a question of opera not being "financially viable", or dance attracting too small an audience; most opera houses run at a loss and are subsidised by their governments because their productions are considered a valuable part of their country's cultural identity. How can we ever learn to appreciate opera and dance if we are rarely exposed to them? Apart from this, commercial productions would also be organised that would, in fact, make money.
3. For historical reasons many of us are sentimentally attached to the old Opera House and have been waiting for it to be recuscitated for 65 years.
Given the above I fail to understand why Mr Piano was asked to design a building for a Parliament rather than a theatre. If the original Opera House is too small, as some have claimed, then the site of the Opera House could have been extended into Freedom Square, encompassing a cultural/exhibition centre and the proposed library. Why was the idea of converting Fort St Elmo, Evans, the Examination centre, MCC, and other buildings in the vicinity never seriously considered as a venue for a new Parliament?
The best reasons for our Parliament to be housed at Fort St Elmo were published in a double page spread in this newspaper a few years ago by the then major of Valletta, Paul Borg Olivier, at present general secretary of the PN. It would be extremely interesting to reread that article now, as his intelligent arguments are even more valid today.
RSS
Comments
I'm sorry to have to bring you back to earth but Malta is NOT in desperate need of a theatre. Some people would like a new theatre but it is a gross exaggeration to speak of desperate need. What we truly need is a real parliament building in the most central and conspicuous location possible. While a theatre is a place of entertainment where some people go to pass the time, a parliament building is a symbol and a reminder of our hard-won democracy and rule of law. The institution of parliament is the main centre of political culture, which is the only culture that counts when it comes to making society more civilised.
You may consider singing and dancing to be more important than human and civil rights but that is probably because you never had to make a stand and struggle to defend or regain your political freedom.
Valletta belongs to everybody inclusive of the obvious majority who are requesting to have a proper theatre.
The brief has been prepared long before we saw Piano's proposals as the following quotation from MaltaMedia News, dated August 18, 2006, shows ... 'Rather than rebuilt, the Royal Opera House in Valletta could be turned into a permanent open-air performing space should a proposal to be submitted by Minister for Culture and Tourism Minister Dr. Francis Zammit Dimech be accepted.'
It is only now that the public is having the opportunity to express its opinion on this open-air theatre concept. Even so, it appears to be more of a fait accompli than a real sounding. What is the purpose of a one month long exhibition of the proposals if such important decisions cannot be reconsidered?
Now then how can one resucitate the thetrea and have it extended to freedom square or to whatever? One has to decide either have built a new thetre using the same plans of a lost one - no resucitating can happen in inanimate objects, in real life that is, or other wise, have a theatre which can cater for the needs of a performances which need to be executed exclusevely in a closed theatres.
Because there doe exist theatres whorty of the defenition, which are open air and there are operas which are better held in open air. Incidentally these are and operas held, in the mediterranean region areas, were the weather permits long stretches of good weather were common sense has many accept that it is better to have such in open air. (Malta+mediterranean+climate=long stretches of good weather?) Unless, obviously we want to emulate something or someone form the nordic regions for whatever (un) reason.