Wednesday, 8th July 2009
Old opera house remnants scattered across the island
Some of Opera House column shafts and Corinthian capitals, which have been located at the Marsa sports grounds. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli.
A catalogue of ruins of the old opera house and their location has been compiled but unless the pieces in private hands are revealed the list cannot be exhaustive.
The inventory is an exercise to return some of the remains to their original home, which is being regenerated by Italian architect Renzo Piano.
All the located pieces are in public places, government schools and colleges, or exhibited in museums but they only constitute the tip of the iceberg.
"The parts found only make up a small percentage of the whole building and, therefore, the quantity remains very limited. Unless the pieces held in private hands are revealed, they remain untraceable and the list cannot be exhaustive," the Investments Ministry said.
No drive has as yet been embarked on to retrieve them or encourage individuals to bring them back to their rightful spot.
The inventory includes busts, dispersed around a variety of locations including the President's residence and gardens in San Anton, where decorated keystones also belong to the old opera house.
Column bases and segments of Corinthian capitals can be found in the Msida Junior Lyceum while Santa Lucia's war memorial, the Luqa bypass, the Marsa Sports Ground and Kalkara's Fort Rinella are also temporary homes for the remnants of the opera house.
Parts of the site, built in 1866 and bombed in 1942, are also showcased in the War Museum in Valletta and at the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology.
The cataloguing exercise was conducted by the Grand Harbour Regeneration Corporation as part of the research support it is providing the Renzo Piano Building Workshop, entrusted with the capital project. It requested an inventory of the existing elements that could be used for the reconstruction of part of the building.
The plan is to convert the old opera house site into an open-air theatre, incorporating the bombed ruins. A roofless, 1,200-seat theatre is being envisaged, enhanced by state-of-the-art technology to give it the scenographic and acoustic properties expected from a contemporary theatre.
"We keep the soul of the opera house so we don't steal that noble function that is cultural...," Mr Piano said, predicting it would be "one of the most magical places in the Mediterranean..."
His intention is to introduce more elements over the present ruins.
It was too early to say how much of the ruins would be used and how they would be used, the ministry said.
"Details of how and whether these elements will be used in the restoration of the ruins will be known once the schematic drawings are developed into full and detailed designs.
"Of course, it is not possible to use several of these elements because they come from higher levels of the former building and nothing of what used to hold them up there has been found," the ministry said.
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Comments
Yes you have some valid points there, but the danger of losing the city's integrity is also a good point. We have to remember Valletta is not ours, we are just custodians of it, just like every fine art in our museum. We cannot and should not make radical changes in its structure based on our needs. I know this is difficult to digest but we have to accept it. Valletta doesn't belong to the shop owners, it doesn't belong to the residents, and it doesn't belong to the will of parliament either. It belongs to the Knights of the Order of St John. What has been lost has to be reconstructed as faithfully as possible to the original and authentic design of Laparelli. Porta San Giorgio has to be reconstructed. this restoration project will win the respect of the entire cultured world, and it doesn't matter whether the new work will not look so old, because the integrity of Valletta will be holistic, demanding respect. Our needs come second in this case, I am sorry.
The Royal Opera house Theatre should be rebuilt to its original spec, only inside the theatre should cater for our needs
Plans of Valletta do exist in pieces from different eras.
These can be found in national libraries and archives and also in private hands
These can be in Malta , Italy, France, Spain and even in Russia.
The Vatican Library is rumored to be a likely place to find plans of Valletta, but this is conjecture, albeit good conjecture.
The original Valletta city gate was Porta San Giorgio by Laparelli, this was replaced in 1632 by a larger more ornate city gate designed by Tommaso Dingli.
This in turn was razed for the much loved 1853 Col. Thompson city gate.
Finally this one too was demolished in 1964 for the present uncomplete modern Italianate monstrosity of a city gate.
As Mr. Scerri said the original gate would be too small for use today or even in the 17th century when the population of Malta was a fraction of what it is today.
The first three gates were designed as genuine military gates and their function was to allow limited access to the walled city& could be closed in time of siege.
Walled cities from a military standpoint became obsolete with aerial warfare.
The pre 19th Century gate would have been too small for today's needs, apart from the fact that it would be a fake 16ht century gate built in the 21st century.
Are there original plans of Valletta possibly archived somewhere perhaps in Rome or elsewhere, can you take a wild guess? If there are those plans would reveal the authentic city gate.
After some thought, it should not be hard to realise that what Piano is proposing is shrewd and not just surreal and original. His design will look far from like an "aquarium". A combination of glass and steel can produce some startling results which would make Malta's national theatre unique. Embed the Barry pieces, wherever these can be retrieved from, and Malta should end up with something truly extraordinary. It will take a long time with some people for the concept to sink in, but eventually the new Piano auditorium will become accepted universally. An open-air theatre would be suited to Malta's benign climate, and it would be truly a plebeian theatre; no class division, no gods or underlings.
Ruins of the theatre have a value -only it is relative to other artefacts which are far more important and precious .
Your own words defeat your argument because if Barry's was incompatible how much so would be an oversized aquarium???
The earliest photographs of Valletta that I seen are from the mid 1840s.
These are calotypes ( positives prints from paper negatives ) taken by Rev. Calvert Jones, a family relative of the famous British photography pioneer Henry Fox Talbot and Calotype Prints of the Valletta harbour by a young well to do Scottish army officer surnamed Dunlop.
None of these views are of the city gate of the 1840s
I am sure that photos of the Kingsway city gate before the 1853 Col. Thompson gate exist somewhere.
I seen a rough sketch of the pre 1853 city gate ( which was the second one built by the way) in the Heritage magazine series that was published in Malta in the 1980s/early 90s.
and about the missing parts found in private households... these should be returned and no penalties placed on these individuals... as long as they return them.
Yes lets do something about this long long overdue restoration. Alas however the cancer grew manifest and doubt restoration is possible. So far therefore I agree, we should go ahead now before interference wins the day. But not at the cost of €80 million of the Maltese tax-payer's money plus many many more years of being lumped with a design that will manifest in a very big stone structure.
I have a feeling that by just building something that is an exact replica of what was won't have much of a distinct 'showcase' value to capitalise politically upon. Lets face it after all, cleaning only shows when its not done. By intervening starkly the effort can be easily framed.
I don't wish my comments to be interpreted politically, that is in a partisan way, but it takes a political decision to go in the right or wrong direction, in something of this magnitude. So lets hold a referendum before we spend €80 million and four years of inconvenience!
I agree with you.
The Government should give a time limit to return the objects and anything found after the time limit should entail a very hefty fine.
Those who know about any remains should inform the media as was done in this instance.
It is OUR PUBLIC property as Maltese citizens.
Victor Laiviera
Thanks for an excellent link that shames those who say they do not want a replica.
Thanks for responding to my 'comment' here. The best way to contact regarding the history section of maltaoperahouse.com is info@maltaoperahouse.com. The Zavellani Rossi details sound very interesting as well as the Victorian guide books.
Perhaps you could be so kind as to email me and we can discuss this further.
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The fact that the current bomb site will continue to have theatre status is great news as I am sure many will agree. Thousands of Maltese on Facebook and through my website displayed their determination regarding this issue.
Its alleged (through news reports) that it was in fact Renzo Piano who changed the PM's mind, which seems a bit of a shame that it wasn't actually the people of Malta - but we are just pleased that its theatre and not parliament that will sit on that famous site. I wonder if that story is true - but why let the facts get in the way of a good story!
Incidentally .... when is opening night ?
The city gate before the one that is there right now was also a 19th century structure.
It was built in 1853 to the design of a Col. Thompson of the Royal Engineers.
Then every effort should be made to rebuild the city gate to its original 16th century specs. I'm sure it will fetch many millions of Euros in revenue for our country from foreign feature film producers/directors who would surely be inspired to utilise the scenery. Are there any designs or even photos of the original gate and draw-bridge? Thank you for your observation made above, I didn't know that and so I stand corrected.
I know that money was a problem and other bombed buildings took priority for obvious reasons.
The rear and most of the sides looked intact.
There have been bombed buildings and churches in Malta in far worse shape that were re-built not from the ground up.
Take a look at this photo of the bombed Royal Opera House,
http://www.maltavista.net/en/list/photo/1440.html
"If the Germans can do it, why can't we?"
If we received war damage funds, why didn't we?
If private individuals have some or many of the remains govt should give them some time to return them otherwise apply or establish severe penalties for robbing a nation.
To make insinuations like the first blogger did one has to be completely living in space.
"IT-TEATRU MWAQQA" minn bomba Germaniza u "BIEB IL-BELT MWAQQA" minn Gorg Borg Olivier. The Royal Opera House Theatre WAS a 19th Century building and 'City Gate' (whatever it was originally called) WAS a 16th Century building. "
The city gate before the one that is there right now was also a 19th century structure.
It was built in 1853 to the design of a Col. Thompson of the Royal Engineers.
Tourism Journalist
Tourism Journalist
On the other hand, he says nothing about the fact that the City Gate, which was intact and OLDER than the Opera House was deliberately pulled down by a PN government in order to replace it with the monstrosity we have now.
For a while I've been running www.maltaoperahouse.com which started life as a campaigning website to draw attention to the Prime Ministers idea to turn the Opera House bomb site into a parliamentary building. Since that decision, thankfully, has been reversed the website is looking more positively to the future as theatre is going to be reinstated on this famous site.
As a part-time, extremely amateur historian I thought it would be fascinating to include a fairly detailed history of the Opera House. I was wondering if anyone reading this have any recollections of the Opera House. Maybe people have relatives that performed, worked there or attended the performances. Even internal photographs or snap-shots of the building, artists that performed, bill posters or newspaper cuttings (which can be scanned).
I Joseph Bonnici's & Michael Cassar’s fascinating book and I’m conducting a deep search of the internet - but input from your readers would really bring this work alive. My disability and poor health prevents me from travelling to Malta to research in person currently however my contact is: info@maltaoperahouse.com .... thank you so very much.
If this is not done voluntary the Government then should start a campaign and ask the public in general public’s with any knowledge of these artifacts to help and free phone and report their whereabouts.
Unless such items are returned voluntary or have been exported which I doubt, they are “stored” in someone’s private residence / garden and if they are not returned voluntary the police should be able to investigate and ensure that every missing item is returned or otherwise!
This is extremely important heritage and hence such be returned where it belongs especially in the light of the proposed project!
The Russians built an empire, it fell and they rebuilt it again, and now enjoy a reputation for empire building. We Maltese ENJOY a reputation for disfiguring priceless artefacts and defacing the memory of (yet again) priceless buildings (City Gate is just one example) by proposing egocentric designs that do nothing except mourn the past in a distasteful manner.
'It-Teatru mwaqqa' is a phrase, indeed a physical address every Maltese goes by now for these last 60 years, that should have never been allowed to exist on people's lips, never mind passed on through generations. There is now the presence of a plague epidemic which is the physical incarnation of this linguistic power. And all this is clothed in a language which has lost any contact with today's crude, epileptic rhythm.
Renzo Piano's plan for the ex Royal Opera House Theatre is just a politically correct design that will further ensure that 'IT-TEATRU MWAQQA' will remain known as that.
Tourism Journalist
Thanks for the link. I can only say that rebuilding a national icon is not at all illogical, especially, if there are still parts from the original.
If you are under the impression that the remains of the old Opera House are in Socialist household's ,then you better think again. Most socialist households at that time were to poor to worry about taking a bit of stone to decorate their non existent garden or coffee table. Many a house I have visited happen to have an interesting piece of suspicious stone sculpture and by no means were these rabid nasty little reds. As for dismantling,what would you ratherMr Mintoff do, leave it as it was for a kantun or two to fall on passer's buy head's? Get real and start searching.
Tourism Journalist
It can be done - it has been done.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dresden_Frauenkirche
If the Germans can do it, why can't we?