Kenneth Zammit Tabona
Institutionalised philistinism
Last Saturday marked a cataclysmic plunge in the decline of Maltese cultural life, plagued as it is by a new breed of politicians whose attitude to all things cultural would make even Goliath blush. An orchestral concert was organised at the Catholic Institute in Floriana, not to mark some Catholic anniversary mind you, but as an alternative venue for our newly renamed Malta Philharmonic Orchestra to play in, simply because the usual venues have become far too expensive; or so I was informed.
I had never been to the Catholic Institute before and, after last Saturday’s experience, I do not think wild horses would drag me in there again. I mean no disrespect to the building and its auditorium which is good enough for meetings of the MUSEUM or putting up farces like Stilla Tal-Bigilla which is scheduled for next week, but it is categorically not a suitable place for an orchestra of the MPO’s calibre to play Schumann, Mozart and Schubert. I felt as if I had suddenly been exiled to some remote village in Kazakhstan in a dull, drab and featureless theatre built during the most repressive of Soviet regimes. It was too depressing for words.
This proves the point I have been making ever since the plan for the Piano open-air theatre was announced: namely that, one, we need another open-air venue like we need a hole in the head; two, that it is a total waste of €20 million of taxpayers’ money and, three, that the opera house site is the ideal one to house our homeless orchestra.
The orchestra has numerically and acoustically outgrown its old home, our beloved Manoel Theatre, and, ironically, in a country without divorce laws, it and the theatre have been divorced without the orchestra having an alternative venue. The orchestra has to now pay to play wherever and I was told that, unsurprisingly, the Catholic Institute is the cheapest option; so have the mighty fallen. Since then it has been one long and painful decline for both entities, the MPO and the Manoel Theatre too. The philistine management aided and abetted by a philistine government has made sure of that.
While the Manoel Theatre Orchestra was housed in the Manoel Theatre, the organising committee used to schedule a minimum of two orchestral concerts a month. These were, most of the time, sell-outs and, depending on the soloist, it was quite normal to have to add the maximum number of extra chairs allowed by the safety regulations. Last Saturday a smattering of people wandered into the Catholic Institute wondering where on earth they had come to! This is simply not on. I had a couple of young friends who had never been to an orchestral concert before and I was squirming with embarrassment.
Why the Prime Minister and the Cabinet cannot see the logic of scrapping the ridiculous open-air theatre plans and replacing them with a proper concert hall similar to the one Renzo Piano built in Parma is totally beyond me and cannot be explained; not in a month of Sundays! Dr Gonzi is beginning to remind me of Pharaoh in the book of Exodus. Not revising these plans smacks of absolute obduracy.
Let nobody be under any illusion that I am writing this article out of any personal interest. I have been deeply involved in the fortunes of our orchestra since I was in my teens and I care for it very deeply. I care even more deeply for orchestral music and wish for more and more people from all walks of life to love it too. I strongly believe that once Malta has the good fortune to have produced such a fine orchestra so amazingly disproportionate to Malta’s size, it is the solemn duty of the government that employs it to do everything possible to use it far more; to nurture it, to continue building it up, send it out into the playgrounds and the squares in the summer and propagate the public’s interest and understanding of orchestral music. Above all else the government is to give it a permanent home on the very site where the orchestra was conceived before this wonderful band of musicians, who have come such a long way since they were instituted in 1968, reverts to insignificant mediocrity. To do anything else would be sheer sacrilege.
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Caroline Said
Oct 27th 2009, 10:15
Bravo Kenneth.
@Alfred Camilleri.."putting spokes in the government wheels?". Bit of a waste of time really since there doesnt seem to be a horse pulling the cart.
What about a rooftless Parliament Building? Then for politicians who all seem to think the sun shines out of their posteriors, it would provide them with a regualr reality check..
Kenneth Zammit Tabona
Oct 27th 2009, 01:03
Andrew
One GYNORMOUS glitch that you overlook is that Piano's open air joke is costing us 20 million euros. With that sort of money an accoustic expert and another architect can and will produce wonders and not plastic membranes exposed to all weathers that cannot be used in all weathers and not in festa season. Go back to the drawing board I say and do your homework and above all read what I write more carefully as you are missing the entire point. You know that I am right...........................so forget the money part and think of the orchestral salaries x100 thrreabouts that the governement is paying for half the potential use of the orchestra. If you cannot see the logic of that!!!????
Gordon Guillaumier
Oct 24th 2009, 12:59
you've got my full support Kenneth.....you well know my views in this regard.
I would like to add one small comment which perhaps some goverment bigwig would read: the benefits of a cultural dimension for a nation go well beyond the confines of the country. Cultural events in the form of musical concerts, be it jazz or classical, promote the country's image and market it's potential especially to returning tourists......sometimes to compensate for a meagre tourist flow in the low season. Music festival organised annually are aimed to place small towns on maps; Bayreuth, Lucern, Salzburg, Torre del Lago, Pesaro, Verona, Glyndebourne to name a few, and it really does work. Europa docet !
Andrew Borg-Cardona
Oct 23rd 2009, 23:25
You're perfectly right, of course, except for one, tiny, glitch. What you want costs money, and plenty of it. I, for one, would be perfectly happy to pay an extra 1% in tax and get a vibrant arts scene, but do you remember the storm of whining that greeted St James, back in the day? In other words, mate, forget it: we'll have to make do with what we've got and re-building the Opera House is a non-starter too, whatever you think.
Alfred Camilleri
Oct 23rd 2009, 22:01
@Astrid Vella. Are you implying that democracy in Malta is being threatened because one objects to your finding fault to anything the Government does?
Indeed sad days come about when those who have their own agendas, use their positions to put spokes in the government wheels.
Frank Bowman
Oct 23rd 2009, 21:43
Well said Kenneth - that's all is needed to say.
Astrid Vella
Oct 23rd 2009, 20:49
@ Alfred Camilleri: It is a sad day for democracy in Malta when one has to be an expert on a subject before one expresses oneself, though I am sure there are many who would like to maintain the status quo by silencing the least murmur of dissent.
Much of what has been said is no more than common sense. Why build a new parliamentary palace when our city is already full of empty palaces some of which, like the huge Auberge de Baviere, have been restored at taxpayers' expense and are now virtually unused? Any fool with eyes in his head can see the logic in that, you don't have to be an expert. That is why so many people have been likening this case to the story of the Emperor's New Clothes where the so-called experts are all ready to buy into the hoax, and it takes the innocence of a child to blurt out the truth that everyone can see, but no one wants to admit publicly.
J. Schembri
Oct 23rd 2009, 20:17
@Mr Zammit Tabona: so the real solution is that the MPO should perform without being charged at the Manoel theatre. I hope that the theatre would seat enough music lovers to pay the running costs of the theatre.
I feel furious at how Lm 1,000,000 was drained from the state coffers and want to make sure that there will not be any encores like this.
" people will pay what they should pay if it is worth the money." Could this be the reason why some 50 to 80 people attended to Simon Schembri's guitar recital last January(?).
You have been following the orchestra since you were 17 and I've been contributing to the exchequer from that age .
Don't I have a say about how my money is spent on your expensive artistic wants?
Do we really need to build another theatre to make a statement like Ms Vella is implying down here?
I like the idea of the 'Proms' you wrote about in the last paragraph of your article.
Alfred Camilleri
Oct 23rd 2009, 20:01
I see that Astrid Vella is not only an expert on the environment and building development, she is also an authority on music and culture in general. Mrs Vella, please note. The one and only real expert in such matters that we have is Kenneth Zammit Tabona. There is very little he doesn't know in these fields, if he says so himself.
Franco Farrugia
Oct 23rd 2009, 19:36
Kenneth ... why did you go there, of all places? I know the Catholic Institute's hall. With all due respect, it is not fit to stage a high-level performance there, by all means!
Kenneth, .... we have voiced our opinions about the pseudo-rebuidling of the theatre ... a roofless theatre, ara naqra .... ad nauseam. And not a single member of the Government has even considered that maybe, only maybe, we, the 'dissenters', are wrong!
Give it up, Kenneth. A country is judged also by the culture that it chooses to encourage and we as a people get what we deserve. We are in this situation. A government extremely distanced from the people and a still-feeble Opposition.
I mean ... even the comments that have been made for your article speak loudly about the polarisation that once again is found in our insular society. So much for the EU. The EU hits Malta only where and when the Government feels like it. Note the comments. And don't think that these comments come from people who are uncultured. So many self-acclaimed cultured people who should know better, will denigrate you for this article, mark my words.
Steve Sant
Oct 23rd 2009, 19:29
May I remind you all that the only agenda Malta has is with the concrete blocks we keep sticking in the middle of our fast disappearing countryside. Villa's become flats, Hotels become flats, garages become flats and football pitches become large multi storey garage spaces for flats. Ok by now someone would say, what on earth is he on about. I'll tell you, Opera houses and entertainment places do not make much money and so there is no demand to build them. We have no art galleries, we have no theaters worth their salt and we nothing artistic. And it all begins with our kids, don't become an artist / musician, you will die poor. Take Maths, Maltese and English because you can be a good lawyer / doctor / Nutara. Waste of time, you want to see the real stuff, we go abroad. Just like the poor Tuna, MALTA became endangered long ago, and now its too late. Bye......
anthony girard
Oct 23rd 2009, 19:20
Well said, Kenneth.
Yes, we truly have a MPO that does us proud.........pity we cannot "house" it anywhere !
I also hope Dr. Gonzi will not do a Pharaoh on us simply because the inner circle have committed themselves to the Piano plan.
Let's have a referendum and let the people decide.
Kenneth Zammit Tabona
Oct 23rd 2009, 18:59
Mr Schembri
I am afraid that you are incapable of understanding a very simple argument and you are simply wasting everybody's time by throwing in red herrings and spanners just for the heck of it. Tell meall about the improvements at the Manoel Theatre that will make the staging of a Mahler Symphony possible? Stop this piffle about the ticket prices; people will pay what they should pay if it is worth the money. Last Saturday's concert was so sould destroying that it was not worth half a euro.
Symphonic music requires a proper concert hall so much so for 5 years the government paid Riccardo Muti the whopping sum of LM200000 per annum to set up the Accademia della Musica without fulfilling Mro Muti's requirements which were.........guess what? The building of a proper SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA CONCERT HALL!!!The Accademia has now gone the way of all flesh..........
A home for the orchestra would mean that no rental fees and more concerts just as it was when it was part of the Manoel setup.
I have been following the orchestra since I was 17 and wrote my first crit Mr Schembri and there is very little I do not know.
Miriam Cremona
Oct 23rd 2009, 18:40
It is scandalous that the authorities refuse to see that a National theatre with a roof will be an added bonus for the country, its citizens and its visitors educationally, culturally and touristically. I remember one incident in the late nineties when orchestral concerts for schools were stopped because an individual decided that 'it was not worth taking children out of school to listen to a piece of Brahms'. It is hard to imagine an attitude more philistine than that!! The authorities still consider the building of a National theatre to serve the nation as a waste of money. The building of a Parliament on the other hand for the use of 65 members is a sound investment in their opinion. The added insult in this saga is that we were patronisingly told that the theatre war ruins have acquired archaeological value!! It is surprising that the war ruined chapel on Fort Manoel was not left as it was.
V. Mizzi
Oct 23rd 2009, 18:16
Bravo Kenneth! It horrifies me to think that the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra is now paying to play....and at the Catholic Institute! How degrading. And yes, you are absolutely correct : the Piano open-air theatre is not a practical solution. Would it be problematic to replace the open-air theatre plans with a proper concert hall? It is still not too late.
B. Pisani
Oct 23rd 2009, 18:02
KZT:You are so very right. The unfortunate part is that for a certain class or breed, it is all about quick money or the name or about changing perspectives in history to suit themselves. They will never, ever, get it.@Peter Vella: Please re-read the tale 'the Emperor's New Clothes' .. .. How does one get formed culturally and asthetically? By looking at Mepa-approved buildings and thinking these are normal? by listening to contorted Maltese, and English, and thinking this is normal? For most unfortunately, yes; for a decreasing minority never. Unfortunately again, people employed in supposedly high positions within government have an unshifting blinkered position about matters being about cost and feasibility studies not about value, image and long-term multiplier effects.Again@ Peter Vella: Just because Piano is a brand and expensive it doesn't mean he offers the best solution. It's just that this government, having little guts to back a non-branded solution will pay through its teeth in defence for having no taste. Same agents as always though. Does megacost buy National Pride? Thank God though Valletta wasn't snatched up by Bertie Mizzi,which is the way many things in Malta go.btw where does one decently fit a 70+ piece orchestra?
J. Schembri
Oct 23rd 2009, 17:34
@ Astrid Vella: calling the government 'philistine' , and not attributing the set up of the MPO to the said government is very unfair.
Would a philistine government upgrade the orchestra to philharmonic level and sustain it?
Are such performances sustainable with half the audiences paying 5.00Euro?
Since when the Manoel was not considered Malta's national theatre?Do you know about the latest improvements at the Manoel the philistine management has financed? This problem would be solved if more people like KZT continue to attend and pay a fair price for such concerts instead of pointing his finger at the government which is doing its part.
The tax payer already guarantees the pay check of forty excellent musicians, is he expected to subsidise theater goers too?
Probably we find the money to build a grandious theatre to be like or better than other bigger countries , but we do not have enough theatre goers to keep it going.This is not the pre-war Malta we're living in, when my late grandfather used to go to Theatre Royal for the only entertainment he could go.
The taxpayer wants sustainable solutions for Malta's 'problems'.
Jovan Mizzi
Oct 23rd 2009, 17:18
Remember that Architetto Giovanni Trevisan designed a multi-purpose theatre that inspired Sir Cameron Mackintosh to say "This could make this one of the most spectacular and successful public centres in Europe, rivalling New York’s Lincoln Centre and London’s South Bank, with the added benefit of being in the very heart of Valletta"
Sir Cameron Mackintosh encouraged the design and asked his theatre-specialist architects to consider the project. They showed how the space could house the necessary full size theatre and back-stage etc plus it would welcome a seated 1600 audience.
Particularly because all this is said to cost 15million euros, this project should be a seriously considered alternative that can be constructed within two years. There is no doubt that this building could also welcome the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra to play in. There is much promise that there will be substantial sponsors and money raising activities to help reduce the financial burden.
Perhaps if the authorities concerned see an agreement to this project, we may have it in the very near future. There are some drawings on http://www.caravaggio.com/projects/VOH
m.portelli
Oct 23rd 2009, 17:15
You miss the point. Europe invests in culture. EU countries warmed up to the idea that culture can earn them serious money long ago. That is why they support the arts. They are wise enough to acknowledge that there is a link between creativity , development and the generation of wealth. Creativity however, doesn't flourish in cultural wastelands. The raw material – talent – is potentially abundant in all countries, however poor or cash strapped. Malta should be no exception. Malta alas, has no visionary in this field. KZT merely highlights the paradox of working and investing to ensure we have a national orchestra to be proud of but at the same time choosing to deprive it of a decent closed space for performance let alone a national theatre as befits a European nation. Don't attempt to dress this up as an exclusive exercise. The arts need support. The political speak re creativity is sounding hollow more than ever now. Creativity cannot be nurtured by lack of commitment. A roofless theatre in Valletta for reasons repeated ad nauseum is a travesty rather than an ode to the arts and creativity! As a taxpayer I object.
Philip Lingard
Oct 23rd 2009, 17:15
I fully support Kenneth's comments with one reservation. There are now some superb venues for operatic and symphonic performance in Kazakhstan.
Astrid Vella
Oct 23rd 2009, 17:14
@John Schembri: I was sure you would not object to a roofed theatre, few people would.
There is one thing we are all missing here. A national theatre can be built with help from the EU, a parliament can't. This is one more reason why we should be opting for an existing palace or building on top of the Main Guard, which would both more grandiose and cheaper. Moreover this is what our Structure Plan passed by Parliament indicates: “Parliament and the Ministries will concentrate in the palaces and auberges of Valletta.”
A new EU-subsidised roofed theatre would no only cost less to build than an un-roofed one, it would also cost less on maintenance which would be covered by income earned all the year round, and not just over summer weekends.
m.portelli
Oct 23rd 2009, 16:33
@ KZT
Excellent article. Thank you for your commitment to the arts and creativity.
We are fast becoming a cultural wasteland where the promise of excellence is slain repeatedly by lack of commitment. Oh fine we all know the creativity is there, the musicianship is present but the commitment to culture is alas just lip service. It is a pity that the authorities choose to take the road to irredeemable mediocrity. One can only pray to St. Cecilia that the new cultural policy document will not further dishearten the artistic community.
J. Schembri
Oct 23rd 2009, 15:31
I'm not objecting for a theatre with a roof , infact I was one of the first who asked for an explanation why the theatre has no roof. I'm also in favour of a library instead of a political museum .
Kenneth is not giving credit where it is due. The courageous step to finance our orchestra was taken by the prime minister, if the orchestra remained as it was we wouldn't be asking for a decent affordable venue.
Artists like KZT seem to be oblivious to the financing of such performances. The problem seems to be that the Manoel is charging higher rates , due to higher running costs and the only remaining viable venue is the shoddy Catholic Institute. BTW MUSEUM meetings are held at Blata l-Bajda.
Providing a roof for the proposed theatre will increase costs. One expects that this 'extra' cost, in turn will reflect on the entrance fees . Even if the theatre were built , there would still be the problem of 'unaffordible' entrance tickets."There's a hole in the bucket"!
The solution for this 'cataclsmic plunge' should lie in a higher entrance fee for orchestra lovers, at the Manoel of coarse.
Adrian Borg Cardona
Oct 23rd 2009, 14:54
Mr. Peter Vella is missing the whole point, What we should be comparing with Europe is how much encouragement are the arts given by Govt and why do so many young people attend classical music concerts and none do so here. Whenever I attend a concert in cities abraod, I am always amazed at the youth participation. KZT is right - unless you provide the rights means and venue, culture starts to die. Look at the opera houses in Gozo - every time they put on a production the seats are sold out. This is what we should be looking at, not at the half baked efforts made in Malta. If we had a roofed theatre, any type of concerts, including rock, pop, classical, could ne held there. Think about it. You would benefit too. Not all of us can afford to hope on to a plane to go and watch a production.!
Astrid Vella
Oct 23rd 2009, 14:47
@Mr Schembri:I have re-read the article and unless I missed something I cannot find any evidence of KZT "unfairly chastising the prime minister and his government because Malta produced such a fine orchestra so amazingly disproportionate to Malta’s size".If anything such a fine orchestra reflects well on the politician who allocated the funds to it.
Re allocation of funds,everyone knowns that our Government has sunk millions in promoting contemporary music at the Eurovision song festival,shouldn't we balance financing to different genres?A national theatre would not only host concerts,but drama,ballet and,yes,why not pop and rock concerts which do not necessarily need huge venues as a theatre seating 1,000-1500 can cater for an unplugged rock concert.
It amazes me how some of the poorest countries in the world including Senegal, (Dakar)Haiti,Papua New Guinea,Adis Abbaba(Ethopia),Lagos(Niger)&Accra(Ghana)have devoted their very limited funds to setting up national theatres while we are still trying to justify the lack of one.
When you consider that not just European towns but even backwater towns in America like Norfolk(Virginia)Cedarville(Ohio),Rochester(New Hampshire),Green Lake(Wisconsin) Elkader(Iowa)Sumter(South Carolina)are proud of their grand theatres,it is even more pathetic that a sovereign state like ours still lacks this essential element of our national cultural identity.
Peter Vella
Oct 23rd 2009, 14:02
I would like KZT to tell us how many people were actually present and how much the ticket price was. If you compare these two to what happens in Europe then you will have the reason why a rebuit opera house is not financially viable. I am also amazed that people talk about the Piano project "ruining" the entrance to Valletta. This is Renzo Piano we are talking about not some third rate architect!
Enzo Caruana
Oct 23rd 2009, 12:52
@ Mr John Schembri
Mr Zammit Tabona is being more than fair and objective. Yes we have an Philharmonic Orchestra to be proud of and yet the Prime Minister and the government are hell bent to leave it without a decent concert hall where to perform. And all this for an ego trip costing much more money on a roofless theatre and a Parlaiment building on stilts that are going to ruin the entrance to our Capital city.
I agree with Mr Zammit Tabona that forcing our National Philharmonic Orchestra to perform at the Catholic Institute is an insult to all our professional musicians and to music lovers
Franco Rizzo
Oct 23rd 2009, 10:40
Well, maybe you're right, John, about KZT speaking only for orchestra, but I don't think I find the proper rebuilding of the Opera House objectionable, instead of a cabriolet theatre. There was always the option of a multi-purpose cultural centre, but as long as the politicians have their parliament, it doesn't matter what state is the Opera House is in. Speaking of taxpayers' money, the project is already costly in itself.
Something more about rock music. Didn't Metallica and T-Rex collaborate with philharmonic orchestras as well?
J. Schembri
Oct 23rd 2009, 09:48
KZT is not being fair and objective.
He is unfairly chastising the prime minister and his government because " Malta produced such a fine orchestra so amazingly disproportionate to Malta’s size"
Wasn't it this Prime minister who encouraged -by financing-the setup of this orchestra?
This problem is like Harry Bellafonte's song , "There's a hole in the bucket" where Lisa orders her husband Henry 'to go fetch the water' . But there was a hole in the bucket.
Our orchestra has a problem with the prohibitive prices of the Manoel Theatre and probably other venues.The cheapest option is the shabby "Sala tat-Tijatrin" of the Catholic institute.
If we build a theatre on Royal Opera House ruins , wouldn't we end up with the same financial problem?
The problem with us here in Malta, is that we want the government to partly finance our entertainment.
As a tax payer I would have objected for this state financed orchestra -I like rock music -because now it needs a subsidised decent venue so that orchestra lovers can enjoy the music their music.