I had not been to the Juventutis Domus, the Salesian Theatre in Howard Street in Sliema for decades; not since we used to pay seven pence to watch a film at 2.30 p.m. on Sunday afternoons when I was little more than a child and used to rummage in those greasy bags of crisps to find the little bag of scrunched blue paper that held the salt!

I had forgotten what a lovely little theatre it is and how absol-utely wonderful the proscenium is, with it evocative mural entitled The Virtues of Mankind by Giuseppe Calì encircled by this rich bas-relief of pre-art deco design full of symbolism by Calì’s perpetual collaborator Vincenzo Cardona.

Such a gem of a theatre smack in the centre of Sliema within easy walking distance should and must be used more often, and I was delighted that four musician friends of mine decided to stage a performance there on November 27 at 7.30 p.m.

Putting on something during a weekend at this time of year is risking it. Only the day before, I attended no less than five exhibition openings; it was like doing the Maundy Thursday visits, and on a Saturday evening one is competing with weddings, parties and the general weekend merriment. Therefore I suggest a Sunday evening instead at around 6 p.m. as people like to retire early to prepare for the rigours of a fresh working week on Sunday. Also, as my Sunday evenings are usually devoted to getting up to date with irritating paperwork, an occasional concert is a very good excuse to postpone it.

Be that as it may, there was a respectably sized audience on Saturday evening and a suitably appreciative one too. Robert Galea led the quartet, playing flute with Nemanja Ljubinkovic on violin, Sarah Spiteri on viola and Jacob Portelli on cello.

The delightful programme consisted of Haydn, Mozart and Stamitz, three quintessentially 18th-century composers whose music conjures up the magical pastel portraits of Rosalba Carriera, the idyllic scenes of Antoine Watteau and the lovely Vigee Le Brun portraits of the ill-fated Marie Antoinette; the former archduchess who played with young Mozart as a child romping up and down the illuminated corridors of Schloss Schonbrunn little knowing that one would outlive the other by just a year.

Both lives were tragically cut short in their early 30s; one by political upheaval, a victim of the times, and the other by illness, penury and again political upheaval that dried up his income from concerts and compositions for France and Austria were at war.

The highlight of the evening was unquestionably the Mozart KV285, the ‘meatiest’ according to Spiteri, who introduced the pieces played. With its magical Adagio where the strings playing pizzicato throughout form filigree to the arias of Calleja’s soaring flute, this quartet was a great treat.

One thing to be considered would be to pay more attention to the silences and pauses that would have created more pathos and greater expressiveness.

This is a feature I have often noted in local performances. Speed is not of the essence ,and eloquence depends as much on clarity and deliberation as on prestidigitation and virtuosity to work. It is simply a question of working out an interpretation beforehand.

Not everyone can be an Artur Rubinstein and devise totally different interpretations of the same thing, all equally plausible and all equally beautiful, within one rehearsal or one recording session. Nor can one interpret ‘as one goes along’.

Be that as it may, there were some mesmerising passages, especially in the Stamitz of instrumental interplay, that showed just how accomplished these musicians are. However, it was the Mozart that provided that gamut of emotions that makes a performance worthwhile.

I do hope this will be the first in a series of what will become regular appointments at the Domus Juventutis. I will not expect to have greasy crisps this time around but will probably taste them in my subconscious every time I gaze upon that fabulous Calì. In that way I will make no noise.