The festive season is one of the most-snapped times of the year and we love looking back on memories of Christmas past. Jo Caruana asks three well-known faces to pick their favourite shot of the season.

Christmas lunch at the de Piro family with Archbishop Gonzi

‘Painful, happy memory’

Nicholas de Piro d’Amico Inguanez, 9th Baron of Budach and 9th Marquis de Piro, is the well-known face at the family home Casa Rocca Piccola, a noble house open to the public in Valletta. Marquis de Piro is also loved for his creative talents and will once again help lead the fabulous light-hearted poetry and music evening, Nostalgia, Notions and Nonsense, at the Salesian Theatre in Sliema on February 29.

This photo depicts Christmas Day 1971, at 103 Archbishop Street Valletta. We had just had lunch and my sister Madeleine took the photograph in the drawing room of the house, which had been in the family for some nine generations. This picture represents the end of an era for us, and for a way of life. It had become a tradition over many years to ask the Archbishop to Christmas lunch. He was treated with all the honour possible – he was not seated on the hostess’s right as would be normal, but he sat regally at the head of the dining table and was always served first.

There were still resident maids in the house at the time – three of them. But, on this occasion, there were two more who had actually asked my mother if they could come to help. Old Carmena’s first job was for the Baronessa ta’ L-Mdina when she was 14 years old, earning eight shillings a month and running to the grocer and back to get anything the cook needed. Her eventual promotion to working upstairs on the piano nobile involved a pay rise to half a golden sovereign a month.

“Carmena,” I remember asking her, “how did you spend your money?” She answered, “I never spent money, I was fed and clothed and I saved it all. When I got married there was enough to buy a little place to live in.”

“The other elderly maid who joined us on that Christmas day was Polly. She was a great character and, like Carmena, looked smart in her white apron and lacey headband. She was an ex-nun who had joined the missions in Jamaica and fascinated the children with her stories. She apparently got into trouble for baptising newly-born Jamaican children without permission. You could not have found two happier looking maids on that Christmas day.

The photograph itself shows Archbishop Gonzi looking quite relaxed after his strenuous pontificals and ample Christmas lunch. Grandpa Jerome holds his first grandchild – two-month-old Cosimo, who was named after the commander of the arsenal, the first de Piro to come to Malta in the 1500s – and there are other members of the family including my wife, an aunt and my artist sister Mary.

The Christmas tree is on the grand piano, which is festooned with Christmas presents that had not yet been opened. This was a happy occasion, but it was also the last time this traditional event would take place in the old family home. This photograph is a glimpse of something that is no more – a painful and happy memory.

Nico Darmanin

Notes on Christmas

Well-known tenor Nico Darmanin recently completed his debut performance at the world-famous Glyndebourne Opera House in the UK. His next major performance will be at his own concert, Unforgettable, at the Archaeology Museum in Malta in February, alongside the Big Band Brothers and Jasmine Abela.

I love this picture because it was taken just before my last performance at Glyndebourne, where I was performing in La Traviata. I had such a great time working there – all my colleagues where absolutely fabulous and we were always goofing around when we weren’t working. I left with some great new bonds and friendships, and the Christmas spirit just added that extra sparkle to that period.

That said, I love Christmas in general. It’s a special time to spend with the ones you hold closest. As I work abroad, coming home for Christmas is always a treat. I did spend one Christmas alone when I had a performance on Boxing Day in Antwerp, and I hated missing out.

I love the Christmas carols too of course, and especially adding that swing Sinatra feeling to the period to the day. In fact I am already in the mood for our jazzy concert come February.

While I don’t have any Christmas traditions, I have to admit that my ideal Christmas would involve some snow. I am fortunate enough to be working in Salzburg in the run up to Christmas, so there should be plenty of snow. I am planning to enjoy every moment of Christmassy-ness there.

I come from quite a large family and Boxing Day is important in our house because it’s also my Grandmother’s birthday. So I have fantastic memories of the festivities, with full-on partying, and that’s what the day means to me. Once back in Malta, I look forward to hosting Christmas at my place for the first time, and I’ll be cooking up some of my specials – a lovely gammon joint, lamb shoulder and much more – and will be decorating the house to give it a lovely welcoming feel.

Doors will open at noon on Christmas Day, and I look forward to everyone staying until the early hours of Boxing Day.

Mikhail Basmadjian with his mother

Being with family

Renowned actor Mikhail Basmadjian has had a busy theatrical season, with pivotal roles in both Unifaun’s Stitching and MADC’s The Jew of Malta. He is looking forward to a well-deserved break this Christmas, before jumping straight into the role of Larry in Masquerade’s Closer, which opens on February 1.

This picture brings back memories of a very special Christmas – it was the only Christmas Eve I ever spent alone with my mum, as my dad, a doctor, was working night shift at the hospital. To this very day I remember the lights, smells, sounds and what we spoke about. I was 12 at the time and had started asking a lot of questions about life in general. My mum has always been my best and most trusted friend – the advice she has given me, and continues to give me to this very day, is unrivalled.

I am not very religious, so, to me, Christmas is about being with family and the people you care about, as well as thinking about those less fortunate than yourself. Having said that, we do not need to wait for Christmas to do all of the above – religion or otherwise, it is what people should be doing all year round.

I do not have a favourite Christmas activity – not even eating. As I have a very small family, with no hordes of aunts, uncles, and cousins, I prefer to spend some quiet quality family time in front of the fireplace, melting cheese skewers on the naked flames and thinking about the past, present and future, while listening to the embers tell their story.

But I am looking forward to doing a lot of cooking and having friends round to hopefully enjoy the dishes with me. This will also be the first Christmas I am spending with a very special person who entered my life a year ago and with whom I have already shared many beautiful, life-changing moments. I hope to get even closer to her this Christmas.”

This article first appeared in Christmas Times magazine.