Thursday, 18th February 2010
ENTERTAINING THOUGHTS
I just know I'm going to annoy plenty of people, many of whom are probably going to call me a lick-spittle lackey of the regime or something like that, but that hasn't worried me for the Heaven-knows how many years I've written the Beck column, so it isn't going to worry me know.
Incidentally, because I probably can be accused of ignoring the elephant in the room, I do know that there is a significantly raucous controversy raging in the general direction of Daphne Caruana Galizia but I'm ignoring it. Not because I don't have opinions, but because I have several compelling reasons for not expressing them in this, or any other, public forum.
Getting back to annoying people by being a lick-spittle what's it's face, I was a tad perplexed to see how a whole skew-load of artistes and performing arts folks took it upon themselves to make a big noise about the Opera House Project.
Not that they don't have as much right as anyone else to make a big noise, of course: everyone and his brother and her sister has one (an opinion, I mean) and with the proliferation of the blogosphere and its infestation by the commentariat, we're getting the benefit of being told this opinion all day, every day. Never mind that the manner in which the opinion is couched, or for that matter that the opinion itself, renders it not worth a bucket of warm spit, the megaphones go into overdrive as soon as a vague idea manifests itself in what passes for a consciousness in some people.
Why was I perplexed, I imagine you asking, always assuming you're still even remotely interested. Well, it's like this, aforementioned artistes seem to have got together, figuratively speaking, to stamp their collective feet, again, about how the theatre that will replace the ruin at City Gate won't have a roof.
To be precise, and I probably used the wrong word myself, it's not going to be a theatre, precisely, but a performance space, and it's going to be outdoors. The fact that it's been perfectly clear from quite some time ago that this was going to be the case doesn't seem to have dawned on the foot-stampers, as hasn't the fact that the space doesn't lend itself to an acceptable modern theatre, for all the whinging about how the old Opera House should be put back as it was.
Valletta has quite a number of indoor performance spaces, ranging from the Manoel Theatre at the smart end, through the MCC at the more utilitarian point on the spectrum ending up with St James and the MITP, the latter being where the more experimental stuff is put on.
And do you know what the problem with all these places is, really? Apart from the fact that some of them could do with a face-lift and a half, to put it mildly, that is?
Call me crass and mercenary if you like - to be honest, if that's all I'm called, I'll consider myself to have got away with it - but something most of these venues has in common is that on many occasions, they're not full. I've been to the Manoel on Tuesdays, when artist(e)s of repute and skill were playing, and there have been row upon row of empty seats.
I trust you're getting my drift: yet another indoor theatre, especially one on such a small site, is not precisely what the capital needs. I'm not saying that the existing spaces shouldn't be improved, not least of which is the MCC's main hall, which could do with a whole series of experts' eyes being cast over it with a view to making it a venue fit for the likes of Joseph Calleja but do we really need another indoor theatre?
Outdoor venues exist in countries where there is noise and where the weather is not ideal but apparently, we're special here, we can't have a decent outdoor theatre (there, that word again) because it has been taken into the minds of a group of people that they know best and there's an end to it.
It all makes me think my missus was right all along: they should have just cleaned up the ruin and turned it into a memorial to the war dead.
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Comments
I would like to know if this option had been considered. To me it proves that no effort is being made to make the opera house the center of this project instead of the stupid parliament building on stilts!
This stilts thing really rubbed me off the wrong way! :)
@ Kevin Zammit
No Kevin I wasn’t kidding. Cinemas make money, Opera Houses need hefty subsidies. Bet you Gonzi haven’t thought about that, I should be PM. LOL
You may have said it in jest but I do not see why what you suggest cannot be done ... the cinema management could be outsourced anyway
Anybody for a Cinema\Opera House of course with a roof? The non Opera goers, who are in the absolute majority, would get a return for their taxes and the few concerts lovers would be having their Operas and stage shows subsidised by the masses.
OK your statement puts the argument at 50/50 for a proper national theater. I can dig that and be at peace with it. However your last statement tries to tip th scale in favor of an open air theater in place of the opera house.
If you do agree that a one-of cannot be considered as ample proof but an example then you do have to consider how on earth can this theater function on a weekly bases with all the festas, bandas and inevitable street noise? What of the theaters neighbors how will they function with these weekly additions? And at the end of the day the only reason we are discussing this really poor option only because of one man! - Gonzi has decided that 80 million should for the most part go to build a parliament building on STILTS inside a 16th century fort and palaces!
There is a case for a national theatre to be built. On the other hand, there are strong arguments why a national theatre should NOT be developed on the opera house site.
I agree that there is a difference between one-off events and a permanent open air theatre/performance space. I do feel however that referring to the proposed open air theatre as designed by Renzo Piano as “useless” is WRONG given that the site was used as an open air theatre/performance space in the past and given that those activities were a SUCCESS.
You are so right. That is exactly what nags me. I am far from even being called an enthusiast, but I do enjoy a night out with some good work. At 40 neither do I consider myself as being a member of the Arts club that hangs around the Manoel sometimes a bit too snobbish too... or better still to put in the words of Malta's arts supremo (with sarcasm) that I am one of his selected 700 that was claimed to be Malta's theater market. I would listen to Bob Marley as much as I would Sharleene Spiteri, Eric Clapton, BB King and U2
One of my favorite pieces is Die Zauberflöte the Magic flute ... last year in March apparently this was presented at the Manoel. I was honestly so annoyed that I had not seen it advertised anywhere. Probably as usual it was in the times 2 days before the opening night.
It is terribly bad marketing and lack of planned induction from a young age. Disney get to toddlers early so that by the time kids are 5 to 8 they start nagging parents to take them to their park.
Manoel Theatre is good for baroque productions but it would do with a more dynamic management. Last year, I attended an opera "Riders to the Sea" where probably, I was one of less than half a dozen paying patrons. There were no more than 50 patrons in the theatre as the opera was very poorly publicized and management put no effort to fill the seats in contrast to the good attendances the simulcasting of the Met operas is attracting at SJC.
Considering the millions that have been thrown in the Drydocks retirement plan and the bus/hearse owners golden handshakes, the retractable roof that Piano apparently proposed originally for the ROH site should seriously be reconsidered. The original ROH suffered from poor acoustics and the acoustics of an open air reincarnation is quite doubtful.
This place can do with more culture and one sure way of doing so is by having a decent modern theatre
There is an obvious difference between a one-of and a permanent location as a venue would'nt you say?
See Profs Schranz opinion about this ...
Locations for open air theaters we have plenty anyway, what we need is a decently spaced theater ... minus a parliament building on stilts (on dry land) and a hole for a city gate ... but maybe I can live with a city gate that is but not ... at least in that case someone with better sense would have room to build a proper one :(
Further to my previous post, this is another event from the same Arts Festival of 2006. The extract is also from MaltaNow weekly Edition of 30 July 2006.
“The Dance Council in collaboration with the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts (MCCA) has invited Ballet D’Europe to give two varied performances, ’Mireille’ on Friday 4th August & ‘Mozart Requiem’ on Saturday 5th August at 9pm, as part of the Summer Arts Festival, at the Opera House Ruins – Valletta. Jean-Charles Gil, the Artistic Director, will also be presenting choreography for the top Maltese dancers from local dance schools on the island. The brand-new Ballet d’Europe is working towards the popularisation of contemporary dance. The Ballet d’Europe is not only a professional company made up of 18 dancers from all around the world, but it is also a specialised laboratory dedicated to the dancers’ development.”
Certainly, Renzo Piano’s open air theatre on the opera house site is more likely to attract international dance companies than 2006’s ad hoc arrangement. Then why does KZT choose to describe it a useless theatre?
In the summer of 2006, the National Orchestra Goes Pop concert was held in the opera house site as part of the Summer Arts Festival. A stage and seating were set up within the old theatre site.
The conductor Sigmund Mifsud was asked about the venue and about performing open air. This is what he replied “I love it as a venue. There have obviously been problems regarding acoustics and the setting up of the place – but you’ll always have a problem, that goes without saying, even indoors, and thanks to our team we have managed to solve most of them… much work has also been put into re-designing the site for this occasion….. ” (Sunday, 30 July 2006 , MaltaNow) .
I distinctly remember that edition of the Arts Festival to be a success.
Given that it was a feasible option in 2006, can someone please explain to me why a purpose-built open air theatre designed by Renzo Piano becomes an “incomprehensible decision”, “a sick joke and “a useless theatre” now? (quotes were the adjectives used by Kenneth Zammit Tabona in a letter to the Times of 18 February)
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/2006/07/30/tw/TW300706.pdf
We have the Manoel and the MCC . The latter has lost quite some business to MFCC in Ta Qali. Surely if MCC has some shortcomings it can be re modelled , rather than build yet another theatre. But proceed with an open air theatre. It will certainly be great for summer events. Has anyone heard that Taormina is going to roof the greek amphitheatre! And to all the artists who petitioned the PM , start thinking out of the box , rather than being prima donnas wanting a new theatre for the sake of having a new one.
E.g. Lauri's brilliant display on his violin and Vella's concert worthy of the best theaters in the world did not attract more than half a theater full ... but ... I read the paper as best I can and am a career professional with little time to follow constantly what is going on. I had not heard of Mr. Lauri before. It was only accidental that I had gone to see it.
Mr. Lauri played a spanish guitar adaptation for the violin.
He held the entire audience breathless with the speed he was playing ... ten minutes of constant high rate fiddle out of memory without the slightest hitch
Even the most ignorant and philistine like myself could not help but feeling that s/he had seen something that was special and rare.
I had never heard of Vella's concertos before ... again it was an experience to hear it played live.
Why was this event not advertised properly? Why was the marketing so poor? What sort of pricing is 10 or 30 for seats?
Is there some national effort to allow this pathetic attitude towards art and culture fester?
You may have been genuinely convinced that there is no more room for larger theaters but it sounds to me like you are as appreciative of the arts as my neighbor next door.
It would be presumptuous of me to think that I can put forward clearer and stronger arguments outlining the arrogance and ignorance of this decision better than what Lino Spiter and Prof Schranz said today in the Sunday Times.
That should only leave your argument that our theaters are rarely full.
Wrong and wrong again. Was this intentional? When there was good material on show and it was promoted well the venues were full and over many nights.
Two of the most recent ones - sulari fuq strada stretta and Joseph Callejja and Michael Bolton produced packed audiences.
What is needed is better promotion of the arts and culture starting from a very young age as well as proper and broader marketing of programs.
Government has decided on the project. The only change that one could possibly consider is not having the theatre/performance space within the opera house ruins. The point I made is that if the artistes are so adamant that they do not want an open air theatre than maybe Government should consider leaving it out of the project.
But wasn't that Piano's idea after all?
If I am not mistaken he wants to preserve the remains and collect some 'misplaced' ruins to have partial perimiter walls 'in order to remember' the trauma of war, while having the interior serve as an open air theatre.
ABC's missus thoughts exactly!
Yes maybe after all the ruins should be converted into a memorial for the dead. Why spend precious tax payer money for a facility which the eventual users do not want?
Apparently only people who cannot speak the language properly or worse still uneducated native speakers of low social class use the word.
Insofar as concerns your puerile idea about a boycott, well, what can be said? More seats for the rest of us and more time available for decent performers.
But for once I totally agree with you, Theatre Culture is not one of the Maltese strong points, neither is picking-up a book. In my younger days I wafted to the Apple, short holiday, simply to see Arthur Miller`s Death of a Salesman, quite recently to Old Blighty,The Royal Court to see Stitching, disturbing, quite gripping...yes! But what a play!
I`m afraid Opera is not a choice with me, more of a sleeping pill, But opera lovers should not be denied a decent Opera House, you are right, the site is too small. Fort St. Elmo will be ideal to build a splendid opera house, it will also give some life to parts of the lower end of our Capital. Imagine the splendour if such a dream will come through.