Culture at the crossroads

So! David Beckham is now an OBE! Order of the British Empire of which there were plenty of in Malta at one time or another! Not that it counts for much in this day and age when there are many Maltese who are clamouring for the removal of the George Cross from our flag.

Many would argue that "our Dave" deserved more than a mere OBE! Sir David Beckham would have certainly had a much better ring to it. There he was, top world icon, immaculately and stylishly turned out in one of the most stunningly elegant morning coats I have ever seen receiving his little red ribbon and medal from HM, accompanied by a suitably glamorous Posh Spice; flashed on all the international media! I am pretty sure nobody who ever got the OBE ever got such incredible coverage.

The royal Honours List has been for many centuries Europe's and now the world's point of reference in the recognition of Achievement with a capital A! However, it does take much more than a knighthood or a humble OBE to inspire the imagination of a Public with a capital P to the extent that the Beckhams have! When one examines this phenomenon one can only conclude that there must be something to astrology after all!

This brings me to Opera with a capital O! In the dull world of the 1950s, the consequences of WWII still very evident and the uncertainty of the Cold War already casting shadows of gloom, a star was born. Maria Callas, a Greek born in New York, blessed with incredible vocal chords and an even more astounding sense of drama who caught the imagination of the world in the same way David Beckham has today. Almost half a century later, La Divina Callas is still a benchmark with regard to operatic success. It was, however, much more than opera that created the Callas legend. Most readers need not be told about her tempestuous private life and her jetsetting. Her repudiation by Onassis in favour of the even more iconographic Jackie Kennedy is of the stuff that made the late Dame Barbara Cartland a millionairess. Callas changed the face of opera just as Beckham has changed football's!

The idea of writing this piece came to me this morning after a very pleasant post-opera discussion on the Gozo ferry last night. Malta is bereft of opera. Were it not for the enterprising Astra and Aurora theatres in Gozo all we would have would be a couple of performances at the Manoel which, as we all know, is totally unsuited to most operas composed after 1820! This year we also had La Boheme in Portomaso, which, while being a splendid idea, had its teething problems. And that was that!

I have noticed that opera audiences are on the decline. There are far too many distractions for the relatively small nucleus of people who have their wherewithal to spend at least half their weekly earnings on one operatic performance without a guarantee that they would actually enjoy it; especially when there are so many options.

As a person who has successfully introduced countless people to the enjoyment of opera, I must admit that it is we, the opera buffs, who are the most off-putting of all. Listening to "learned" bitchy conversations in the foyer during an interval while trying to make out whether Mrs So and So's shoes are Manolos or Jimmy Choos can be a mind-boggling experience. Opera cannot really be enjoyed unless 1) one loves music, 2) one has a vague idea of the storyline and knowledge of basic Italian and 3) most importantly, one is a romantic at heart!

So now to the crunch. Should the Royal Opera House be rebuilt or not?

This has been the million- (possibly billion) dollar question in Malta since WWII. It has cropped up again and again and with very little positive result and lots of nostalgic drama and caterwauling every time it does.

In our post-budget gloom that, hopefully, will be dispelled by Christmas optimism very soon (politicians are no fools to have budgets announced in November), talking about a project like the rebuilding of the opera house is like talking about pies in the sky. Opera is a notorious drain and we have far too many already like the Drydocks and the civil service to even contemplate having yet another one which is also elitist to boot! And yet... a country's status is in fact measured according to the culture it produces and we have to admit it has produced very little in the up-market bracket in the last 50 years.

I, for one, despite the fact that I adore the genre, will be the first to categorically state that rebuilding the opera house as was would be the greatest blunder in our cultural history. It would be cheaper for the ministry of culture to organise subsidised weekly flights to Palermo whenever anything is on at the Massimo rather than run an opera house. There simply is not the following for it. Those of a certain age who dream about the scintillating splendour that they remember in pre-war days must also keep in mind that then is not now and that there was precious little for the Maltese upper crust to go to where they could see and be seen. Today one is on public display all the time!

Even if opera had to become the most fashionable pastime imaginable, could one sustain the production of say, Rigoletto, for nine nights multiplied by 1,200 odd persons per evening at an average cost of Lm25 per ticket? Bring your calculators out and tell me whether it is financially feasible.

Structurally and acoustically the opera house had its fatal drawbacks. Its backstage was practically non-existent and were it to be fully functional according to today's exacting operatic standards it would have to extend to Castille and beyond. It also had its deaf side. The acoustics were not of the best. Malta certainly cannot afford to add yet another white elephant to its growing herd of them.

What is badly needed, however, is a fully functional concert hall wherein symphonic music can be properly performed. Our national orchestra is going from strength to strength. Its performance at the Aurora Theatre of Rossini's Barbiere di Siviglia was impeccable and it would be a great pity not to improve on the solid foundations that have been perseveringly established over the last 10 years.

The size of the orchestra at present is that of an average Mozartian one and playing the great romantics like Bruckner, Brahms or Mahler with any credibility is at present out of reach, as for performing 20th century composers like Ravel, Stravinsky or Richard Strauss that is still a dream to be realised. The orchestra has to double in size and one has to have the specialised instrumentalists that are required to give precise nuance according to the composers' intentions. The problem is that there is no concert hall to accommodate an orchestra of that size anyway so we are at an impasse.

A solution could be to rebuild the exterior of the opera house as was minus the always-controversial terrace over Republic Street and have a contrasting ultra modern concert hall on the lines of Jean Nouvel's magnificently functional Luzern one inside. The operatic mancanza could then be remedied by encouraging summer open-air performances that are more realisable and more casual, which, hopefully, would open it up to a far greater crosssection of audience.