Dido's lament

One of the most poignant and moving arias in the soprano repertoire must certainly be Dido's Lament from Henry Purcell's opera Dido and Aeneas. It is the aria that Dido sings as Aeneas sails away from Carthage after having been given a false message from the gods. Dido is, of course, distraught and commits suicide.

Aeneas, for those who may not know, was a Trojan prince, son of the goddess Aphrodite and Prince Anchises of Troy; immortalised by Bernini in the Galleria Borghese in the act of escaping the flames of the conquered city with his old father on his back. Aeneas was also the legendary founder of Rome.

It is debatable whether or not Aeneas dropped in on us on his way to Italy; however, what Aeneas symbolises is the spirit of Mediterranean history and, therefore, the gift of a superb bronze statue of the semi-divine hero to our capital city by the Italian government was a gesture which to all lovers of history and art was most appreciated.

I was invited by the Valletta local council to the unveiling of a bronze statue of the protagonist of Virgil's Aeneid a couple of weeks ago.

Ugo Attardi's Aeneas is one of the most powerful modern bronzes I have ever seen. It pulsates with virile strength and purpose. It is a heroic male nude that has all the attributes that make it a true descendant of the greatest manifestations in western art; as it certainly includes works by Phidias, Praxiteles, Cellini and Michelangelo in its pedigree.

When I arrived at the Lower Barakka for what was to be President Guido de Marco's last official engagement, I frankly didn't know what to expect. The statue was draped and there was no telling what it would be like till finally after a plethora of speeches the President unveiled this monument to this great Mediterranean seafarer and I was literally struck dumb. Not only because of the awe-inspiring beauty of Attardi's masterpiece but because I simply could not understand the sheer insensitivity of Mepa in siting such a wonderful work of art as they did!

The statue is designed to be seen as a powerful upthrust over some battlement; looking out to sea, greeting all incoming shipping with its virile salutation; but no, poor Aeneas faces inwards towards the back of the Alexander Ball Monument, half hidden in a grove of trees! Is this because of some misplaced prudishness?

Or is it that Mepa officials who decided on this particular siting are utterly devoid of any artistic knowledge and sensitivity? I wonder how many people other than those who were invited to the unveiling and those who frequent the Barakka garden actually are aware of Aeneas' presence.

Were I Dido I would indeed more than lament over this insulting site for such a wonderful statue; an arresting symbol of the kind of heroism that epitomises the history of Grand Harbour. Originally, I was told, the place proposed was on a little promontory just below the Great Siege Bell which would have been far more appropriate. Inexplicably, Mepa refused this and, hence, the Aeneas was plonked in the Lower Barakka facing inwards as if trying to shove the Ball Monument out of the way.

No lover of modern art should rest till the statue is properly re-sited as it should be.

Despite the fact that we are to join the EU in a couple of weeks' time, Valletta, our World Heritage City that we would like to call our capital, is largely still in a state of decrepitude. The budget for its restoration is risible and while lip-service is being paid nobody seems to be putting his money where his mouth is.

A couple of weeks before the unveiling of the Aeneas, I had attended a seminar at St James Cavalier entitled Valletta 2020 organised by Citypro, an estate agency that deals exclusively in Valletta properties and which, with excellent foresight, realised that Valletta's renaissance is well overdue.

Attendance was hallmarked by quality if not quantity; however, I am sure that many positive ideas and proposals were made as to what action should be taken in transforming our Città Umilissima into the most superb gem in the Mediterranean.

I cannot but publicly thank the organisers and personages like the president of Din l-Art Helwa and the chairman of the Valletta Rehabilitation Project along with the mayor of Valletta for their valid contribution and unflagging efforts; mainly in persuading the authorities to get off their backsides and do something to preserve and beautify the greatest artistic and architectural legacies left to us Maltese by the Order of St John.

It seems to me that instead of counting our blessings that the 300-year rule of the Order transformed Malta into the extraordinary nation we are today, an EU within an EU, a microcosm of Europe, the average Maltese and, hence, those they vote for, are at best indifferent to the uniqueness of Valletta.

Our lifeblood is tourism. When will we get it into our heads that the future of tourism in Malta does not consist of the type of tourist who wishes to sun himself on sandy beaches, as we have none to speak of, but of the cultural and discerning tourist who would come here to relive the spirit of the Crusades and the tangibly triumphant glory of their aftermath as manifested in Valletta?

Just imagine had Charles V not given Malta to the Order? We were, before 1530, a forlorn, pestilence-ridden, remote outpost of the Habsburg Empire; an island that could easily have been absorbed into the Arab Confederacy at the drop of a hat.

We would have been an excellent launch pad for the Turks to attack Italy and Spain and the history of Europe may well have been very different.

Instead, after the Great Siege, the greatest Order of Chivalry the world has ever known made Malta their home and, what with the decline of the Ottoman Empire and economic boom in Europe, Malta under its oligarchy of European aristocrats became the vital and productive nation we know today.

This is why it is insulting to us as a nation to still keep our capital in such a state and politicians should be ashamed of themselves not to have taken drastic action sooner. Start by re-siting poor Aeneas to begin with and with luck the spirit of heroism that Aeneas embodies in Attardi's marvellous bronze will inspire us as a nation to hold those we elect to be fully responsible for the upkeep and preservation of our common heritage.

kzt@onvol.net