Letters to the editor - May 7, 2025

Another memorable night

Hats off to the Gaulitanus Committee and Choir, founded in 1990, particularly its indefatigable and evergreen chorus master and conductor, maestro Colin Attard, for another memorable night of opera at the Aurora Theatre, Victoria. 

This year it was the turn of Giuseppe Verdi’s first major success, Nabucco, held under the distinguished patronage of Myriam Spiteri Debono, President of Malta.  In essence, the libretto is based on the biblical books of 2 Kings, Jeremiah, Lamentations, and Daniel, and on the 1836 play by Auguste Anicet-Bourgeois and Francis Cornu.

The Gaulitanus Choir at San Giovanni Laterano. Photo: Facebook

As rightly stated in the commemorative programme issued for this prestigious event, ‘Maestro Attard is regarded as a pivotal personality in Gozitan operative circles, having conducted innumerable operatic productions featuring world-class artists for Aurora and Gaulitana’. This year, it was surely no exception since the international cast of singers together with the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, Malta’s leading musical institution, under the impeccable baton of Maestro Attard, delighted the numerous audience that packed the Aurora Theatre. 

I am sure we all look forward to another impressive 19th edition of Gaulitana – A Festival of Music during 2026, particularly since the opera chosen for the coming year is Il Trovatore another impressive masterpiece, based on charged drama of family strife and forbidden love by Giuseppe Verdi

Charles Deguara – Kalkara

Waiting for the barbarians

Evarist Bartolo writes so well, and in an informed, intelligent manner. Preparing for war is a horrifying thought and should be contemplated with caution. But Mr Bartolo does not mention what we should do if the threat from the barbarians is real.  Nor does he say how we should act, if war is out of the question.

Theoretically, the majority of nations agree that invading another country is illegal.  So, if Libya decided that Malta was an asset they needed, and they invaded, should we just give in and surrender?

Would we not expect our allies to do something to help us.?  Are the smaller and weaker nations just going to have to give in to the demands of the stronger barbarians?

Taiwan for China; Ukraine for Russia; the whole of Palestine for Israel; Greenland for the United States. Diplomacy has to come first with as much wisdom and justice as we can provide. But if all that fails, what?

Elizabeth Lochhead – Attard