Unique organ finds its 'home'

In spite of its bare walls, flaking frescoes and stripped as it is of its paintings by Mattia Preti, the church of St Catherine of Italy in Valletta came alive yesterday with the celestial sound of a pipe organ played by Brian Bugeja.

Passers-by stopped in their tracks to hear such mellifluous sounds filling the air.

Apart from his musical prowess, Mro Bugeja is extremely technically minded, having built the organ from scratch.

Yesterday he was somewhat upset, however, that the organ had been moved from the music room at St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, in Valletta - the organ belongs to St James - because he believes the dust that will result from the eventual restoration of the frescoes at St Catherine will damage the delicate instrument.

"If the organ is left here during the restoration it could be damaged by a tool or other hard object that might fall off the scaffolding.

"It would be a great pity if the organ is exposed to such risks. This is the first organ of its type to be built in Malta. It's my baby and it is as fragile as a baby.

"Additionally, it's not healthy to keep dismantling the organ and putting it together again," he added.

The organ was moved to St Catherine's for an Easter festival of theatre and music called Passiontide. The festival is being organised by St James and the Valletta Rehabilitation Project in order to raise enough funds - about Lm100,000 - to restore the frescoes which are in a bad state of repair.

But being the positive man he is, Mro Bugeja felt that St Catherine's "has excellent acoustics that enable the organ to produce an extraordinary sound".

He was overjoyed to learn also that the stone carvings around the church are almost identical to the wood carving he embellished the organ with.

When asked why the organ was moved from St James, Sarah Spiteri, programme coordinator at the arts centre, said "the organ is a baroque instrument that fits extremely well in the baroque church".

"Our idea was to get the organ to be played as much as possible which was not the case at the music room in St James. The aim is to have it played as often as possible and, in turn, create greater awareness of the country's fine artistes and musicians and the architectural gems that adorn Valletta.

"It will be years before the restoration is taken in hand because of the high sum that needs to be collected," she added.

St James general manager Chris Gatt noted that the organ will entice young composers to write pieces for it.

"The organ will be shielded from dust by a tailor-made plastic cover. From what Mro Bugeja has said it is quite clear that the organ has found its rightful place, its home," Mr Gatt added.

A former Malta Shipbuilding fitter who left the 'yard on an early retirement scheme, Mro Bugeja, 36, had attended a two-month course in organ building at the Oberlinger factory in Mainz, Germany.

About 70 master craftsmen at the German firm produce fewer than 10 organs a year that are exported worldwide. The hand-made organs each cost tens of thousands of liri.

Tickets for the Passiontide festival cost Lm4 per event (Lm2 for students and senior citizens).

For more information call 2122 3200 or send an e-mail to boxoffice@sjcav.org