For such a small archipelago (thank you, James) Malta had a jolly big opera house.
Malta owes so much of its architectural heritage to the good taste of the Knights but this was perhaps the most significant contribution made by the British. It is the work of prolific, Victorian architect, Edward Barry; he got his eye in on the requirements of an opera house by knocking up ROH Covent Garden (+ the Floral Hall) in 1858. It was bombed to smithereens in the war and never re-built. To digress slightly, the government thought the tax payers’ money would be better spent on a new parliament building and chose Renzo Piano to design same. What do you think?
The ruins of the opera house have been restored, by Piano, to look like ruins and there is an open air opera venue within. I am tempted to visit when it is in operation, perhaps in combination with a visit to the opera festival on Gozo in the autumn. But I digress, as usual.
The Teatru Manoel in Valletta was built by a Grand Master of the Order of the Knights Hospitaller, Fra António Manoel de Vilhena, in 1731. It survived the war when its boxes provided, rather cramped, accommodation for displaced families and is probably the oldest working theatre in Europe. If you go to the opera at Wexford you may be struck by its modest entrance reflecting its origins as a cinema. The Manoel has a similarly unobtrusive entrance, currently under restoration so I have resorted to a stock image.
Within lies a gem. On my visit rehearsals for Armida (Rossini) were in progress.
The box decorated with swags is for the president today but one can imagine the Grand Master holding court. When it first opened the GM permitted only Knights to take roles, male and female, his thinking being that it would keep them out of mischief. The mind boggles. Meanwhile here is Rossini’s Armida overture.
Thank you Christopher, another visit to Malta – and Gozo? – is in the offing, I think.
Fascinating! The only Maltese singers I can bring to mind are Miriam Gauci and Joseph Calleja, but they suggest the level of opera in Malta might be fairly high, relative to its size. Did the rehearsal bode well?
Paul Carr, an English director, was putting one of his singers through her moves. There was no orchestra or singing.