Diane Calleja - 12/04/00 21:12:44
My Email:diane.calleja@halo.com

Comments:
I am not Maltese, but have married into a Maltese family. Over the last 11 years hearing stories about Malta and it's culture, it would be ashame not to see the Opera House constructed as closely as possible to it's original state. History and Culture is one of the great gifts we give to our children and should continue to be given. I vote to stop the proposal, but propose to have it rebuilt to it's original state. Good Luck!!

Vivian Widgery - 10/24/00 20:10:11
My Email:widgeryv@parliament.uk

Comments:
Although I am not Maltese, I spent many years in Malta, which included going to school there. I cannot believe that the beautiful opera house is being threatened by such a dreadful plan. What an affront to the centuries of culture that can be found in M lta!

- 10/01/00 23:59:35

Comments:


Charlie Xerri - 09/18/00 18:44:32
My Email:charlie.xerri@orica.com

Comments:
Malta,how I love thee.What is happening to you.They Change your looks...not to the best. Please,who ever is involved with this project,see the light and restore the site to or as close to the original as possible.I know that the world is changing,but take a good look and judge for yourself,if it is for the BEST.

Brenton micallef - 09/02/00 08:04:55
My Email:brenton@di-ve.com

Comments:
This is a very,very interesting site. For me without this site i don't know what i do because i have a Summer Project and i needed it. I WISH THAT THE OPERA HOUSE WILL BE REBUILT !!! IT IS A SHAME TO LEAVE IT LIKE THAT!!!

dr kennedy - 08/21/00 22:33:06
My Email:rahoo.com@yevkennedy

Comments:
for the sake of the shared european tradition of great opera houses please restore this as an international venue for live opera

George Swindells - 05/02/00 19:49:16
My Email:swindells@vol.net.mt

Comments:
I am a 'new' Maltese being married into the Maltese family and culture. i have seen many Maltese productions in these islands and it is plainly seen that there is a vast pool of talent in the maltese people. much is made of 'preserving' the Maltese langua e as thou this is the only thing that the Maltese Nationality is protected by. this is not so, culture in the broadest term is the heart of a nation. this is made up of talents in the arts, archtecture, sciences, traditions and history. Nothing stands sti l and tomorrows history is made today. Why not let the Maltese people decide through a competition open to all for proposals and plans for redeveloping the 'old' theatre site (remember it was new once) to produce the needs of the present tradition and cul ure setters so that future generations can look back and see that through this building that Maltas heritage is still being developed - now that is a legacy for the millieum.!!!!!

hello people - 04/18/00 21:19:34
My URL:http://sss.com

Comments:
rebuild the place please i want to vacation there

CONNIE BONNICI - 02/03/00 07:39:32
My URL:AUSTRAILIAN MALTIESE

Comments:
I THINK THE OPERA SHOULD BE BIULT THE WAY IT WAS ORIGANALY

Godfrey Gilmour-Tonna - 01/18/00 09:57:01
My Email:godfrey @itfusion.com

Comments:
I have recently made a return visit to Malta after an absence of fourty years. I was appalled by the vulgarity of the recent development around the city gate area - that awful city gate and the endless numbers of cars dominating the city. Heaven forbid th t now we should have an ugly shopping mall decorating,[dare I say desecrating ] Strada Reale. Come now Malta we can do better than that surely. Next we will be told that St John's is going to be turned into a disco. Malta and the city of gentlemen deserve better. In all my years in exile my one sustaining thought has been Strada Reale and the rebuilding of the opera house to its former glory.My umbilical to Malta is through its rich heritage and culture in all it wonderful manifestations. Give us back what we lost in 1942!Godfrey Gilmour-Tonna, 67 JOhn St Maryborough, Qld. Australia 4650.

Linda Balla - 12/29/99 14:58:45
My Email:dada_lb@hotmail.com

Comments:
After seeing The Royal Opera House as it looked like in the year of 1866 I have to say I loved that... I've never been in Malta before, but I know good enough information about this lovely place to know, how important it is for Malta to have their opera h use. Their old opera house. I love opera very much and I believe it is the greatest art God created, but if there are not going to be theaters or opera houses, it will be destroyed as many other things were... Therefore I'm asking you: please, build again The Royal Opera House in Malta the same way it was before... thanks...

Nik Grech - 08/05/99 09:42:55
My Email:grechm2@mrbean.net.au

Comments:
I believe malta is a beautiful historical place that holds many peoples pasts and futures. It is one of those countries that need to preserve their historical buildings for the sake of the families future

Jane Holloway - 07/01/99 19:38:27
My Email:jholloway@home.com

Comments:
Although I no longer live in Malta I am 100% Maltese. I have read the comments others have made,and they have just about covered it all.However I would like to restate that, Malta would be much better served and honoured by restoring the old opera house, ranted it may be a big sacrifice, but the Maltese people and future Maltese generations will applaude and remember this magnanimous project with pride.I visited Malta last summer,and I too imagined that grand Opera House standing there magnificently!!

Susan Pace - 06/28/99 16:24:24
My Email:supace@yahoo.com

Comments:
I am also half Maltese and visited Malta for the first time this May. Something that struck me about Valletta was the great number of souvenir shops near the gate -- I found them to be a little bit ugly and would have preferred to be greeted by something ore cultural than commercial on entering one of Malta's most glorious cities. A glass and concrete mall would be even more offensive and out of character with the rest of the city. I understand that the Maltese economy needs tourism but isn't there enough of that in Valletta already? Whether it's an opera, a museum, a cultural center with rotating exhibits, demonstrations, and concerts, all of Malta would benefit from a more traditionally designed building with a less commercial purpose. People go to Malta to experience it's history and culture, not to shop.

Jarod Smith - 02/25/99 13:53:25
My Email:jarod.smith@iconsoft.co.uk

Comments:
How anyone can knowingly commission such a horrendous, ugly and frankly, insulting project for the Maltese people quite clearly illustrates a distinct lack of understanding of the rich cultural heritage that exists in Malta. By the very virtue that at on time this tiny Meditteranean island had such a fine house seems to me proof positive that something equally as impressive be erected in its place. Should national coffers not stretch that far it would be better to not have one at all!

Sandra Barnwell - 01/23/99 17:11:15
My Email:comino63@yahoo.com

Comments:
I am half Maltese, I visit Malta every 2 to 3 years with my mother who was born in Malta. I am deeply offended by the Millenium 2000 project. In my opinion the theatre should be left as is, as a reminder of the horrible events of the war, and a memoria for all who lost their lives. So in my opinion being left as a memorial is more important to the history of Malta then a shopping center or a theatre.

Em. C. Spiteri - 12/20/98 13:39:05
My URL:http://www.europeonline.com/mal/index.htm
My Email:espiteri@globalnet.co.uk

Comments:
The Old theatre cannot be replaced. Even if built using the same plans. The spirit of those who built the original are now dead, my father a craftsman carpenter is one of them. The space should be occupied with a building that benefits Malta. Such as t urists' shops but build a dignified building not the usual concrete boxes with loads of glass!

Moses Mifsud - 12/02/98 23:44:06
My Email:moses_mifsud@hotmail.com

Comments:
Although I am a citizen and resident in Australia, I would like to express my views on the current proposal. I was lucky enough to have in my possession a large photograph of the Maltese Royal Opera House, which I now intend to frame and also include historic details of this beautiful piece of architecture in this frame. It is a pity that after 60 years the opera house was destroyed, the Maltese people of today will not be able to see the beauty of the opera house as it was built in 1866. I have visited Malta many times with the hope of being able to see this building ful y restored. With great disappointment, I was saddened to see that nothing has been done to this building. Here in Australia, we had an Opera House Lottery, to help pay off the expense of the popular Opera House we have here in Sydney, Australia. This form of fund raising was a great success and I feel that the Maltese Government should consider this option to give this building another chance. I am confident that not only the Maltese people in Malta would support this lottery, but also it will gather the support of Maltese communities around the world. This would also attract more tourism in Malta, as the Malt se people living in other countries, would be more willing to visit Malta, to see the Royal Opera House. Regards Moses Mifsud

Ann Marie Morales-Ear - 09/05/98 20:13:20
My Email:amorales@mercury.net

Comments:
Mr. Hall, I couldn't agree with you more. I think it would be an homage to pre-WWII Malta, and it would attract glamor and world class musical enjoyment back to Valletta. My mother recalls when she and her father used to go to the Royal Opera House when she was a child. I myself am a huge opera fan, and would love to know there is a theater capable of housing opera in Valletta. Also, that is such a valuable piece of property. I actually can't immagine the space built up. How about building a parking garage in the form of the old opera house? :-) Please take no offence. Seriously, the thought of a shopping mall offends me. I could spew opinions all day long, but I can't. Wishing you much luck, Ann Marie

Frank.X.Cassar - 08/06/98 18:30:21
My URL:London Ontario Canada
My Email:malteesefalcon@webtv.net

Comments:
The proposed project looks justifiable as blends the old with the new.Malta and the maltese people more than deserve it.In my opinion it has been overdue.Good luck in your project.

Prindle LaBarge - 07/02/98 18:42:59

Comments:
To this American, one of the most impressive things about Malta's history is the way its people have succeeded in preserving their language and culture against often overwhelming odds. I sincerely hope that this new project is never built and that Malta ventually gets an opera house worthy of its rich culture and great beauty.

jacky menhennet - 06/19/98 19:30:06
My Email:zoo@orbit.net.mt

Comments:
I think we definitely need a new and bigger theatre so why not build the opera house as it was? I think there are more and more people in Malta who are interested in going to the theatre - the Christmas Pantomime and a lot of other productions during the year are always sold out which proves to me that we need a bigger venue for the Arts. I don't see why it shouldn't be very modern and hi-tec inside, but what's wrong with remaining in keeping with our heritage?

Chris Ferrante - 06/18/98 15:37:13

Comments:
Malta does certainly need to replace the hole in the ground, indeed none of us are alien to this fact. What we are alien to is the need for something to be proud about. Unfortunately creating a builing with about as much character as the main gate in Vale ta is not exactly a worthwhile project. There is little time left and even if the present monstrosity is attempted it is possible that it will be shabbily done. However for those who claim that it is not in keeping with the present Architecture we onl yhave to look at the General Workers Union buildin, the Government flats, the Law Courts and the Front gate to realise that this monstrosity is really not going to ake much difference. I mean nobody cared about the entrance before why care now. After all a casino and a shopping mall is so tasteful. We can all congregate and visit the latest shops and gamble away our money in the casino. After all are not the arts a hing of the past????????

Alexander Hall - 06/18/98 15:14:42
My Email:alexhall@rocketmail.com/

Comments:
Fine, build the proposed shopping mall and arts center, it will fill the hole. It will allow us to shop in an entierly new enviorment in Valetta. Not only that, but whilst shopping we will have the reassurance that the building compliments the noveau arch tectural style of Valetta. It blends with the "New" Porta Rjali, very well. All that is left is to paint the bastions surrounding the city in Magnolia and White at great expence. Illuminate St.Johns and the Auberges with flashing neon strip lights, and for a marginal expence to the tax payer, we can have a totally revamped Belt! Who ever belives the proposed idea complements the rest of Valetta is unfortunately blind. I'm presently in a Net Cafe, in the old city of Rhodes. Old? Well a good 100 years older than Valetta and built by the same people mind you. The cafe is housed in a servants lodge which was rebuilt in the 70's after the original dating 1529 was destroyed y earthquake. So here the Greeks will rebuild a small and relatively unispiring building to complement the rest of the citadell, just to house a cafe, whilst we aren't really bothered with rebuilding the opera house! After all we need the parking place, and we have enough old buildings which can be used for cultural purposes. We don't need to look after another relic, we're hardly coping with the ones we still have!! So build a white elephant for the Millenium, make it small and cheap so in time when we realise how little it blends with its surrounding, we can drop it without too much heartache! Is the present entrance to Valetta a case in point? Alexander Hall, Rhodes

Pete Menhennet - 06/17/98 19:18:16
My Email:zoo@orbit.net.mt

Comments:
This is our chance to put something at the gateway of Valletta that all our foreign visitors will see and admire. Every tourist wants to go to Valletta and whatever is built on the site of the former Opera House is going to be amongst the first things se n. Wouldn't it be good for Malta for all those people to return to their own country, tell all their friends and family and thereby advetise Malta for free? Think how many people around the world have heard about the Taj Mahal, the Eiffel Tower, Sydney pera House, London's Houses of Parliament etc etc? Malta needs a landmark too.

David LaBarge - 06/17/98 19:15:45
My URL:Livonia Michigan, USA
My Email:http://www.dglabar@aol.com

Comments:
While I am not a citizen of Malta, having visited many of your cities for the first time last April, I urge all who have interests in this to not inflict on each other a Sydney Opera House mentality and "more shopping" at the expense of a unique part of y ur history. Make the architecture functional to serve your needs, but make it fit in to the "fabric" of your city by respecting the design of the original. Modern architecture works well when you have the space to step back and perhaps see it like a sculp ure -- as in the Sydney Opera House. But in the context of an old city and a busy street already containing plenty of shopping (even for the tourists!) -- go carefully ahead, Malta! See you after the Millenium!

Eleanor Apap - 06/11/98 17:36:00
My Email:eapap@yahoo.com

Comments:
I am outraged at the new proposal, don't we already have too many shopping malls, all we need is another one. We used to have an Opera House that we were very proud of, why can't we have that again. I think the Opera House should be rebuilt to be as maj stic as it once was.

Bernadette Cachia - San Giljan - 06/10/98 18:34:53

Comments:
I feel that the outside of the Royal Opera House of Malta should be built in the same way as it was before it was bombed. It is a shame to see that people are even considering constructing such a monstrous building as the one being proposed. Let us be p oud of what we had and show it off.

Philip Spiteri - Attard - 06/10/98 17:08:26

Comments:
L-ewwelnett nixtieq naghti prosit lil Stephen J. Hall tal-home page li ghamel u li fiha taghna l-opportunita li nuru l-opinjoni taghna. Minn mindu t-teatru rjal twaqqa fl-1942, l-ebda gvern Malti ma ta kaz bis-serjeta l-possibilita li jerga jinbena, ghalkemm fl-amministrazzjoni precedenti saru xi pjanti, l-hsieb tal-progett miet. Pero meta dan l-ahhar il-gvern presenti hareg fil-berah u n eda progett biex jinbena l-vojt li halla dan it-teatru, ma nafx xi nqala. Referendum fuq referendum, battibekki fil-parlament, indhil mill kunsilli, etc. Jiena tkellimt ma hafna nies fil-qasam tal-muzika klassika u ta l-opra, fejn kollha qalu li llum il-gurnata mhux vijabblili li l-post jerga jservi ta 'opera hse', ghax ma hawnx dik id-domanda. Ahna llum ghandna t-teatru Manoel u nikkonservaw lilu. Imma na bel ukoll li jekk ghandu jinbena, ghandu jzomm l-istess faccati u stil kif kien. Kulhadd jaqbel li l-arkitettura li kellu kienet eccezzjonali u jikkumplementa l-istil tal-bini gewwa l-Belt Valletta. Rigward il-funzjoni tieghu, hemm hafna possibbilitajiet kif wiehed jista jaghmel uzu minnu, gallerija tal-arti per ezempju pittura moderna u dik antika, skultura, artiggjanat, hgieg, etc. Insomma l-vera 'showcase' tax-xogholijiet Maltin. Is-sena l-ohra kien hawn habib tieghi Ingliz u dan qalli, 'I found Malta the same as I left it 20 years ago', u bir-ragun, it-teatru Rjali baqa toqba, Manoel Island minsijja, il-Kottonera mitluqa u t-triqat tisthi ssuq fuqhom. Insomma piki kemm trid u fat i kwazi xejn, jew ahjar, ahna pajjiz tal-esegerazzjonijiet. Ic-Cittadin L-ewwel JEW Piki Biss : Che Vergogna !

Rosary Hole - 06/10/98 17:05:46
My Email:farfett@hotmail.com

Comments:
I cannot believe that a different building is suggested to take the place of the most beautiful piece of architecture that Malta ever had. It is a shame that citizens of Malta even dream of having some building completely different. Please,please build the Opera House the same way it was before the war. Malta is an island of great culture and great history and it deserves such an Opera House to make us all proud. It will be a proud moment for us to be able to come to visit Malta and have such a majestic building greet us when we enter Valetta. I would also like to see the main door to Valetta demolished and have the old one in its place. Viva Malta!