Touring Malta: Sun, sand and song

This article was originally published in our Spring 2022 issue. Click here to subscribe to our quarterly print magazine and be the first to read our September issue features.

Malta’s attractions are many: on a group of three inhabited islands only 122 square miles in area, it is possible to experience both natural and manmade wonders from a history of nearly eight millennia – and the Mediterranean climate is as enticing in winter as in summer. Add in wonderful hospitality and food and drink, an excellent internal transport network, and an enthusiastic and knowledgeable local concert-going audience and it’s easy to see why so many ensembles from overseas choose to visit time and time again.

There are numerous large-scale arts venues dotted around the islands of Malta. Perhaps the starriest is the Teatru Manoel in the heart of Valletta, completed in 1731 making it Europe’s third-oldest working theatre. On the island of Gozo is the 1600-seater Aurora Opera House, while the site of the former Royal Opera House in Valletta – destroyed by bombing during the Second World War – has been redeveloped by Renzo Piano into the Pjazza Teatru Rjal, an open-air space for theatre and music. The Spazju Kreattiv is a multi-space venue that was renovated
in the 1990s from a former fort of the Knights of Malta, while the Mediterranean Conference Centre is (despite the name) an imposing 16th-century building that overlooks the Grand Harbour of Valletta.

Churches and other historic buildings are popular performance venues in Malta, usually benefitting from outstanding acoustics. In Valletta, the Catholic Co- Cathedral of St John (pictured) and the Anglican Pro-Cathedral of St Paul are two of the island’s principal churches, along with Mdina Cathedral, and the Collegiate Church of St Paul in Rabat – a stone’s throw from the catacombs where the saint is reputed to have been imprisoned during his brief stay on the island – is another atmospheric concert venue. The national museum of arts, MUŻA, also hosts concerts in its galleries, as do the Maritime Museum and Archaeology Museum. The Robert Sammut Hall was converted into a specialist cultural centre in the 1970s, while the Sir Temi Zammit Hall at the University of Malta is a purpose-built auditorium ideal for concerts, operas and ballet.

Food and drink are plentiful and inexpensive in Malta; a coffee costs around €2 (£1.70), while a beer in a local bar is unlikely to set you back more than €3–4 (£2.50–£3.40). Ordering poses little problem, as English is one of Malta’s
two official languages and is spoken everywhere (the islands were a British colony between 1800 and 1964).

Even in a small destination like Malta, the assistance of a specialist music touring company is invaluable, as these combine years of logistical experience with a network of local contacts to work with visiting groups during their stay; ACFEA Tour Consultants and Club Europe have each been organising musical visits to Malta for over 40 years.

Malta’s most famous musical offspring is probably the lyric tenor Joseph Calleja, who was born in 1978 in Attard. Having made his operatic debut at the age of 19, he then went on to cement his rising reputation by winning the Caruso Competition in 1998 and was a prizewinner in Plácido Domingo’s Operalia in 1999. Since then he has graced stages the world over, and was the soloist at the 2012 Last Night of the BBC Proms.

Malta is three and a half hours’ flight time from London; airlines providing direct flights from the UK include Air
Malta, British Airways, easyJet, and Ryanair. Malta International Airport is the country’s only international airport, and is six miles from the centre of Valletta, the capital of Malta. UK passport holders do not require a visa for visits to Malta of less than 90 days.