Published by CAPA 234 Strait Street Valletta and Printed by Giov Muscat amp Co Ltd 213 St Ursola Street Valletta

Volume II No5 amp 6 MAY - JUNE 1957 Price 6d

THE ONLY NATIONAL ENTERTAINMENT MAGAZINE

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THE

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Borg a po r trait III oils the remarkable resemblance to the subject depicted renders this portrait a

treasured possession

Antoine Camilleri in his Paris landscape LA SEINE gives us another glimpse of his cosmopolishytan connections with living personalities in the realm of line arts and it is a pity that such a landscape has t o wither locally in a Paris E~ibition full marks could be expected Carbonarois BIMBO is some thing which proves Carbonaros study proshygress and better still is expected of him

E V Cremona is for me the accomplished artist wi th t he hand s of an angel and a phantasy creative in its realm on divine standards In SKETCH FOR A MURAL with the aooompanying finished scctio n there IS something grandiose which could glwce any place it is fixed on the colour scheme is a shining r ainbow and the gracefulness of the figures in the finished section could easily arouse Raffaello s envy The mosaics something new in modern Malta are of a remarkable finesse and one is bound to wonder why none of our monumental churches canshynot boast like St Peters of such WOMS of art Interested persons pjease note and try

Mrs L K Demajo Albanelse in THE BAY OF POSITANO gives us a kind of embroidery in colour very effective and wppealing in the other landscapes II glory in haziness is achieved with a very personal coour scheme which has in it a highly poetical touch

Paul M(lmo s use group study THE GOSSIPshyERS portrays with life like accuracy olle of the most valuable virtues of the Maltese and Gozitans as well a virtue so cheap that we could bottle it pound01 export On the other hand the Old Carrier shows us how stagnant our watets ale and how much life is needed to make us realise t hat we are living in a rock-n-roll age

Mrs Eliz(Lbeth Lemors portraits are more in the style of magazine coyers while The Madonna of the Premonition in its bizantine inspiration expresses much more than whlt is grasped at first sight

Last but not least come two very good sculptors Ignazio Gepoundai and Marco Montebello Cefai In

SOGNO gives us a reclining beautiful face more angellike t han human lost in a beatific contempla shytion of divine insight in itself a poetic inspiration towards heauty which gives to us humans samething of the divine Montebello MISSIERI is a masterpiece which should be kept at our national museum It is indeed a portrait Michelangiolesquc in its robust touches full of character and life a work in whioh the son has given to the father his very soul and could it but speak it would immediashytely say Thank you my son I may now live for

ever If only the prices were not too high and if the

SAMAC could lay aside its 20 commission this first permanent exhibition could also be a success eommercially as it is it is only an Ideal

CASSOLAS DRAMATIC ACTIVITIES

An Italian three-act play Whisky e pastashysciutta by Albert M Cassola has iained the SEGNALAZZIONE in a Drama Contest at Bologna The adjudicators described this Odyssey of a mixed marr iage amiddot being impostata e seriUa con sciolshytezz(I con un diaogo curioso e gustaso per cui 10- gt )Junto dei finti adulte7i non nuovo del tutto a)JpalC feieem ente portaJio it conclusione Tonino Micheluzzi playwright stage radio television and

~ fi lmmiddoto star a lso read the comedy and described it as diveltente c spiritosa con dialog7li eccel1enti Cftssola lL la vena umoristica e sa saggiamente iagliare de lle ~cene

This S3me actor defined as deliziosi atti umCI ch e l ussono benissimo j01mU1e spettacolo Cassolas plays 11 nenitente - molto succoso e scritto con ( lte - which wa s twice broadcast from the Radio del Monte Generi (Lugano) in the main evenlDg proshygramme and II dono di nozze which Carlo Micheshy

luzzi Toninos father considers as moUo g7azioso and g lIstosissimo Flattering opinions on Lhese plays were also expressed by other important theatre personalities and by llmiddotewsp aper critimiddotcs The Micheshyluzzis expressed the hope that the Maltese playwright would write one or more plays for their Company

In all Cassola who has won prizes a nd honotushyable mentions also in Maltese and Italian literary competitions has written one full length and three one-act plays in Itali an and all four were successful in Itaian drama eo ntests His name app ears in a small encyclopedia of playwrights published in Italy and to quote only from Italian sources we cull from a Roman paper the late Giacinto Tuas answer to his interviewer who asked how Malte se playwrights trea t their dialogue Alcuni eg legiamenie come n Cassoa c1l e e pariicoarmcnie vivace SP1gziato O1gashynieo ed efficace said Tua after having highly comshymended Cassolas style

13

Borg a po r trait III oils the remarkable resemblance to the subject depicted renders this portrait a

treasured possession

Antoine Camilleri in his Paris landscape LA SEINE gives us another glimpse of his cosmopolishytan connections with living personalities in the realm of line arts and it is a pity that such a landscape has t o wither locally in a Paris E~ibition full marks could be expected Carbonarois BIMBO is some thing which proves Carbonaros study proshygress and better still is expected of him

E V Cremona is for me the accomplished artist wi th t he hand s of an angel and a phantasy creative in its realm on divine standards In SKETCH FOR A MURAL with the aooompanying finished scctio n there IS something grandiose which could glwce any place it is fixed on the colour scheme is a shining r ainbow and the gracefulness of the figures in the finished section could easily arouse Raffaello s envy The mosaics something new in modern Malta are of a remarkable finesse and one is bound to wonder why none of our monumental churches canshynot boast like St Peters of such WOMS of art Interested persons pjease note and try

Mrs L K Demajo Albanelse in THE BAY OF POSITANO gives us a kind of embroidery in colour very effective and wppealing in the other landscapes II glory in haziness is achieved with a very personal coour scheme which has in it a highly poetical touch

Paul M(lmo s use group study THE GOSSIPshyERS portrays with life like accuracy olle of the most valuable virtues of the Maltese and Gozitans as well a virtue so cheap that we could bottle it pound01 export On the other hand the Old Carrier shows us how stagnant our watets ale and how much life is needed to make us realise t hat we are living in a rock-n-roll age

Mrs Eliz(Lbeth Lemors portraits are more in the style of magazine coyers while The Madonna of the Premonition in its bizantine inspiration expresses much more than whlt is grasped at first sight

Last but not least come two very good sculptors Ignazio Gepoundai and Marco Montebello Cefai In

SOGNO gives us a reclining beautiful face more angellike t han human lost in a beatific contempla shytion of divine insight in itself a poetic inspiration towards heauty which gives to us humans samething of the divine Montebello MISSIERI is a masterpiece which should be kept at our national museum It is indeed a portrait Michelangiolesquc in its robust touches full of character and life a work in whioh the son has given to the father his very soul and could it but speak it would immediashytely say Thank you my son I may now live for

ever If only the prices were not too high and if the

SAMAC could lay aside its 20 commission this first permanent exhibition could also be a success eommercially as it is it is only an Ideal

CASSOLAS DRAMATIC ACTIVITIES

An Italian three-act play Whisky e pastashysciutta by Albert M Cassola has iained the SEGNALAZZIONE in a Drama Contest at Bologna The adjudicators described this Odyssey of a mixed marr iage amiddot being impostata e seriUa con sciolshytezz(I con un diaogo curioso e gustaso per cui 10- gt )Junto dei finti adulte7i non nuovo del tutto a)JpalC feieem ente portaJio it conclusione Tonino Micheluzzi playwright stage radio television and

~ fi lmmiddoto star a lso read the comedy and described it as diveltente c spiritosa con dialog7li eccel1enti Cftssola lL la vena umoristica e sa saggiamente iagliare de lle ~cene

This S3me actor defined as deliziosi atti umCI ch e l ussono benissimo j01mU1e spettacolo Cassolas plays 11 nenitente - molto succoso e scritto con ( lte - which wa s twice broadcast from the Radio del Monte Generi (Lugano) in the main evenlDg proshygramme and II dono di nozze which Carlo Micheshy

luzzi Toninos father considers as moUo g7azioso and g lIstosissimo Flattering opinions on Lhese plays were also expressed by other important theatre personalities and by llmiddotewsp aper critimiddotcs The Micheshyluzzis expressed the hope that the Maltese playwright would write one or more plays for their Company

In all Cassola who has won prizes a nd honotushyable mentions also in Maltese and Italian literary competitions has written one full length and three one-act plays in Itali an and all four were successful in Itaian drama eo ntests His name app ears in a small encyclopedia of playwrights published in Italy and to quote only from Italian sources we cull from a Roman paper the late Giacinto Tuas answer to his interviewer who asked how Malte se playwrights trea t their dialogue Alcuni eg legiamenie come n Cassoa c1l e e pariicoarmcnie vivace SP1gziato O1gashynieo ed efficace said Tua after having highly comshymended Cassolas style

13

PILATU Sliema 7Lh June 1057

Sil I wish to thank John Splicfr for defining Pilatu

as one of the interesting plays which formed part of the Rediffuion progrnmme in April last

May I point out however that the original text was not written by De Martino and Rugin but by De Martino and Rugiu The mistake though reshypeated seems insignificant at first sight but it is very eloquent inlsmuch as it proves that your pseudoshycritic condemner1 my translat ion without giving a glanec at the original text Splicer just copied the authors names from local publlcations in which Rugius name appeared erroneously as Rugin

I do not care for Spliecr opinion of my version a nd of my intepretation even if I dare not apply to ~nonymous writers like Splicer P ellegrinis appoelshylations of hodor viIi gmiddotwejjef Nor do I intend to refute Splicers other platitudes by following Pelleshygrinis vulgar counsel which appeared lately in IsshySeb~ I cannot fancy John Splicer imcappas that wny He stinks enough as he is

I note that in Splicer criticism in connexion with Pilatu I was - the only one mentiond I take iL that also in Splieers idea the r est of the cast were all good as in fact they were

Lhen is-Sewwa is an exeellenl Catholic paper but the plays occasionally publisherl in it are not ncc(s~arily m~sterpieees Otherwi~e V M Pellegrishynl plays would have to b~ eonlticlered as works of art On the other hand the RAI bloadeasts and Scenario pnblishes only the very best plays

I advise Splicer to pass his adverse rEmarks about the Italian script on to th~ authors Lhcrnselves and pos ibly to the RAl and to the Edi torill Board of 8cenario H bull

Pilatu is not a Tadio ])l~V bv De Martino and RlIgin translated produced an acted by A M Cas sola The plav by D e II1rtino and Rugiu is Pilato and obviously I translated Pilato not PiIntn Pilatu is th( translated version Nor did J act Pillltn Il milia play but only the title role MoreoveT neither did I pTOdu( the play It wa ~ ably plonueerl by l[i5S Lina Mahoney

Splicr cont(nd s that Peter n sti nov in Quo V1r1is W3 i universally eonrlemnc~cl It was mute lhe opposite But pers~nally I have got nothing to rio wilh Peter Ustinov even if in Is-Spbh among other prais( my interpretation was favourably eomshypllpd with Ustinovs role as Nero

For thlt malter I have nothing in common with that wickeu emperor either Does Splicer have

ALBERT l CASSOLA

SPLICER AND NOTARY V M PELLEGRINI

Sliema 7th June 1957 Sir

It is being said insistently that your critic Tohn Splic([ is the sam~ person as N tary V M Pel1egrini who is 0 nthe Rcdiffusion Drama Panel It is fUlther considered that on many oecas-iom Spjeer has eriticiz(d in an unorthodox way the very 51-me plays which he is supposed to peruse as a member or the Panel This opinion has been hinted a t also in a t least one vernacular DaDeI

Almost all playwrights actors- ~tc have come

14

IVO MUSCAT-AZZOPARDI Twieled iI -Belt fit-18 ta Dicembru 1893 - Dan

mhux il -mn ment Ii naghtu hjiel tal-hidma tieghu socjali u ghalhoekk nghidu biss Ii kemm dam Malta kif ukoll rna tul is-26 sena Ii ghadda fl-Ei6ttu (1919shy1916) u meta raga lura Malta ha sehem poundhapoundna Xirkiet u Ghaquiet Socjali u Kulturalij u ghall-iskop ta din il -bijografija qasira jehtieg nghidu biss Ii xi 50 -ena iln beda I-hidma tieghu t eatrali mal-Kumshypanija Les Amateurs Ii tagnha kien is-Segretarju u mexa dejjem irl icl mad-Direttur taghha l-wisq maghmf drammaturgu Giacinto Tua

Meta fil-1919 telaq ghal Lixandra hemm waqqaf il -Ghaqda Filodrammatika lVIaltija Icilio Calleja u meta fil-19J6 rag-a lura Mal ta issokta I-hiclma tieghu ghall -palk malti bhala President tal middotMalta Drama League 1hleth KOPTEM (Segretarju) u Diretshytill tal-Ghaqda Dilettanti Xandir Palk Malti

II-hidma tieghu bhala attur direttur irtakkatur ki ttieb u traduttur rna waqqpoundet qatt

Bhala kittieb ta min isemmi Ii l-ewwel bcejjec li eghu kitihhom bit-Taljall fosthom Amore Occulto Ii sal bslI(bess fitmiddot Teatro Melita fit -28 ta Awissu 1913

Ta min isemmi wkoll Ii l-ewwel bicca bil-Malti L~Akbar Imhabba saret hafna drabi fMalta Egittn BB C Iondra Tunis Kanada Amerika u Awstralja dejjem hsllccess u ghada sejra dejjem salshylum mit-twelid taghha fil-1938

B11a millmiddot hafna diskorsi patrijottici essays nOVcli hijografiji n rumanzi poliijeski ece Ii kiteh ta min isemmi li kiteh jew i ttraduca ghal Malti 51 bi(~ca leatlali fosthom 1() stampati

Xi bcejjee teatrali tioeghu gew maqluba millshyVfalti ghall-Francii minD Laurent Ropa

4 ta Gunju ]957

under Splicers fire but Notaly Pellegrinis works have been generally qUllified with such phrasmiddotes as those we quote herewlder from one single articleshy

translations full of pathos and depicled with masterly ~trokes in major and minor situations wi th a feeling goenuinely inspired The atmosphere i~ full of poetry exeellfnt translations

This is a question which does not concern only the author of Marcellino Hobi n Nbicl but also the anthor opound( say Marcellino fiobz u Gobon or thlt of II -Butil tal-Care In fact it concerns all lfalttse playwrights actms producers etc

We find it imperative that Notary Pellegrini musl dispmiddotel al1 smpicious by disclaiming any conshynexion wilh Tohn Snlicer of The Critic Otherwise there will bE seriolls (nh( for apprehension on the parl of local authors ete who are -doing their besL to colhborate with the Rfdliffusion Panel

We an convinced Mr Editor of your inLegriLy all1f~arlt sll~e lh~ you will allow no untrue sta tements 10 appear in yogt Magazine

Yours trulyiJ Y~~ AUTHORS ACTORS Etcl Qgt ~S2imiddotry ~ ~ I 1 ~

~~- (~- $ERIC