Diskussjoni:Bice Mizzi

Link għal Bice Mizzi - https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/bice-mizzi-vassallo-piano-prodigy.345527

Bice Mizzi Vassallo biography

Bice Mizzi Vassallo (born 11th November 1899 – deceased 22nd February 1985) was a Maltese pianist.

Bice Mizzi Vassallo is considered to have been one of the most talented pianists of her generation. She started her studies under the tutorage of her father, the renowned composer Paolino Vassallo. Her father was a very important driving force in her musical career. Under her dad’s direction, she studied both the piano and violin. However, as her father had already warned her, she eventually had to make a choice between the two. She chose the piano over the violin, though she still nourished a great love for the violin. She was entirely committed to her art, and it quickly became apparent that she possessed outstanding talent.

Her first notable performance was in May 1909, where she performed a classical music recital at the Manoel Theatre. This performance was under the patronage of the Archbishop of Malta, Mgr Pietro Pace and it was organised in aid of the Sisters of St Joseph, Sliema.

Her next concert, also performed at the Manoel Theatre, was in aid of the Valletta Society of St Vincent de Paul. This concert too was under distinguished patronage.

In June 1911, at the age of 11, she gave one of the most remarkable performances of her career, when she performed at the Bellini Conservatorio in Palermo. One of the people present in the audience was the Princess of Casalreale. The critic from Milan’s Rassegna Melodrammatica, who was in attendance on the night, gave the following critique about the concert: “A concert has been held in the Scarlatti Hall of the Royal Conservatorio of Music in Palermo, in which the protagonist was 11-year old Bice Vassallo of Malta. She has been described as a true prodigy of the piano. The distinguished if diffident audience gave her full honours of a complete triumph”.

In 1912, she performed at the Royal Opera House in Valletta and in 1923, the same year she lost her father, she gave a successful recital at Wigmore Hall in Floriana.

Another mentionable performance was the one she gave in 1952 at the University Hall at the Phoenicia Hotel in Floriana.

In 1926, Bice Mizzi Vassallo married Enrico Mizzi (a.ka. Nerik Mizzi), the then leader of the Nationalist party. Her husband went on to become Prime Minister of Malta in 1950, but this only lasted a few months, since he passed away just a few months after that same year.

Bice and Enrico Mizzi had a son in 1927 and named him Fortunat (1927-2017), after Enrico’s father, Fortunato Mizzi (1844-1905). Fortunat Mizzi (a.k.a. Natalino) was ordained a priest in 1952 and later, in 1955, founded the Moviment Azzjoni Socjali (MAS).

Bice and her son passed through trying times during their life. In 1940, when talk of the involvement of Malta in World War II was brewing, her husband Enrico was arrested, for allegedly having Italian sympathies, and interned at Fort Salvatore, Kordin and then was transferred to St Agatha’s in Rabat. There was a time when she and her son would be walking through the streets in Rabat, when visiting Enrico, while being hurled with verbal insults and pelted with potato peels and eggshells. In February 1942, the then Governor of Malta, Governor Dobbie, took out a warrant to illegally deport Mizzi, together with another 47 Maltese nationals, to Uganda. It wasn’t until 1945 that finally the group of exiles was allowed back into the county. Her husband quickly re-entered politics and was elected as Prime minister at the 1950 elections which took place between the 2nd and 4th September. Sadly, this success was short-lived, since he passed away less than 4 months later on the 20th December 1950 at the age of 65. He was given a state funeral and to this date, he is the only Prime Minister to have died in office.

Throughout her life, Bice, was determined to never divert her husband’s attention from his mission at the service of the nation. As she had done with her husband, she then dedicated herself to her son’s priestly and social calling. This was at a time when the Maltese islands were passing though the greatest post-war challenges.

Bice Mizzi Vassallo devoted herself to teaching in later years. She taught with great enthusiasm and tutored some of the country’s best pianists. Teaching piano was especially important as a means of earning an income, especially after the death of her husband in 1950. Her husband died penniless and it took some time for her to be granted her husband’s government pension. A school friend of her son Fortunat, Joe Felice Pace, who would join them often for lunch on school days, described Bice as a woman of steel with a heart of gold, who dedicated her life entirely to her family, dedicating herself to their endeavours completely, putting aside her career doing so. Felice Pace also recalled an instance when she was invited to give a number of concerts abroad in the late 1960s. After dwelling on this for quite a long time, she finally declined the invitation because she felt she could not leave her son alone for a fortnight, since she was worried that this would interfere with his mission. He also recalled that her days consisted of giving piano lessons in the morning and then would play for her own pleasure between noon and 12:30pm, most notably Chopin, who was her favourite composer. She would then stop for lunch and was joined in the kitchen by him and her son Fortunat. She would then resume her lessons in the afternoon.

Bice Mizzi Vassallo passed away on the 22nd February 1985 at the age of 85. In 1987, the National Council of Women instituted a prestigious music competition in her honour. The competition takes place every 2 years and has run uninterruptedly ever since it was established.

The state primary school in Pembroke was also named after her ‘Bice Mizzi Vassallo Primary’.

A street in Santa Lucija was also named after her.

References:

https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/bice-the-woman-behind-nerik-mizzi.344744 https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/bice-mizzi-vassallo-piano-prodigy.345527 http://www.ncwmalta.com/forthcomingeventsinaidofthebmv?l=1