Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1476201
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 14 AUGUST 2022 2 THE Q&A MARCO MENCOBONI BY LAURA CALLEJA suggestions by email lcalleja@mediatoday.com.mt Marco Mencoboni is a harpsichordist, organist, conductor born in the Macerata (Marche Region). He treated music as a soloist, conductor, record producer, f ilm producer, actor and writer. He has been in charge of the Monteverdi Project in Malta since 2017. Today he performs regularly as a performer and conductor all over the world. What's the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning? I kiss my wife. What is the best advice you've ever received? To not anticipate the outcome of my actions. What do you never leave the house without? My phone. Pick three words that describe yourself Messy, ironic, gentle. What do you consider to be your greatest achieve- ment? My family. What is your guiltiest pleasure? Smoking cigars. What is the most important lesson life has taught you? Counting to six before reacting on impulse. Property and cars aside what's the most expensive thing you've ever bought? My harpsichord. What is one thing you wish you knew when you were younger? That it would be important to spend more time with my parents. Who's your inspiration? Beauty. What has been your biggest challenge? Hiding a person in the car and escaping the DDR (East Germany). If you weren't a musician, what would you be doing? It would be something to do with cooking. Do you believe in God? Yes. If you could have dinner with any person, dead or alive, who would it be? My father. What's your worst habit? Forgetting my things everywhere. What are you like when you're drunk? I have been drunk only a couple of times, and that was too many years ago, so I don't remember. What is the trait you most deplore in others? Arrogance. What music would you have played at your funeral? One of the last Beethoven quartets. What is your most treasured material possession? My country house. What is your earliest memory? My mother chasing after me for food. When did you last cry, and why? A few days ago, for the passing of a good friend. Who would you most like to meet? Bruce Springsteen. What's your favourite food? Fish. Who's your favourite person on social media right now? Elon Musk. If you could travel in time, where would you go? To listen to Johann Sebastian Bach playing. What book are you reading right now? La Sanseverino by Gigliola Fragnito. If you could have any superpower, what would it be? Batman. What's one thing you want to do before you die? Travel all around the world for one year. What music are you listening to at the moment? Symphonic Dances, Op. 45 by Sergei Rachmaninoff. In the shower or when you're working out, what do you sing/listen to? Music being my job, I stay in silence.