I remember Cynthia Turner's concert at San Anton Palace in October 2011. She told me as we were all having drinks afterwards, that this would be her last public performance and she was doing it for her grandchildren. "The triplets have been asking me 'When are you going to give a concert?' and I must admit that I had not intended to perform in public anymore, but when this occasion arose I decided to please them and myself as well, as deep down I always wished to perform this Quintet again. So, it all fell into place." Together with the Anon String Quartet they played Schumann's Piano Quintet Op. 44 that evening.

An undated photo with Cynthia are Anne Borg, Lucia Micallef and Karen Briscoe White

Clara Schumann, who according to Edvard Grieg was 'One of the most soulful and famous pianists of the day,' wife of the composer and the mother of his eight children performed it for the first time. It was such a huge success that she decided to repeat the performance but she fell ill and Mendelsohn played it 'at sight' instead. This last gem was passed on to me by Cynthia when I called her up the day after the concert. She also told me that she had played this Piano Quintet several times over the years, the first time with the Razumovski String Quarter at the Phoenicia Ballroom 'many years ago, maybe 18 years'.

Flowers from grand daughter Mishka

I remember there being more personalities than usual in the audience that evening. Maestro Sammut was present and of course Cynthia Turner's husband Tony Caruana and four of their five grandchildren, three of them Mischka, Michael and James, the 13-year-old triplets, the children of Nicholas Caruana and Deborah McNamara, the well known choreographer and dancer. Cynthia and Tony's younger son Christopher who is married to Mary Anne Bernard were there with their son Philip.

I have pleasant memories of Cynthia Turner which go back to my very young days when she lived in Dingli street. She regularly passed by our house with her then boyfriend Tony Caruana as they were walking his dog to the seafront. We knew who it was as my mother had told us. We were all learning the piano at the time and I held her in awe.

In my mind Cynthia and Tony were a Golden Couple. It was mostly cassocked Salesian priests and Dun Karm who walked down Upper Victoria Terrace, our road, and on occasion Princess Nathalie Poutiatine with her husband.

Even in the most casual clothes Cynthia looked elegant and at ease.

The pianist and violinist Nadya Debono silently thank a delighted audience

When we are young we absorb a great deal.  We like people or we don't, often taking a dislike to them for no particular reason. I have many categories of "insufferables" and the list keeps on growing.  But my list of people I like, even if I barely know them, is longer. Cynthia Caruana Turner has always been on that list.

She was born with star qualities and developed them until she reached icon status. Few are those in Malta who did not know she existed and that she was a pianist with a fine international reputation.

As time passed I began attending concerts at the Manoel Theatre and the Malta Cultural Institute.  I have always believed that a concert is a show and it should be a feast for the eyes as well as the ears. Cynthia always rose to the occasion: dignified, stately and always perfectly dressed, mesmerizing us with her music. I believe many of her fans attended these concerts not only to hear her music but also to watch her play it, too.

More flowers for granny from James

She sometimes came to the Exiles with her two sons to whom she spoke in French. As is well-known she also studied in France under the eminent composer-pianist, Francis Poulenc who had dedicated one of his works to her.

Many years later when destiny returned me to Malta I met her on and off at receptions and had interviewed her at least a couple of times.  We eventually began to exchange emails and she had told me that she was too old to retire and for how long can one sit on a bench in the sun and that she had begun teaching masterclasses. The last time we met was a handful of years ago when she invited me to their flat in Tower Road as a French cultural attachée who had been in Malta some years before was returning for a short holiday and Cynthia had organised a small drinks party.  That was the last time we met.

I certainly cannot claim that she was a friend. She was a much respected pianist and I was one of her many fans. She did not cultivate the media. She certainly never called me up for an interview. She did not need me. I needed her as newspapers and magazines thrive on interesting people. She was a natural. She had great style and was open and direct. She could have been a star of the silent age. She was a combination of grit and gentleness and had poise. You cannot imagine her nerves ever cracking.  She was one of the few women of her generation who had shown an up-to-date wish not to live merely as an appendage of her husband. And here I would like to take off my hat to Tony for allowing her to follow her wishes and not shut her up in a gilded cage.

It is talent and sheer hard work that have marked her progress to the top; tenacity, will power and musical intelligence. 

She did what she liked and thereby created enjoyment both for herself and others.

She was part of my landscape, and now another piece has gone missing from life's rich tapestry.

Every death is a moral blow and to her family I send my condolences. We are lucky to have known one of life's enhancers. She is resting in peace.

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