Customer Reviews

Joseph Calleja - Tenor Arias

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As I read David's comments I realized I strongly disagree with his views. I should explain one thing to those who think about Joseph's vibrato as a fault. His voice is healthily produced and his vibrato is one of the most correct ones, nowadays, a product of a proper balancing of registers (three registers according to Paul Asciak's line of teaching). Maybe it will settle down a little bit but the thing is that right now is healthy. There are two things to consider, a proper vibrato should vary between 5.5 - 7 pulses per second and then there is the oscillation rate which must not be too wide or it will spread. What you David describe as a "pronounced vibrato" or "quiver" is what I understand as a "tremolo" which is characterized by faster pulses than the average and a variation of the volume - only registered by machines. And it can be the result of too much breath pressure. This is not the case of Joseph's vibrato which is consistent through all his registers. The wobble, is a slower rate of pulses is what we are used to nowadays and THAT is, in my opinion, the reason that ears of todays listeners automatically asses a faster than TODAY's average vibrato as faulty.

A voice freely produced wich reminds me of the tenors of the past, a correct vibrato, a beautiful timbre and a great legato. Calleja is THE tenor for the next years to come, no doubt. And this record is a "must have".

Regards,

Diego.

Having watched the DVD of Donizetti's Maria Stuarda, where Joseph Calleja sang the part of Leicester, I was so struck with his performance that I immediately ordered this CD from Amazon UK. As Leicester he turns in a mellifluous performance, one which remains longer in the memory than those of the two powerful female protagonists, despite their histrionic skill and imposing stage presence.

This CD more than confirms my first impression, that here we have a voice that echoes from an age that one thought had passed for ever. Although one is reminded of the younger Pavarotti here and there, the sheer elegance of his voice is also reminiscent of Gigli and Ferruccio Tagliavini, whom I am sure he has also studied.

His fast vibrato may sound a little old fashioned on first hearing but he uses it to perfection in the Macbeth and Lucia arias, where it serves to communicate a profound sense of loss and inner grief, nor does it disturb the legato line, for instance in the superb "Quanto e Bella". He can also be extremely nimble, carelessly throwing off his phrases in " Questa o quella", as if to the manner born. Elsewhere one notices a rock steady middle register coupled with a seemingly effortless control of dynamics and skill in phrasing, so apparent when comparing Calleja with the young Domingo, from the "definitive" Kleiber Traviata, who sounds so laboured by comparison. And all this from a man of only 26, who actually sang Macduff at the tender age of 19 - unbelievable but true. One can only hope that he will provide us with more recordings over the coming months, perhaps drawing on the operas of Bellini (we certainly need a new Sonnambula), Massanet, and Mozart, where his voice truly belongs. There need be no fears, either, that he will squander his gifts by taking on the heavier roles that could so damage a voice such as his. He clearly operates within his capacity without stretching the limits, hence his one safe venture on this CD into Pinkerton, with the less taxing but deeply moving "Adio".

The recording itself is blessed with a fine conductor in Chailly, who also provides him with a soprano, bass and chorus, the latter, though perhaps a little too bland in the Rigoletto excerpt, nevertheless providing a useful bridge to the Duke's "Possente amor" and its repeat, an item that is often unaccountably missed in the opera house and in recordings.

Are there any disappointments here? Only one. We could have done with more than the 57 minutes, with perhaps fifteen minutes more from his repertoire - for instance his Leicester in Maria Stuarda.

It has to be noted that Calleja is a native of Malta - a small Mediterranean island with a fine operatic tradition, amply evidenced at their music festivals and opera productions which I have attended over the years. He further enhances its reputation as a cradle for fine singers which have included his teacher Paul Asciak who sang regularly at Covent Garden; and then, from the same period, the tenor Oreste Kirkop who followed the same path to America until retiring through ill health. The soprano Miriam Gauci enjoys international fame. We also have the dramatic soprano Antoinette Miggiani from the 'sixties and her pupil Lydia Caruana, a soprano currently active throughout Italy and the rest of Europe. Not bad, eh? - from an island with a population of less than 400,000, equal to that of, say, a small English town.

I recommend this recording unreservedly. Buy it.

I was immediately struck by the sheer beauty of Calleja's tenor, which is given an additional frisson by the fast, shallow vibrato, just enough to make the sound "electric.". May he not lose it! To me the sheer sound of the voice, with its beautiful texture, sounds like a vocally superior Alfredo Kraus. If I were to be hypercritical, I might notice that to my ear the upper register could use a further bit of development, as the voice sometimes sounds a bit uncomfortable above the staff, but even to mention this overstates the case and I notice that no other reviewer has mentioned such a problem.
This is one of the rare albums that one can put on permanent repeat and listen to all day long. I recommend it without reservation to all who delight in a beautiful and distinctive voice.

After the sensational debuts at various opera houses in the both Europe and USA, comes the debut solo recital album of the young maltese tenor Joseph Calleja. Many of the items on this disc are from operas Calleja has already sung on stage. His voice is lyrical, Italiante and surprisingly mature for such a young age. He is also a versatile tenor - Calleja colors each aria with an individual mood according to the character he portrays. Macduff's aria `Ah, la paterna mano' brought tears to my eyes. Another touching aria is Federico's lament from L'Arlesiana.
I am looking forward for more albums from Calleja.

I received this new recording on SACD today and I must have played it about ten times already. Joseph Calleja has a exciting, virile voice, refreshingly different, with a timbre that reminds us of famous tenors of yesteryear. He has a surprisingly mature presentation for such a young man. I especially enjoyed his arias from La Traviata and Lucia.

Every now and then there is a moment which can benefit from slightly more care and insight, but one must remember that he is only 24! Most singers only reach their prime in their mid thirties but it is always very exciting to hear a young artist in the first flourish of his career. This young artist definitely has a wonderful future.

If there is going to be a next "three tenors", I want to predict that Joseph Calleja will definitely be one of them. I will be watching his career with great interest.

The recorded sound is excellent, well up to Decca's high standards. The SACD version is also one of the better examples of this new medium.

I am amazed by this guy's voice. I simply love the way he sings. At his young age, he has very complicated technical stuff quite solved, and he sings with taste and style.
Perfect, he is not, and most probably he will never be (has there ever been a perfect singer?? well.. no!), and he has many years to keep developing, and who can tell how will his voice grow, but he is already a wonderful tenor, suited mostly for bel canto and lyrical roles, yet he takes an aria like "la dolcissima effigie" and makes magic of it, with delightful phrasing, shading... his musical and interpretative instincts are wonderful.
Some of his interpretative concepts (and some aspects of the voice production itself) make us think of those tenors coming from the tradition of 19th century bel canto (think of De Lucia, Bonci, Marconi...), but taken alive and fresh into the 21st one. For example, instead of an aspirated vowel or a sob, he offers a musical effect, like a diminuendo, a different color... He plays a little bit with rythms in the way he phrases (as much as possible nowadays - of course, it is impossible today to take the liberties that De Lucia would take), and his renditions are usually full of beauty and poetry (allowed by a technique which is good enogh as to give freedom to build those magic and enchanting renditions, of course).
A fantastic CD. Joseph Calleja is, in my view, one of the great tenors we have today.

This review will appear in the August 1st edition of OperaOnline.us
My comments about this latest lyric tenor entry into the field are the same as I have stated in the past: tenors need to be very selective of the music they perform on CD. A recording studio is not a music hall and the years of training that go into learning how to project one's voice above an orchestra out into an audience work against tenors particularly when they sing to their microphone as if it's the Met stage. Joseph Calleja has a fine tenor voice and the natural accent for the songs performed. Accompanied by the Orchestra Sinfonica e Caro di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, Riccardo Chailly conducting, in a series of sections from some of the most popular operas, Calleja takes us nicely through selections without crossing the above referenced line of tolerability too often - but it is crossed occasionally. Why the critique? Well, the object here is to listen to the music, preferably with someone who also enjoys opera, without having to keep reaching for the volume control. To balance the tenor voice there needs to be a melding of orchestra, chorus and singer enough to eliminate a case of the "tenor sames". This CD succeeds in achieving that balance [note how it is achieved in cut 11s selections from "Lucia di Lammermoor"] and because of that I would recommend it for those who enjoy the tenor voice. Interestingly, the final three pieces which, according to the productions notes, are not on Calleja's foreseeable repertoire are some of his best: Federico's lament from Cilea's "L'arlesiana"; young Maurizio's declaration of love to the French actress in "La dolcissima effigie"; and the "Addio fiorito asil" from Puccini's "Madama Butterfly" They slow the pace some, and give a nice reprieve. Calleja should consider more of these selections; his voice has fine timbre a pleasant rhythm and extraordinary range. Too bad the recording company works against the singer by releasing quality discs like this in formats that are inhospitable to full use.

If this fellow lives up to his promise God alone knows where he is going. On first hearing I thought I was listening to McCormack as he must have sounded at that age. In listening to tenors for over fifty years that is the first time anyone has so reminded me. I just cannot wait to hear him in Handel and Mozart and please, a little bit of Franz Peter now and again, if that is not too much to ask

Hearing some of this on my local NPR station, I really thought for a moment that I was hearing one of Jussi Bjorling's later recordings! As with Bjorling, the control and the phrasing are
powerful - every choice Calleja makes is dramatically cogent. He's certainly one of the best new tenors I've heard in quite some time. The accompaniment is equally fine - Chailly, of course, is first and foremost an opera conductor par excellence
(if you've not heard his "William Tell" with Pavarotti, I can't praise and recommend it highly enough), and his work here - especially in the Verdi - is lean, supple, and idomatic. A superb disc.

Joseph Calleja is a great blast from the past with an already established style and with a charming highly personal timbre. It is certainly true the voice wasn't fully mature when recorded for this album, equally true it is that the style, grace and obvious potential already in abudance in such a young tenor is amazing. It is because of these great qualities I regard the maturity factor a firstly evident and secondly unimportant detail!

'Dei miei bollenti spiriti' is sung with great lyricism, 'Addio fiorito asil' is hauntingly beautiful, and 'La dolcissima effige' couples out of this world legato with great excitement for one of the greatest rendition I heard of the aria.

I have heard the voice life and he has matured a lot in two years, and allthough this will be a lyrical tenor at heart, it is clear he is building up cutting power, and quite surprisingly he cut through orchestra and choir through(oftenly skipped in productions) the cabaletta 'Possente amor mi chiama' in Rigoletto. Besides that, singing live he carries his great legato through, good vocal acting - excellent modulation. He pulls off diminuendo's live like the great Corelli or Di stefano, seamless and beautiful.

Advice: Buy it!