Amazon.com: The Maltese Tenor: Joseph Calleja, Marco Armiliato, L�Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Alexsandra Kurzak, Ch�ur d�hommes du Grand Th��tre de Gen�v, Ching-Lien Wu: Music

JOSEPH CALLEJA - THE MALTESE TENOR It was summer 2010, and Joseph Calleja was making his role debut as Gabriele Adorno in Verdi's Simon Boccanegra. The house was Covent Garden in London, and his co-stars included a certain Plácido Domingo, now singing the baritone title-role. Joseph Calleja had planned to study the challenging role of Adorno during the previous summer, but had lost that time preparing for another new role, Offenbach's Hoffmann, which he had taken on at the Metropolitan Opera in New York after another tenor withdrew. "So, contrary to all my principles, I studied Adorno for just two weeks before I came to London", Joseph Calleja explains, laughing. "I had no other time. But the voice was telling me it was ready for new things. And the minute I started on the piece, it just fitted into the voice as if I had been singing it for ten years. It was really one of those instances when it all just works." The critics enthusiastically agreed: plaudits for Joseph Calleja not only matched those for Plácido Domingo himself, but in some cases even came close to exceeding them. It's a story that doesn't just attest Joseph Calleja's increasing prominence on the world operatic stage, but also his development as a dramatic artist. It's now five years since the Maltese singer recorded his last recital album, The Golden Voice (a follow-up to 2004's Tenor Arias) - a long time to be away from the studio. "Back then I was an extremely young artist to be recording CDs at all", he replies. "Of course I enjoyed the success, but I also had a long way to go. What's changed is that I'm much more in control of my vocal facility and I have a maturity which only time on stage can bring to one's art. If you know the role inside out, then you can find the right nuances and inflection much more easily." So one way into The Maltese Tenor is through the roles that Joseph Calleja now knows from the immediacy of live performance. There is, of course, Adorno's aria "Sento avvampar nell'anima", a late addition to the album, but one that Joseph Calleja felt was indispensable after his London triumph. It is still rarely performed outside of complete performances of the opera. "But any self-respecting tenor with a good voice should make it a show-stopper, because it's so beautifully written." Hoffmann is here too, as part of a quartet of French heroes that also includes Massenet's des Grieux (from Manon), Gounod's Faust and, in a languorous duet with another Decca artist, the Polish soprano Aleksandra Kurzak, the lovesick fisherman Nadir in Bizet's Les Pêcheurs de perles. "The next four to five years are ideal for me to explore these full lyric French roles", Joseph Calleja explains. "There are so many opinions about what the `French style' really is. The consensus is that the French line gives you less room to manoeuvre, to do your own thing as a singer. But the way I see it is through the Italian bel canto style. It's what I try to do with Hoffmann, particularly in the middle of his chanson, which is more lyrical." In the celebrated "Salut, demeure chaste et pure!" from Faust, meanwhile - a role Joseph Calleja has sung in Berlin and would love to reprise - the challenge is to give fresh spontaneity to one of opera's hit numbers. "This aria is sung so much in concert that one tends to forget about what's in the text, what the aria means in context." The Pearl Fishers duet, too, followed live concert performances in Frankfurt. "At the end of the evening there was a thirty-minute standing ovation . . . so I thought I had to include that duet on the album." A stronger dramatic take on these arias hasn't diluted Joseph Calleja's fidelity to that bel canto style. It's one reason why his voice has often been described as "old-fashioned": grace and elegance matched to a timbre that's lighter than that of many other tenors of Joseph Calleja's generation and flecked by a rapid, persistent vibrato. Early on in Joseph Calleja's career, some found that intrusive. "For a period of time, my vibrato was very, very fast", Joseph Calleja concedes. "But people fail to mention or think about how old I was at the time. If you listen to very early recordings of Jussi Björling, Enrico Caruso or Giuseppe di Stefano, they all have it. Eventually it settles down and matures." Joseph Calleja grew up soaked in the golden voices of the twentieth century and won't be lectured on what they did or didn't do to keep their voices in peak condition: listening to their recordings was a cornerstone of his studies in Malta with his childhood mentor, the tenor-turned-teacher Paul Asciak. "He sang concerts with Tito Schipa, he was friends with Franco Corelli . . . what he gave me is really the way they used to do things back then, based on listening to the old recordings. Some people say that when they're preparing a new role they don't listen to anybody else. I can understand that, but I don't accept it! If you don't listen to what your predecessors did before you, it's like being a leaf on a tree and not knowing which tree you're on." The old masters will be Joseph Calleja's guide as he tackles the bigger, meatier Italian repertoire, too. It's a new direction in The Maltese Tenor: not just Puccini's La bohème, but Tosca and Manon Lescaut, too; Verdi, aside from Boccanegra, is represented by the more spinto (literally: pushed) operas Un ballo in maschera and Luisa Miller. Some would call Boito's version of the Faust story, Mefistofele, from which Joseph Calleja sings the winsome "Dai campi, dai prati" and "Giunto sul passo estremo", another step up altogether on the ladder to the big dramatic repertoire. "The voice should tell the singer by itself when it's time to move on from La bohème or Lucia di Lammermoor to this repertoire", Joseph Calleja observes. "Mefistofele and Un ballo in maschera in particular are both beautifully written, they're all on the breath and the approach is still bel canto. Just because it's Verdi doesn't mean you have to shout your way through it." You could call this the wisdom of the more mature Maltese tenor. Or, if you're Joseph Calleja, you might simply call it gut instinct. "I'm sorry I haven't anything more intellectual to offer you", he laughs, by way of apology. "But I just want to sing as beautifully as possible - without losing my commitment to the work." Neil Fisher

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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

A TALENTED TENOR COMES INTO HIS PRIME October 27, 2011

By Gregory B. Mowery

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

THE MALTESE TENOR may be a collection of mostly overly familiar arias, but in the hands of a young master such as Joseph Calleja, they sound newly minted. The previous reviewer compared him mostly to Jussi Bjoerling, and I would agree, however, Calleja voice is a bit silkier without the overlay of brightness that could put me off of Bjoerling's recorded output (memo to Bjoerling lovers--I love him too). What this recording cannot do is demonstrate the size of this young voice. When I heard him sing at the Met, I was really impressed at how big his tenor truly is. It's been nearly a decade since he first appeared on the scene, and Calleja has continued to refine is already excellent technique. You can appreciate the light and shade he brings to each piece. The aria from FAUST is a perfect example--there's an impressive diminuendo on the top C. In "Ah fuyez, douce image," from Massenet's MANON, Calleja mixes passion with elegance and vocal finesse. His spinning vibrato is an added expressive feature of his singing and it's captivating. His voice doesn't ping at the top, yet there's no loss of excitement. Both TOSCA arias demonstrate his fine musical phrasing.

Calleja is joined by the fast-rising Polish soprano, Alexsandra Kurzak in duets from LA BOHEME and THE PEARL FISHERS. She caps Mimi and Rodolfo's Act I duet with a lovely piano Top C, and for once, we get the tenor moving down to the score pitch. Rarely since Caballe's etherereal C in her recording with Domingo have we been treated to Puccini's written ending and the effect is magical. Kurzak's pointed by warm singing matches Calleaja's in extended PEARL FISHERS duet, and they sing and act beautifully together.

Marco Armialiato conducts the L'orcheste de la Suisse Romande well, being an attentive and expressive partner. This is one of the more winning recently recorded opera recitals. Calleja is one of our most gifted tenors, and it will be a pleasure to follow his blossoming career. Here is a tenor who sing truly with his head and his heart, and it says much about his abilities as a singer that allows him to make this well-explored repertoire sound utterly fresh.

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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

The tenor I've been waiting for! October 30, 2011

By M. Barnes

I was stunned when I first heard J. Calleja with the Metropolitan Opera. I was entranced, utterly "carried away". I could provide a faux knowledgable opinion of his voice characteristics, but that's been done many times--with lots of conflicting opinions! I just FEEL that he is potentially the next truly great tenor--the greatest one in my lifetime (59 years). I realize that he could still ruin his voice--or that it might change in some unflattering way--but I'm counting on him learning from others' mistakes.

NPR had a recording of the album that was available for listening until the album was released. I sent it to several other opera savvy friends and, without exception, they also became strong Calleja fans. One individual, whose knowledge I greatly expect, sent me an email saying "Wow!! I thought I was listening to Caruso, only a little better on pitch." I'm not sure whether Mr. Calleja is quite there yet--but I hear the potential!

I try never to be a critic. I've found that the critical approach impairs my enjoyment of a number of things. But it was awfully easy for me not to be critical of this album at all. There are too many remarkable performances in it for me to pay attention to negatives. I am truly joyful to be able to experience Mr. Calleja's work.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

A golden voice that should grow a little brighter with maturity October 27, 2011

By Storylover TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

Joseph Calleja is a golden voiced young tenor; he reminds me of no one so much as a young Jussi Bjorling in his glorious, sensuous, glittering tone. He has that wonderful vibrato--a little faster and lighter than we hear so typically today--that made me feel like I was stepping back in time to the recordings of the 40's or 50's, but of course with far better recording techniques. His Italian arias are wonderful; I've never been a big fan of Hoffmann, but I was able to get through these without issue. If you are in the market for a disc of beautifully sung opera bon-bons, then this is a great treat.

Now that I've said the wonderful things that I wish to say, I want to offer a few caveats. I gave this five stars, because I wanted a)to make sure that this wonderful young tenor is not penalized for inhabiting the classics and b)because his singing is really magnificent. That said and emphasized, this is very very over-utilized repertoire overall. Yes, he has included a few lesser known arias, but by and large, these all get the concert hall treatment far too often. I absolutely am chomping at the bit to hear a young talent of the caliber of Joseph Calleja to bring that amazing voice to something a little less known or a little more modern. I'm giving this disc its well deserved due for what it is, but pleading for him and others like him to give some lesser known composers, or even lesser known arias from big composers, a little more attention.

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