Calleja’s “The Maltese Tenor” debuts at No. 1

The Maltese Tenor, Joseph Calleja’s third solo album for Decca, debuted today in the top position on the Billboard Classical Traditional chart in the U.S. The news comes on the heels of the album’s equally auspicious debut in Europe, where it claimed the number one spot on the specialist classical chart in the UK and was the top seller in the classical vocal category in Germany. Last week, the 33-year-old tenor celebrated the U.S. release of his new recording with a concert – “Joseph Calleja and Friends” – at New York City’s (Le) Poisson Rouge that was webcast live by NPR Music. There Calleja, accompanied by a chamber orchestra led by conductor Steven Mercurio, was joined by special guests Daniel Hope (violin), Luca Pisaroni (bass-baritone), and Katie Van Kooten (soprano). Together they performed a program of operatic favorites – several of which are featured on the new album. The concert is now available for on-demand streaming (both audio and video) on the NPR Music web site.
 
Reviewing the concert at the downtown Village venue, the New York Times wrote that “[Calleja’s] voice has recently matured into an impressive instrument with a fast, distinctive vibrato; gleaming high notes; and glowing timbre.” And in a recent piece on NPR’s popular news program Morning Edition, Tom Huizenga reported that “the sound of the ‘golden age’ is alive in the voice of tenor Joseph Calleja … He’s a young singer with an old-school sensibility.”
 
Having charmed U.S. audiences both on stage and on disc, the Maltese tenor returns to Europe in November to give concerts (featuring repertoire from his recording) in Paris (Nov 7), Munich (Nov 21), and Vienna (Nov 23). He is also a soloist in Verdi’s Requiem in Cologne, and on December 8 he sings in the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Stockholm, which will be televised internationally. New Yorkers will next be able to see Calleja in January, when he stars in the title role of a new production of Faust at the Metropolitan Opera.
 
 
 
The Maltese Tenor
Decca
U.S. release: Oct 24, 2011
 
Joseph Calleja, tenor
L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Marco Armiliato, conductor
 
Track list:
 
Puccini: La bohème
1. Act I, Aria: “Che gelida manina” (Rodolfo)
2. Act I, Duet: “O soave fanciulla” (Rodolfo, Mimì) [with Aleksandra Kurzak, soprano]
 
Giuseppe Verdi: Simon Boccanegra
3. Act II, Scena and Aria: “O inferno! Amelia qui! – Sento avvampar nell’anima” (Gabriele)
 
Jacques Offenbach: Les Contes d’Hoffmann
4. Act I: “Il était une fois à la cour d’Eisenach” (Hoffmann) [with Choeur d’hommes du Grand Théatre de Genève / Ching-Lien Wu] 
Giacomo Puccini: Tosca
5. Act I, Aria: “Recondita armonia” (Cavaradossi)
6. Act III, Aria: “E lucevan le stelle” (Cavaradossi)
 
Arrigo Boito: Mefistofele
7. Act I, Romanza: “Dai campi, dai prati” (Faust)
8. Epilogo, Romanza: “Giunto sul passo estremo” (Faust)
 
Charles Gounod: Faust
9. Act III, Cavatina: “Salut, demeure chaste et pure!” (Faust)
 
Giacomo Puccini: Manon Lescaut
10. Act I, Aria: “Tra voi, belle, brune e bionde” (des Grieux)
11. Act I, Aria: “Donna non vidi mai” (des Grieux)
 
Jules Massenet: Manon
12. Act III, Aria: “Ah! fuyez, douce image!” (des Grieux)
 
Giuseppe Verdi: Luisa Miller
13. Act II, Scena ed Aria: “Oh! fede negar potessi – Quando le sere al placido” (Rodolfo)
 
Giuseppe Verdi: Un ballo in maschera
14. Act III, Romanza: “Ma se m’è forza perderti” (Riccardo)
 
Georges Bizet: Les pecheurs de perles
15. Act II, Chanson et Duo: “De mon amie, fleur endormie – Leïla, Leïla! Dieu puissant” (Nadir, Leïla) [with Aleksandra Kurzak] 
 
Joseph Calleja: 2011-12 engagements
 
Nov 7
Paris, France
Salle Pleyel
Concert: The Maltese Tenor
 
Nov 13, 16, & 19
Cologne, Germany
Cologne Opera
Verdi: Requiem
 
Nov 21
Munich, Germany
Prinzregententheater
Concert: The Maltese Tenor
 
Nov 23
Vienna, Austria
Wiener Konzerthaus
Concert: The Maltese Tenor
 
Dec 8
Stockholm, Sweden
Stockholm Concert Hall
Nobel Prize Concert
 
Dec 19 & 22
Berlin, Germany
Deutsche Oper Berlin
Bizet: The Pearl Fishers (Nadir)
 
Jan 5, 9, 13, 16, & 19 (2012)
New York, NY
Metropolitan Opera
Gounod: Faust (title role)
 
Feb 1, 5, 9, & 13
Munich, Germany
Bayerische Staatsoper
Donizetti: Roberto Devereux (title role)
 
March 11 & 12
Frankfurt, Germany
Frankfurt Alte Oper
Mascagni: L’amico Fritz (title role)
 
April 30; May 3, 5, 8, 12, & 17
London, UK
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Puccini: La bohème (Rodolfo)
 
May 26
Copenhagen, Denmark
Tivoli Theatre
Gala concert
 
June 8 & 14
Berlin, Germany
Deutsche Oper Berlin
Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor (Edgardo)
 
July 17 & 20
Munich, Germany
Munich Opera Festival
Puccini: La bohème (Rodolfo)
 
July 25
London, UK
Royal Opera House
Gala Concert with Plácido Domingo
 
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© 21C Media Group, November 2011