Maltese Tenor Joseph Calleja Is Newest Subject of CNN’s “Road Warriors”

“Ten concerts in ten cities in one month alone. This is Joseph Calleja, widely regarded as one of the world’s greatest living opera singers.” That’s how CNN International introduces Gramophone Artist of the Year Joseph Calleja, the most recent subject of its “Road Warriors” feature, which follows the lives of fast-paced professionals on the road. Offering illuminating “behind-the-scenes” footage of the Maltese tenor, the video may be viewed online here, and will today receive the first of many television broadcasts on CNN International’s Business Traveller features show. This “Road Warriors” profile comes on the heels of Calleja’s singular success last month in La bohème at Lyric Opera of Chicago, where he starred opposite Anna Netrebko. Meanwhile, on the road again, the tenor may now be heard in concert performances of Simon Boccanegra opposite baritone Thomas Hampson in the title role at the Vienna Konzerthaus, in honor of this year’s Verdi bicentennial (April 13 & 17).
 
Calleja has long received rave reviews as Puccini’s Rodolfo and he scored another triumph with his most recent embodiment of the role at Chicago’s Lyric Opera. The Chicago Sun-Times praised his “powerful and idiomatic singing,” while the Chicago Tribune concluded:
 
“It was wonderful … to have Calleja back, especially in a part that’s so congenial for him vocally and that he inhabits with such winning energy. The tenoral sound he poured out on Saturday was gleaming, even and powerful, its quick vibrato apt for conveying Rodolfo’s passionate and volatile nature. … Calleja earned the torrent of applause he received.”
 
The tenor’s next stop is across the Atlantic, where, having proved “a thrilling Adorno” in Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra at Covent Garden in 2010, he will revisit the role at the Vienna Konzerthaus.  There he will give two concert performances of the opera with baritone Thomas Hampson as the title character, Luca Pisaroni as Albiani, and Massimo Zanetti on the podium.
 
Meanwhile, to continue the Verdi celebrations, Calleja looks forward to making his role debut as Riccardo in Un ballo in maschera at Frankfurt Opera (May 18 – June 23), before reprising his role as the Duke in a new-this-season production of Rigoletto (July 17–24) and singing solo in the composer’s Requiem (July 27) at the Munich Opera Festival. Also in Germany, he will headline performances of Bizet’s Pearl Fishers at the Deutsche Oper Berlin (June 5) and Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor at Munich’s Gasteig (July 1 & 4). And in concert, following his sold-out solo gala at Dublin’s National Concert Hall, the tenor looks forward to presenting “An Evening with Joseph Calleja” at England’s Grange Park Opera on June 19.
 
Further details of Joseph Calleja’s upcoming engagements follow, and more information is available at the web sites listed below.
 
 
Joseph Calleja: upcoming engagements
 
April 13 & 17; Vienna, Austria
Vienna Konzerthaus
Verdi: Simon Boccanegra (Gabriele Adorno)
(Concert)
 
May 18 & 26, June 1, 21, & 23; Frankfurt, Germany
Frankfurt Opera
Verdi: Un ballo in maschera (Riccardo, role debut)
 
June 5; Berlin, Germany
Deutsche Oper Berlin
Bizet: The Pearl Fishers (Nadir)
 
June 19; Hampshire, England
“An Evening with Joseph Calleja”
Grange Park Opera
 
July 1 & 4; Munich, Germany
Philharmonie Gasteig
Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor (Edgardo)
 
July 17, 20, & 24; Munich, Germany
Munich Opera Festival 2013
Verdi: Rigoletto (Duke)
 
July 27; Munich, Germany
Munich Opera Festival 2013
Verdi: Requiem
 
www.josephcalleja.com
 
www.facebook.com/JosephCalleja.tenor
 
twitter.com/maltesetenor
 
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© 21C Media Group, April 2013