Joseph Calleja

Born in Attard, Malta, on January 22, 1978. Joseph Calleja is already one of the most sought-after tenors at leading opera houses on both sides of the Atlantic. His voice regularly inspires critics to draw comparisons with “legendary singers of yesteryear: Jussi Björling, Beniamino Gigli, even Enrico Caruso” (Associated Press). Recent successes for the Maltese tenor include his role debuts at the Metropolitan Opera, where he “gave his best in the title role of Bartlett Sher’s new production of Les Contes d’Hoffmann, singing with ardor, stamina, and moving vocal colors, securing an overwhelming ovation” (New York Times), and at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, where he almost “stole the show” (The Independent) from everyone else and proved to be a “mesmerizing Adorno” (Financial Times) when he appeared alongside Plácido Domingo in Simon Boccanegra. During the 2010/2011 season, Calleja takes on three important roles at the Met: Rodolfo in La bohème, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor (opposite Natalie Dessay), and the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto, the role in which he also made his Met debut in 2006. Further highlights of the upcoming period include Pinkerton in the new production of Madame Butterfly, with which Houston Grand Opera opens its season; his Canadian recital debut at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto; and the release of his next album on Decca, which features Italian and French arias. On the other side of the Atlantic, Calleja returns to Germany to sing at two of the most renowned houses – in Munich at the Bayerische Staatsoper in L’elisir d’amore and La bohème, and at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in Lucia – and in Istanbul he gives an evening of opera arias. The tenor concludes the season with a Metropolitan Opera tour, where he takes on the role of Edgardo alongside Diana Damrau’s Lucia. During the past season, impressive role debuts as Hoffmann and Adorno, as well as Ruggiero in La rondine in Frankfurt, were followed by Calleja’s appearances at the Staatsoper Hamburg and the Wiener Staatsoper, Macduff in Verdi’s Macbeth at the Bayerische Staatsoper Munich, and Nemorino in a new production of L’elisir d’amore at the New National Theatre of Tokyo. His numerous concert appearances included not only France, Romania, and Japan, but also his home country, Malta. Calleja’s engagements have taken him to 28 major roles in almost every major European city – a remarkable achievement for a 32-year-old. He made his Covent Garden debut as the Duke of Mantua, and soon returned there as Alfredo and Macduff, and also sang Nicias in Massenet’s Thaïs in a concert performance. At the Wiener Staatsoper, he has sung Elvino in La sonnambula, Arturo in I puritani, Verdi’s Duke, Rodolfo, Alfredo, and Nemorino, as well as the title character in Roberto Devereux. He sang the role of Tebaldo in Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi in concert performances at the Konzerthaus Wien alongside Anna Netrebko and Elīna Garanča, which were recorded by Deutsche Grammophon and released in early 2009. At the Zurich Opera, Calleja appeared as Verdi’s Duke and Elvino, and at the Salzburg Festival as Tebaldo in concert performances under Ivor Bolton. He also sang the Duke of Mantua in his debuts at the Bayerische Staatsoper, the Netherlands Opera, Welsh National Opera, and Deutsche Oper Berlin, where he has since returned as Arturo and also gained his first experience in the title role of Gounod’s Faust. Audiences at the Gran Teatre de Liceu in Barcelona first saw him as Nemorino, and he made his debut as Rodolfo at the Semperoper in Dresden and at the Frankfurt Opera, where he returned for his role debut as Roméo in Roméo et Juliette. Calleja made his German debut as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni at the Regensburg Festival, a role he later reprised in his debut at the Teatre Principal in Mallorca. He made his first appearance at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro as Lind in the premiere of Azio Corghi’s Isabella. Highlights of past seasons also included his appearances as Alfredo in a new production of La traviata at the Opéra National du Rhin in Strasbourg; as Ernesto in Don Pasquale in Brussels; Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia in Liège; Fenton in Falstaff at the Teatro Regio in Turin; Edoardo di Sanval in Verdi’s Un giorno di regno in Bologna; as the Duke in Rotterdam and Copenhagen; Rodolfo at the Bregenz Festival; and Leicester in Maria Stuarda in Stockholm and Parma. Calleja made his US debut as Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi at the Spoleto Festival. He also appeared as Macduff at Seattle Opera and made his debuts at Los Angeles Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago as Alfredo in La traviata. At the Metropolitan Opera in New York, he has sung Verdi’s Duke, Macduff, and Nemorino. Other appearances in the US included Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia and the Duke of Mantua at Washington Opera, and Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor at Minnesota Opera. In 2000, at the age of just 20, he made his Canadian debut in Toronto as Rodolfo in La bohème. Calleja has been recording exclusively for Decca since 2003; his first two CDs of opera arias, The Golden Voice and Tenor Arias, earned him critical and public acclaim and inspired Riccardo Chailly, with whom he collaborated on the first recording, to comment: “I have not encountered such talent at such a young age for a long time – his sound has a quality that I thought was lost.” Both recordings were highlighted by the editors of Gramophone magazine, and The Observer described Calleja as “a rare discovery, evoking memories from Caruso to Domingo with his pliant sound and the expressive, highly individual lyrical tone with which he approaches even familiar material.” As a highly sought-after concert singer, Calleja has completed several tours of Germany with recitals and solo evenings, as well as alongside soprano Anna Netrebko. He has also appeared at opera galas in Leipzig, Hampton Court, and the Faenol Festival in Great Britain with Bryn Terfel, and at the Sejong Cultural Center in Seoul, Korea. Calleja has sung Rossini’s Stabat Mater at the Festival de Música de Canarias, Verdi’s Messa da Requiem under Riccardo Chailly, Gianandrea Noseda, and Jiří Bělohlávek at the BBC Proms in London, and Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass at the Salzburg Whitsun Festival. Joseph Calleja was born in Malta in 1978 and began singing at the age of 16. His teacher was the tenor Paul Asciak. He made his professional debut in Malta in 1997 as Macduff in Macbeth; in the same year, he won the Belvedere Hans Gabor Competition. In 1998, he won the Caruso Competition in Milan, and the following year, Domingo’s Operalia Competition. 05/2011