News
April 19, 2013
Joseph returns to the BBC Proms this September
After a highly acclaimed performance at the Last Night of the 2012 BBC Proms, Joseph Calleja returns to the beloved summer festival on September 5 for an evening of music celebrating Verdi’s 200th birthday. The program features several of Verdi’s most cherished works from such iconic operas as La traviata, La forza del destino, and Aida. Led by conductor Xian Zhang, the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi joins Joseph for the bicentennial celebration.
Two days later on September 7, Joseph marks the Last Night of the 2013 BBC Proms with British pop star Bryan Ferry in an open-air concert at Hyde Park. For this Proms in the Park event, Joseph joins the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Richard Balcombe with special guests violinist Nigel Kennedy, Sir Terry Wogan, and Dame Edna Everage, who will be leading the traditional sing-a-long.
These performances mark the fourth year in a row that the Maltese tenor has performed at the Proms. Last year, Joseph closed out the Proms with violinist Nicola Benedetti. In 2011, Joseph appeared as a soloist in Verdi’s Requiem, and in 2010 he sang the role of Gabriele Adorno in Simon Boccanegra.
April 17, 2013
Joseph triumphs in Simon Boccanegra at Vienna Concert House
Tonight Joseph gives his second of two performances as Gabriel Adorno in Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra in concert at the Vienna Concert House. The concerts mark the celebration of the composer’s bicentennial. In its review of his performance, the Kurier exclaimed, “What a voice, what poetry, what melodiousness, what radiance!” while Die Presse stated, “There are not many tenors who can sing the role of Adorno as unpretentiously, tastefully, and free of bad habits as Joseph Calleja.” Led by Massimo Zanetti, the all-star cast includes baritone Thomas Hampson as the title character and bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni as Albiani. The concerts will be recorded for international release this fall, when Calleja and Hampson reprise their roles in Simon Boccanegra at the Vienna State Opera.
April 11, 2013
Joseph 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 the networks “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. This segment will receive the first of many television broadcasts today 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. In its review of La bohème, 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.” 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).
More News
April 9th, 2013
Great Voices Series: Simon Boccanegra in Vienna
March 6th, 2013
Joseph to star in La bohème opposite Anna Netrebko this March at Lyric Opera of Chicago
February 25th, 2013

Listen to "Be my love" and "The Maltese Tenor"



