Joseph Calleja’s Return to Wexford — Read the Rave Reviews!


Bachtrack (Andrew Larkin, 16 October 2026)
“Calleja’s rendition of ‘Apri la tua finestra’ revelled in the dramatic irony of a love song that preceded the destruction of Iris’ life. The sweet heft of his voice and taut vibrato made him vocally seductive even as he attempted to seduce Iris. I was particularly struck by the conflict between his natural lyricism and Osaka’s darker dramatic function. As Calleja paced menacingly around the cage in which Iris was trapped, the sheer beauty of his voice belied the ugliness of his actions.”

Giornale della Musica
“Joseph Calleja è un Osaka vocalmente imponente. Il tenore maltese, da tempo legato al Festival di Wexford, si è affermato sulla scena internazionale grazie a una voce lirica luminosa; l’avvicinamento a ruoli più pesanti ne ha accentuato la densità e la propensione a un’emissione vigorosa. La sua tendenza al forte e al fortissimo può talvolta compromettere la varietà del fraseggio, ma qui si accorda con l’indole di un uomo ricco, impulsivo e abituato a soddisfare ogni desiderio. «Apri la tua finestra» rimane uno dei momenti vocalmente più accattivanti della serata.

The Irish Times (Michael Dervan, 16 October 2026)
“The cast is sterling, from the forthright Iris of the Chinese soprano Leyla Gu (the audience favourite, judging by the applause), through the thrusting nastiness and vocally impressive strength of the Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja and the British-Irish baritone Jolyon Loy, as the stock villains Osaka and Kyoto, to the solid South Korean bass Jihoon Kim as Il Cieco, the father.”

Seen and Heard International (Robert Beattie, 23 October performance)
“The inimitable Joseph Calleja was equally impressive in the role of the predatory and shallow Osaka. He did an excellent job bringing out the complexity and conflicted elements in the character; this Osaka could be suave and alluring although ultimately self-absorbed, destructive and hollow. Calleja’s voice has an innately lyrical quality, and it projected effortlessly across Wexford’s O’Reilly Theatre. He conjured a sensual Italianate tone and injected irresistible charm into the vocal line in the Act II seduction scene. The contrast with the subsequent cold and impatient rejection of Iris was striking and effective.”

ConcertoNet.com
“Joseph Calleja is a compelling Osaka. The Maltese tenor, whose long association with Wexford has made him a familiar presence at the festival, built his international reputation on a bright, lyrical tenor, although his more recent assumption of heavier roles has brought a denser, more forceful vocal profile. His approach here is robust, occasionally approaching indiscriminate loudness, but the character’s hedonism, rashness and self-confidence can accommodate a degree of vocal excess. Calleja is particularly persuasive in the celebrated ‘Apri la tua finestra’, whose seductive melodic appeal is among the opera’s most immediately memorable attractions. … Together, Calleja and Loy supply the work with two vocally impressive villains whose differing forms of exploitation are clearly delineated: Osaka’s appetite and Kyoto’s calculating commercialism.”

The Arts Review (Chris O’Rourke, 16 October 2026)
“Tempted by two devils in disguise, baritone Jolyon Loy’s snakelike pimp Kyoto, and tenor Joseph Calleja’s Osaka, a silver-tongued wolf in sheep’s clothing… Yet singing is simple, sensuous, and sublime. Both Loy and Calleja magnificent; the tenor’s luxuriating tone irresistible.”

Arcana.fm (Tom Hardwick, 18 October 2026)
“Long-standing Wexford collaborator Joseph Calleja sang Osaka with conviction: ‘apri la tua finestra’, an extremely popular stand-alone aria during Mascagni’s lifetime, was almost irresistible.”

The Times of London (approximately 19 October 2026)
“Calleja’s return was a genuine coup of this year’s festival. … Two nights before the gala he had been in supple and seductive voice — his bright tone, quickened by vibrato, still the sunniest in the business — in the first night of Mascagni’s Iris.”

Classical Voice North America (James Bash, 22 October 2026, on opening night)
“Tenor Joseph Calleja excelled as the sly, seductive Osaka, fulfilling the awful machinations of baritone Jolyon Loy’s Kyoto.”

Opera Now
“…while Joseph Calleja’s focused sense of style brought dimensionality to Osaka.”

The Stage
“…Matching her in the smaller role of Osaka is Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja, whose individual tone and keen sense of style bring his character to life.”