Product Description
CD92866 Joseph Calleja And Friends At (Le) Poisson Rouge - WAVE Format
From the NPR website:
Tenor Joseph Calleja And Friends At (Le) Poisson Rouge
by TOM HUIZENGA
October 24, 2011
As a kid growing up on the tiny island of Malta, Joseph Calleja was always
singing something — nursery rhymes, pop songs. He even grooved to heavy metal
bands like Iron Maiden (still does, actually). And then one day he watched a
movie that would change his life — The Great Caruso, starring American tenor
Mario Lanza.
"When he launched into 'Tarentella Napoletana,'" Calleja recalls, "I absolutely
was amazed at the sound quality of his voice, and I was hooked since then."
These days, Calleja sings in the best opera houses and enjoys the career of an
opera star — although he doesn't think of himself that way. Maybe that's why
he's hosting this record release party and concert for his new album, The
Maltese Tenor, at one of Greenwich Village's hippest music clubs, (Le) Poisson
Rouge. He's invited a few friends, too — violinist Daniel Hope and fellow opera
singers Luca Pisaroni and Katie Van Kooten, as well as an orchestra and
conductor Steven Mercurio.
Calleja's sound — marked by a warm, flickering vibrato and the ability to float
soft high notes to the rafters — sets him apart from other tenors today. Just a
few notes and you know it's him singing. But while his sound is his own, Calleja
has at least partly modeled it on such great tenors from a century ago as
Giacomo Lauri-Volpi, Tito Schipa and Alessandro Bonci.
"In some ways I do try and not imitate but emulate what they did," Calleja says.
"You can immediately recognize their ethereal style of singing. Everything is
floating on the breath. That's what the Italians call cantare soffiato, singing
on the breath. They make it sound effortless, but it isn't. And that should be
the prerequisite for anyone who wants to sing bel canto, the ability to spin
those kind of phrases but also to bring them down to a whisper."
Calleja will have plenty of opportunity to show off his old school sound in this
concert of opera arias by Verdi, Puccini, Massenet and Bizet. Please join us in
the chat room we'll have open during the concert to discuss the music.
PROGRAM
VERDI: "Forse, la soglia" (Ballo in Maschera)
DVORAK: "Song to the Moon" (Rusalka)
MASSENET: "Porquoi me reveiller" (Werther)
PUCCINI: "E lucevan le stelle" (Tosca)
BIZET: "Au fond du temple" (Pearl Fishers)
PUCCINI: "O soave fanciulla" (La Boheme)
MOZART: "Madamina" (Don Giovanni)
LARA: "Granada"
DI CAPUA: "O Sole Mio"