Joseph Calleja Brings BE MY LOVE: A TRIBUTE TO MARIO LANZA to City Winery Tonight, 10/11

On the heels of his success at London's legendary Last Night of the BBC Proms this past weekend-which was broadcast live on television, radio, online, and in cinemas across the U.K.-Joseph Calleja, "arguably today's finest lyric tenor" (NPR), returns to the Big Apple tonight, October 11 to perform selections from his new Decca Classics recording, Be My Love: A Tribute to Mario Lanza, in a concert with orchestra at City Winery in downtown Manhattan.

The event, which marks the Maltese tenor's only New York appearance during the 2012-13 season, is being presented in collaboration with the Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival and comes two days after the U.S. release of the new recording (Tuesday, October 9). Steven Mercurio, who leads the BBC Concert Orchestra on the album, will also conduct the New York performance. Tickets for the 8 PM concert range from $25 to $45 and will be available for purchase through the City Winery's website.

Be My Love: A Tribute to Mario Lanza is Joseph Calleja's fourth solo album as part of his exclusive contract with Decca Classics. On the new recording, Calleja brings his "honeyed tone and ingratiating style" (New Yorker) to songs and arias made famous by the great Italian-American movie star and singer, including the Brodszky/Cahn title track, Rodgers & Hammerstein's "You'll Never Walk Alone," and Lara's "Granada," as well as "Vesti la giubba" from Pagliacci and "Nessun dorma" from Turandot.

As Calleja tells it, this is an album that he has always wanted to record. At age fourteen, he saw Lanza in the cult film The Great Caruso and was so captivated that he gave up his predilection for Metallica and Iron Maiden, instead opting to become an opera singer. In describing the moment, Joseph says, "From the first few notes, when he warms up in the movie before singing the Tarantella, I was struck by that incredible beauty of operatic singing."

Be My Love: A Tribute to Mario Lanza is already topping charts in Europe following its recent international release. Last week it claimed the No. 1 spot on the Danish pop chart, surpassing releases by artists such as Justin Bieber, Bruce Springsteen, and Adele – the first time since the release of The Three Tenors in 1994 that a classical album has achieved such a high ranking on a pop chart in the country. In the UK, the album shot to No. 1 on the iTunes UK classical chart and peaked at No. 4 on the Amazon UK overall bestseller chart after Calleja appeared on the popular morning show BBC Breakfast to talk about the new album and sing the title track live on air. (Watch the interview and performance here.)

But the Last Night of the Proms and the release of his new Decca Classics recording are not the only things on the Maltese tenor's agenda for the 2012-13 season. Stateside, he returns to the Lyric Opera of Chicago in March as Rodolfo in a new-to-Chicago production of Puccini's La bohème, opposite superstar soprano Anna Netrebko as Mimì in her company debut.

On European opera stages, Calleja will been seen this season at the Vienna State Opera as Pinkerton in Puccini's Madama Butterfly, at Munich's Bavarian State Opera as the Duke in a new production of Verdi's Rigoletto and as Tebaldo in Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi, and at the Frankfurt Opera as Riccardo in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera. In addition, he gives a single concert performance as Nadir in Bizet's The Pearl Fishers at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.

On a concert tour of Europe this January and February, Calleja performs selections from Be My Love: A Tribute to Mario Lanza, stopping in Paris, London, Vienna, Munich, Amsterdam, and Baden-Baden, among other cities. In addition, the tenor celebrates the 200th birth anniversary of composer Giuseppe Verdi with concerts at Milan's La Scala and Munich's Bavarian State Opera, and he performs as part of galas at the Helsinki Music Centre, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and Dublin's National Concert Hall. Joseph Calleja's complete schedule can be found at www.josephcalleja.com.

City Winery is the brainchild of Michael Dorf, founder of the iconic Knitting Factory, stemming from his desire to create a space in Manhattan where he could combine his shared passions for wine and music. Besides being Manhattan's only working winery, the venue has quickly emerged as one the most popular concert halls in NYC with a full working restaurant, wine bar and tasting room offering numerous wines on tap, fresh from the cellar barrels. With over 20,000 square feet in SoHo, City Winery is also a constantly sought-after private events space for parties from 10 to 500 guests.

The Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival is hosted by and benefits the Food Bank For New York City and Share Our Strength's No Kid Hungry® campaign. 100% of the Festival's net proceeds go toward helping these community-based organizations fight hunger. Southern Wine & Spirits of New York is the exclusive provider of wine and spirits at the Festival. More information about the Festival can be found at www.nycwff.org.

Be My Love: A Tribute to Mario Lanza
Decca Classics
U.S. Release on October 9, 2012
Steven Mercurio, conductor
BBC Concert Orchestra

Joseph Calleja: 2012-13 engagements

Sept 15, 2012
St. Émilion, France
Gala Concert

Sept 29, October 2, 5, 2012
Vienna, Austria
Vienna State Opera
Madama Butterfly (Pinkerton)

Oct 8, 2012
Helsinki, Finland
Helsinki Music Centre
Gala Concert

Oct 11, 2012
New York, NY
City Winery
Be My Love Album Release Concert

Oct 20, 2012
Berlin, Germany
Deutsche Oper Berlin
Anniversary Gala Concert

Dec 15, 19, 21, 25, 28, 30, 2012
Munich, Germany
Bavarian State Opera
Rigoletto (The Duke)

Jan 7, 2013
Geneva, Switzerland
Victoria Hall
Concert with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande

Jan 11, 2013
London, England
Royal Festival Hall
Be My Love concert tour

Jan 18, 2013
Paris, France
Théâtre des Champs-Élysées
Be My Love concert tour

Jan 21, 2013
Munich, Germany
Gasteig
Be My Love concert tour

Jan 24, 2013
Prague, Czech Republic
Obecní Dum / The Municipal House – Smetana Hall
Be My Love concert tour

Jan 28, 2013
Vienna, Austria
Vienna Konzerthaus
Presented by Great Voices
Be My Love concert tour

Jan 31, 2013
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Concertgebouw
Be My Love concert tour

Feb 3, 2013
Baden Baden, Germany
Baden Baden Festspielhaus
Be My Love concert tour

Feb 11, 2013
Milan, Italy
FilarMonica Della Scala
Verdi Concert

Feb 18, 21, 24, 2013
Munich, Germany
Bavarian State Opera
I Capuleti e i Montecchi (Tebaldo)

Feb 25. 2013
Munich, Germany
Bavarian State Opera
Verdi Concert

March 9, 12, 15, 18, 22, 28, 2013
Chicago, IL
Lyric Opera of Chicago
La bohème (Rodolfo)

April 6, 2013
Dublin, Ireland
National Concert Hall
Gala Concert

May 18, 27, June 1, 2013
Frankfurt, Germany
Frankfurt Opera
Un ballo in maschera (Riccardo)

June 5, 2013
Berlin, Germany
Deutsche Oper Berlin
The Pearl Fishers (Nadir)

For more about Calleja, find him on Facebook and Twitter.