Earlier this season at the Metropolitan Opera, Joseph Calleja's performance as Rodolfo in Puccini's La bohème prompted the Associated Press to admire his 'voice unlike anyone else on the operatic scene today.' As the review continued: 'A rapid vibrato gives his sound an alluring sweetness, and in recent years he has refined his technique so that the quality is consistent throughout his range, up to high C.' Now, following performances earlier this season as Rodolfo and as the Duke of Mantua in Verdi's Rigoletto, the Maltese tenor returns to New York to take on his third Italian role of the Met season. From February 24 through March 19, he sings Edgardo opposite Natalie Dessay in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor. The March 19 performance will be transmitted live to movie theaters around the world, as part of the 'Met: Live in HD' series. In addition, Joseph Calleja's exclusive record label, the newly re-launched Decca Classics, has announced plans to release the tenor's next solo album, titled The Maltese Tenor, later this year.
The Metropolitan Opera's 2011-12 season will feature the world's leading singers, conductors, and stage directors in seven new productions, including a world premiere, a Met premiere, and the first complete performances of a new Der Ring des Nibelungen cycle conducted by Music Director James Levine and directed by Robert Lepage.
Natalie Dessay will return to the Metropolitan Opera in the title role of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor for a run of performances beginning February 24.
Verdi's tragic tale of courtesan Violetta Valery is brought to life on the stage of London's Royal Opera House - and on a movie screen near you. La Traviata (or, 'the Fallen Woman,') stars beloved American soprano Renée Fleming in the title role, with tenor Joseph Calleja as her lover Alfredo and bass Thomas Hampson as Germont.
Verdi's tragic tale of courtesan Violetta Valery is brought to life on the stage of London's Royal Opera House - and on a movie screen near you. La Traviata (or, 'the Fallen Woman,') stars beloved American soprano Renée Fleming in the title role, with tenor Joseph Calleja as her lover Alfredo and bass Thomas Hampson as Germont.
Decca Classics has signed an exclusive recording contract with the young Polish soprano, Aleksandra Kurzak, who, as one of the most exciting young singers on the international opera stage, has been thrilling press and public alike with performances in Europe and the US.
Joseph Calleja, who made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2006 as Verdi's Duke of Mantua, returns to the role at the Met in a January 11-27 run of Rigoletto.
Joseph Calleja, who made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2006 as Verdi's Duke of Mantua, returns to the role at the Met in a January 11-27 run of Rigoletto.
Seattle Opera today announced its captivating 2011/12 season, featuring an American treasure, the greatest French opera, the company premiere of a work by Verdi, one of opera's fundamental love stories, and a beloved Puccini tragedy. The season opens with Porgy and Bess in July, followed by Carmen in the fall and Attila, Orphée et Eurydice, and Madama Butterfly in 2012.
The Metropolitan Opera celebrates its 80th season of Saturday Afternoon Radio Broadcasts-the longest-running classical music series in American broadcast history-with a 22-week season featuring many of the world's greatest operatic artists, beginning December 18.
"The Maltese-born Calleja…has matured into one of the finest lyric tenors before the public today," declared the Associated Press last month following his stellar performance in Houston Grand Opera's new, season-opening production of Madama Butterfly.
"The Maltese-born Calleja…has matured into one of the finest lyric tenors before the public today," declared the Associated Press last month following his stellar performance in Houston Grand Opera's new, season-opening production of Madama Butterfly.
The Metropolitan Opera celebrates its 80th season of Saturday Afternoon Radio Broadcasts-the longest-running classical music series in American broadcast history-with a 22-week season featuring many of the world's greatest operatic artists, beginning December 18.
On the heels of his success this summer at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, where, almost 'steal[ing] the show' (Independent), he proved himself a 'thrilling Adorno' (Financial Times) opposite Plácido Domingo in Simon Boccanegra, Joseph Calleja begins the 2010-11 season with his Houston Grand Opera debut in a new, opening-night production of Madama Butterfly. Calleja sings B.F. Pinkerton opposite soprano Ana Maria Martinez, who makes her role debut as the tragic Cio-Cio-San. The production team will be led by the renowned British director Michael Grandage, who received the 2010 Tony Award for Best Director of a Play for Red, and who is celebrated by theater audiences for his productions of Hamlet and Frost/Nixon. The cast of Madama Butterfly will work under HGO Music Director Patrick Summers. The first performance on October 22 marks the opening night of the company's 2010-11 season, and the production runs through November 5.
Houston Grand Opera (HGO) launches its 56th season with Giacomo Puccini's Madame Butterfly. 'Madame Butterfly is all at once extraordinarily popular and heartbreaking,' explained HGO's General Director and CEO Anthony Freud.
Director Michael Grandage, designer Christopher Oram and lighting designer Neil Austin - the creative team responsible for Houston Grand Opera's (HGO) new production of Puccini's Madame Butterfly - swept the prestigious Tony Awards Sunday night in New York City with six awards for their Broadway production of John Logan's Red.
