Joseph Calleja - Tenor Arias

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
This is the debut recital of Calleja, a 26-year-old Maltese tenor. His voice is as bright as a new penny, with a quick vibrato and a sweetness---plangent at times---which is very appealing. He sings favorites here but imbues each of them with a really individual stamp: Alfredo's Act II aria from Traviata has rarely sounded so urgently youthful (here, and throughout, the leadership of Riccardo Chailly is wonderfully sensitive and alert); Macduff's aria is filled with sadness and sung with a long, heartfelt line; "Questo e quella" has swagger and so does "La donna è mobile," but neither is marred by giggles or outbursts of any kind, and the latter's cadenza encompasses every note, clearly articulated. His high notes tend to be a bit wiry (a D flat at the end of "Possente amor" is a dud) but they're still exciting. Edgardo's big scene from the end of Lucia rarely works on CD; here Calleja gives us the desperation, the shock and the tragedy in a vivid portr! ayal. All through the recital he's musically and textually attentive; he's scrupulous about the composer's markings and has thought about each character's situation. This is a very impressive introduction to a fine young tenor, and the presentation, with chorus where required and second verses included, is equally good. Bravo! --Robert Levine

Tracks:

Lunge Da Lei... De' Miei Bollenti Spiriti
O Mio Rimorsal
O Figli, O Figli Miel! ... Ah, La Paterna Mano
Questa O Quella
Ell Mi Fu Rapita! Parmi Veder Le Lagrime
Duca, Duca!
Possente Amor Mi Chiama
La Donna E Mobile
Quanto E Bella
Tombe Degli Avi Miei ... Fra Poco A Me Ncovero
Oh Meschina
Tu Che A Dio Spiegasti Itali
La Dolcissima Effigie
Lamento Di Federico
Addio Fiorito Asil

Amazon.com

This is the debut recital of Calleja, a 26-year-old Maltese tenor. His voice is as bright as a new penny, with a quick vibrato and a sweetness---plangent at times---which is very appealing. He sings favorites here but imbues each of them with a really individual stamp: Alfredo's Act II aria from Traviata has rarely sounded so urgently youthful (here, and throughout, the leadership of Riccardo Chailly is wonderfully sensitive and alert); Macduff's aria is filled with sadness and sung with a long, heartfelt line; "Questo e quella" has swagger and so does "La donna è mobile," but neither is marred by giggles or outbursts of any kind, and the latter's cadenza encompasses every note, clearly articulated. His high notes tend to be a bit wiry (a D flat at the end of "Possente amor" is a dud) but they're still exciting. Edgardo's big scene from the end of Lucia rarely works on CD; here Calleja gives us the desperation, the shock and the tragedy in a vivid portr! ayal. All through the recital he's musically and textually attentive; he's scrupulous about the composer's markings and has thought about each character's situation. This is a very impressive introduction to a fine young tenor, and the presentation, with chorus where required and second verses included, is equally good. Bravo! --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews:

The best.......2007-05-13

Once in a while, a voice comes to us that is outstanding, this is that voice. lovely velvety tones and a superb grasp of what the composer was trying to achieve. If you only buy one CD this year, make it this one.

Great tenor - very good album.......2005-08-18

I am amazed by this guy's voice. I simply love the way he sings. At his young age, he has very complicated technical stuff quite solved, and he sings with taste and style.
Perfect, he is not, and most probably he will never be (has there ever been a perfect singer?? well.. no!), and he has many years to keep developing, and who can tell how will his voice grow, but he is already a wonderful tenor, suited mostly for bel canto and lyrical roles, yet he takes an aria like "la dolcissima effigie" and makes magic of it, with delightful phrasing, shading... his musical and interpretative instincts are wonderful.
Some of his interpretative concepts (and some aspects of the voice production itself) make us think of those tenors coming from the tradition of 19th century bel canto (think of De Lucia, Bonci, Marconi...), but taken alive and fresh into the 21st one. For example, instead of an aspirated vowel or a sob, he offers a musical effect, like a diminuendo, a different color... He plays a little bit with rythms in the way he phrases (as much as possible nowadays - of course, it is impossible today to take the liberties that De Lucia would take), and his renditions are usually full of beauty and poetry (allowed by a technique which is good enogh as to give freedom to build those magic and enchanting renditions, of course).
A fantastic CD. Joseph Calleja is, in my view, one of the great tenors we have today.

A debut album of an excellent young tenor.......2005-05-27

Joseph Calleja is a great blast from the past with an already established style and with a charming highly personal timbre. It is certainly true the voice wasn't fully mature when recorded for this album, equally true it is that the style, grace and obvious potential already in abudance in such a young tenor is amazing. It is because of these great qualities I regard the maturity factor a firstly evident and secondly unimportant detail!

'Dei miei bollenti spiriti' is sung with great lyricism, 'Addio fiorito asil' is hauntingly beautiful, and 'La dolcissima effige' couples out of this world legato with great excitement for one of the greatest rendition I heard of the aria.

I have heard the voice life and he has matured a lot in two years, and allthough this will be a lyrical tenor at heart, it is clear he is building up cutting power, and quite surprisingly he cut through orchestra and choir through(oftenly skipped in productions) the cabaletta 'Possente amor mi chiama' in Rigoletto. Besides that, singing live he carries his great legato through, good vocal acting - excellent modulation. He pulls off diminuendo's live like the great Corelli or Di stefano, seamless and beautiful.

Advice: Buy it!

A Beautiful and Distinctive Voice.......2004-11-21

I was immediately struck by the sheer beauty of Calleja's tenor, which is given an additional frisson by the fast, shallow vibrato, just enough to make the sound "electric.". May he not lose it! To me the sheer sound of the voice, with its beautiful texture, sounds like a vocally superior Alfredo Kraus. If I were to be hypercritical, I might notice that to my ear the upper register could use a further bit of development, as the voice sometimes sounds a bit uncomfortable above the staff, but even to mention this overstates the case and I notice that no other reviewer has mentioned such a problem.
This is one of the rare albums that one can put on permanent repeat and listen to all day long. I recommend it without reservation to all who delight in a beautiful and distinctive voice.

a must have.......2004-10-30

As I read David's comments I realized I strongly disagree with his views. I should explain one thing to those who think about Joseph's vibrato as a fault. His voice is healthily produced and his vibrato is one of the most correct ones, nowadays, a product of a proper balancing of registers (three registers according to Paul Asciak's line of teaching). Maybe it will settle down a little bit but the thing is that right now is healthy. There are two things to consider, a proper vibrato should vary between 5.5 - 7 pulses per second and then there is the oscillation rate which must not be too wide or it will spread. What you David describe as a "pronounced vibrato" or "quiver" is what I understand as a "tremolo" which is characterized by faster pulses than the average and a variation of the volume - only registered by machines. And it can be the result of too much breath pressure. This is not the case of Joseph's vibrato which is consistent through all his registers. The wobble, is a slower rate of pulses is what we are used to nowadays and THAT is, in my opinion, the reason that ears of todays listeners automatically asses a faster than TODAY's average vibrato as faulty.

A voice freely produced wich reminds me of the tenors of the past, a correct vibrato, a beautiful timbre and a great legato. Calleja is THE tenor for the next years to come, no doubt. And this record is a "must have".

Regards,

Diego.

Average customer rating:

Please give a big welcome to Joseph Calleja: Lyric Tenor

Tenor Arias [Hybrid SACD]

Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Arias | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

The Decca Records Store | Specialty Stores | Music
ASIN: B0001GAS4Q
Release Date: 2004-06-15

Amazon.com

This is the debut recital of Calleja, a 26-year-old Maltese tenor. His voice is as bright as a new penny, with a quick vibrato and a sweetness---plangent at times---which is very appealing. He sings favorites here but imbues each of them with a really individual stamp: Alfredo's Act II aria from Traviata has rarely sounded so urgently youthful (here, and throughout, the leadership of Riccardo Chailly is wonderfully sensitive and alert); Macduff's aria is filled with sadness and sung with a long, heartfelt line; "Questo e quella" has swagger and so does "La donna è mobile," but neither is marred by giggles or outbursts of any kind, and the latter's cadenza encompasses every note, clearly articulated. His high notes tend to be a bit wiry (a D flat at the end of "Possente amor" is a dud) but they're still exciting. Edgardo's big scene from the end of Lucia rarely works on CD; here Calleja gives us the desperation, the shock and the tragedy in a vivid portrayal. All through the recital he's musically and textually attentive; he's scrupulous about the composer's markings and has thought about each character's situation. This is a very impressive introduction to a fine young tenor, and the presentation, with chorus where required and second verses included, is equally good. Bravo! --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews:

Please give a big welcome to Joseph Calleja: Lyric Tenor.......2004-06-29

With this debut CD/Sacd, Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja joins the front ranks of our current generation of opera singers. He has voice, technique, and enough temperament to project his characterizations through the music, not externalized hysterics. As a lyric tenor, Mr. Calleja must be grouped with Marcelo Alvarez, Juan Diego Florez, and Ramon Vargas. If he can resist the big bucks marketing machine that will no doubt try to turn him, via marketing and poor advice, into Jose Cura;he is more than likely to be around for quite a while. The late Alfredo Kraus sang well into his sixties, and never tried to be any other kind of tenor than the tenor he knew he was.

Some of the repertoire he presents in this recital is familiar and predictable: Traviata, Rigoletto, L'elisir d'amore, Lucia di Lammermoor, and Madame Butterfly. But when was the last time you saw Cilea staged? Calleja bravely includes Adriana Lecourvreur and L'arlesiana. Since he sings Cilea with such involvement and conviction, not so much as tenor display, but as music and as character; you may find yourself wishing you could see them stages with him in the cast. Verdi's Macbeth is included, too. The entire last scena of Edgardo is played and sung so well that you will be hunting for tickets if Calleja comes to town in the part. Admittedly, Calleja's climactic high notes are sometimes compromised by sounding oddly placed. He seems to have the breath support to reach upwards, but sometimes it doesn't sound as if he is quite sure exactly where the note will exactly end up in his head. In live performance this can become a save, just by singing out anyway; but in a recording it is more obvious. At just 26 years old, Mr. Calleja still has plenty of time to keep learning, and get even better.

The Italian orchestra under Ricardo Chailly has this music entirely in its mind, heart, and fingers. The deep familiarity that could lead to phoning in their accompaniments, however, catches fire and tenderness in many moments that reveal them as true partners. Chailly can be wonderful when he really wants to be, and sometimes he can be routinely excellent. In leading the music here, he partners in a flexible and alert way with the tenor, and the pacing of arias seems good for Calleja's ways with a phrase, as well as for his dramatic personifications.

Surround SACD brings all the music into your room, vividly; the chorus and the adjoining singers are welcome, too. You actually get to hear people singing, just as you would in that opera, instead of some solo instrument having to play the line as filler. If you like tenors, I think you will like Mr. Calleja and enjoy what he is doing on this disc. Highly recommended.

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