MDT - 4756931 - CALLEJA, JOSEPH The Golden Voice. The Academy Of St Martin In The Fields / Carlo Rizzi. Decca

JOSEPH CALLEJA

The Golden Voice

1. Verdi La mia letizia infondere vorrei I Lombardi

2. Donizetti Spirito gentil, ne'sogni miei La Favorita

3. Donizetti Una Furtiva Lagrima L'elisir d'amore

4. Bellini Sono Geloso dell Zeffiro Errante La Sonnambula

(Duet with Anna Netrebko)

5. Gounod L'amour, l'amour..Ah ! Leve-toi, Soleil Romeo et Juliette

6. Massenet Instant charmant 'En fermant les yeux' Manon

(with Tatiana Lisnic)

7. Offenbach Au Mont Ida-Le judgement de Paris La Belle Hélene

8. Massenet Pourqoui me reveiller- Werther

9. Bizet Je crois entendre encore from Les Pêcheurs de Perles

10. Adam Elle est princesse Si j'etais roi

11. Donizetti Inosservato, penetrava- Angelo casto e bel Il Duca d'Alba

12. Donizetti Desserto in terra Don Sebastiano

13. Bellini Son gia lontani I Puritani

14. Pietri Io conosco un giardino Maristella

The Academy Of St Martin In The Fields/ Carlo Rizzi

Following his acclaimed Decca debut album, Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja explores two central themes of his stage repertoire with this glorious disc of Italian and French arias which includes popular favourites as well as many forgotten jewels from both the French and Italian operatic traditions.

The Golden Voice is as much a tribute to a great tradition of beautiful singing as it is to Joseph Calleja's glorious voice and unique vocal character. Includes a duet with Russian soprano star Anna Netrebko.

The Academy of St.Martin in the Fields is conducted by distinguished opera conductor Carlo Rizzi.

Includes arias from Joseph Calleja's stage repertoire including favourites from Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore, Bellini's I Puritani & La Sonnambula and Gounod's Romeo et Juliette

Decca 4756931

The young Maltese Joseph Calleja rivals Rolando Villazón as the most exciting Italianate tenor of his generation. Both singers have gloriously fresh, sensuous voices, each with its own colouring - Villazón's is more baritonal, Calleja's lighter and brighter, with an intriguing mix of velvet and silver.
Donizetti and Bellini suit Calleja's ardent yet graceful bel-canto style perfectly. The most famous number here, "Una furtiva lagrima" from L'elisir d'amore, is wonderfully supple and tender. Calleja combines beautifully with soprano Anna Netrebko in an intensely felt account of the duet from La sonnambula, and catches all the yearning melancholy of an aria from Donizetti's rare Il duca d'Alba.
Native French singers may have brought more Gallic insouciance to Paris's song from La Belle Hélène. But few have rivalled Calleja's rapt delicacy in the Romance from Les Pêcheurs de perles, or his subtle shaping of Werther's sad reverie.
As a digestif we get a luscious aria from Giuseppe Pietri's once popular Maristella, sung with glowing fervour, yet no whiff of vulgarity. This is a discerning, often thrilling recital by a singer in his first full bloom.
Richard Wigmore, Telegraph