Joseph Calleja

Tenor

The Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja, one of the most sought after singers in the world, is singing the role of Don José for the first time in a staged production. After enjoying a triumph as Gounod's Romeo in Frankfurt he returned to the company for Rodolfo (La Bohème), Edgardo (Lucia di Lammermoor), a recital with Tatiana Lisnic and concert performances of Mascagni's L'Amico Fritz, Bizet's Les Pêcheurs des perles/Pearl Fishers and Puccini's La rondine. Recent engagements have included Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly) and Faust (Mefistofele) at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, and Rodolfo at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, where he sings Pollione (role debut) in Norma next season. He is a regular guest at the Met in New York, where recent roles have included Gabriele Adorno (Simon Boccanegra), Il Duca (Rigoletto), Edgardo, Rodolfo, Macduff (Macbeth) and the title role in The Tales of Hoffmann. Other theatres where he has performed in recent seasons have included the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Vienna State Opera, Zurich Opera, the Semperoper in Dresden, Liceu in Barcelona, the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Los Angeles Opera and the Salzburg, Spoleto and Pesaro festivals. Joseph Calleja has been under exclusive contract to Decca since 2003. The government in Malta made him an ambassador for culture in 2012.