La Boheme, PUCCINI

The Associated Press

Mike Silverman for The Associated Press

"Singing their roles for the first time here Wednesday night, Joseph Calleja as the poet Rodolfo and Krassimira Stoyanova as the tubercular seamstress Mimi managed to overcome these obstacles and give performances that were moving in their sincerity and directness. Calleja, a Maltese tenor still in his early 30s, has a voice unlike anyone else on the operatic scene today. 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. On Wednesday, there was an irresistible tenderness to his utterances when he first sees how ill Mimi is. Though not the subtlest of actors, he entered into the stage business convincingly, joining gamely in his roommates' high jinks and playing the part of a jealous lover when Mimi innocently flirts with passers-by."

ConcertoNet.com

Arlene Judith Klotzko

"While the Met has cast Rodolfo with a superb collection of tenors, the jewel in the crown is surely Joseph Calleja"

"Last year, at the Met's 125th Anniversary Gala, Calleja sang “Che gelida manina.” That evening, the first time I had heard him live, I was stunned by the radiance and sensuous beauty of his voice. And by its size. Seemingly without effort, his warm golden tone filled every corner of that huge hall. In the august company of some of the best singers opera has to offer, he simply dazzled. For sheer beauty of sound, I find his voice unsurpassed by any other tenor currently active.

" It’s just so wonderfully appropriate to hear a Rodolfo like Calleja’s. His rock-solid technique makes the act of singing seem so natural that the character’s emotions come across with a breathtaking directness. His performance was beautifully characterized, both vocally and dramatically. He sang with honeyed sweetness and cascading waves of sunlit sound. But Calleja is also a master of dynamic nuance with his extraordinarily beautiful dimenuendos. His vocal line was elegant and seamless and his top notes thrilling. Dramatically, he was never less than convincing, conveying the high spirits of youth in the first and fourth acts, Rodolfo’s jealousy and anger in act three and, most poignantly, his devotion in the midst of utter despair, as he comforted the dying Mimì."

"The evening belonged to Stoyanova and Calleja. Again, I was struck by the fact that he simply does not sound like anyone else. An aspect of his voice that is probably central to its uniqueness, his fast vibrato, has engendered some controversy. He maintains that young voices often have exhibited this characteristic, but that after a time, the vibrato becomes absorbed into the harmonics of the voice. (Although he has been singing professionally for 13 years, Calleja is still only 32!). He does record very well, on disk and in broadcasts but, unlike many singers whose recordings are more revealing of their vocal gifts, Calleja’s voice, to be fully appreciated, really should be heard live."