REVIEWS: LA BOHEME

Not Just a Frozen Hand

Klassik Magazin

“The Munich audience impressed me. Here, they pay over 260 Euros for the most expensive seats to enjoy “Anna” live – and they still don’t let themselves be misled. The actual star of the evening, judging by the applause, wasn’t Anna Netrebko but Joseph Calleja. At least in stretches Calleja, with his powerful, virile voice, was the one who, as Rodolfo, turned the evening into an experience. Of course nobody believed for a moment that this well-fed singer faced starvation and poverty as his daily lot, but in the still atmospheric set of the 1969 Otto Schenk production that makes no difference."

Prof. Michael Bordt, Klassik Magazin

Der Neuer Merker

“Tenor fans could also look forward a special guest, whose appearances in Munich are fairly rare, the young, already internationally renowned Joseph Calleja. Should there have been any anticipatory doubts whether the two stars would fit into the production Otto Schenk had conceived for a permanent ensemble back in 1960, these instantly proved unjustified. Seldom lately have we witnessed performances in which all the artists have played together so harmoniously and naturally as they did on May 31. We never got the impression of watching individual singers interpreting their respective roles, but rather had the feeling we were really watching a group of young artists back in the 19th century, in the middle of which a touching and dramatic love story developed, in which all their friends participated. Of course, despite the extraordinary ensemble achievement, our main focus was on the two leading artists, Anna Netrebko and Joseph Calleja. Anna Netrebko sang her role with a warm, glowing soprano voice, which has now grown darker, and she has great musical nuance and depth of soul. In her dramatic performance, she convinced the audience with her profoundly felt, powerfully expressive, yet always natural acting. Joseph Calleja as Rodolfo was her coequal partner. His voice has also grown darker and more mature, so that he blended very well with Netrebko’s soprano. He sang his role majestically, and as always placed great value on musical expression. He also revealed himself to be a lovingly caring Rodolfo."

Gisela Schmöger, Der Neuer Merker

Merkur

"The fact that the evening nevertheless didn’t turn into a pure “Anna Show” was attributable to Joseph Calleja. He sang with a mellifluous timbre and solid vocal production – an exemplary Rodolfo. In him Netrebko had the strongest partner imaginable by her side, one who joined her effortlessly in the high flight in the first act finale and who can truly hold his own with her vocally all along the way, which was rewarded at the end by the audience with hardly less enthusiastic applause."

Tobias Hell, Merkur

Abendzeitung, München

"The surprise of the evening was Joseph Calleja. Right in “Nei cieli bigi”, he went for broke, as if it was a life-or-death proposition. The Maltese tenor sings loud, but not at any price. In the first act aria, he hit the brakes on conductor Daniele Callegari and the decently accompanying State Orchestra to such a degree that the musical arch shattered. A radiant note accompanied by a disturbing noise seemed more like a gymnastic exercise than a declaration of love. Because of the wind instrument brightness of the voice and his stiff acting, he reminded us of the good and bad of Pavarotti more than we would have liked it."

Robert Braunmüller, Abendzeitung, Munich

Klassik

"Otto Schenk’s picturesque “La Bohème” production at the Bavarian State Opera has already been around for 40 years. Countless Mimìs and Rodolfos have stood before Rudolf Heinrich’s lovingly created realistic setting. But we have to delve into memory long and hard to find anyone to compare with Anna Netrebko and Joseph Calleja. At the end of the second of three performances the couple were able to perform before an auditorium sold out to the last standing room place, Puccini happiness was perfect, because rarely has a Mimì died so movingly, softly and with greater depth of emotion, nor has a Rodolfo sung out his desperation and his tender concern for a dying woman with such inner feeling, so totally without grandstanding. Netrebko and Calleja have voices that suit one another magnificently in their precious, rich timbre: the Russian artist has an overtone-rich soprano, just as fine-grained as it is generously flowing in its lyricism; the man from Malta has a totally gorgeous tenor with an iridescently vibrating tone! They are also terrific actors and delineate the rapidly flaming young lovers in their frigid attic room with every gesture, every look. Unlike the – æsthetically quite dissimilar – film version by Robert Dornhelm, in which Netrebko by the side of Rolando Villazón, coolly keeps her distance, here she literally allows herself to be seduced by the voice and charm of the man who is an absolutely perfect Rodolfo."

Klaus Kalchschmid, Klassik