I CAPULETI E I MONTECCHI

Times Online

"Joseph Calleja’s darkly ardent singing as Tebaldo is so distinctive that you wish Giulietta’s intended bridegroom had more to do."

Geoff Brown, The Times, February 20, 2009

Grammophone (uk)

"The tenor who sings Tebaldo needs to be of equal strength as to balance the drama, and Joseph Calleja rises to the challenge... The duet in Act 2, when Tebaldo and Romeo are about to fight but then learn of Juliet's death, find Garanca and Calleja striking sparks off each other; despite the beauty of the final tomb-scene duet, I found this confrontation the highlight of the proceedings."

Grammophone, March 2009 edition

The Sunday Times

"Garanca’s warm, lustrous mezzo makes her ideal casting for Romeo, and the same goes for the supporting roles: Joseph Calleja’s liquid-toned Tebaldo (Tybalt)..."

Hugh Canning, The Sunday Times, March 1 2009

ResMusica.com

"[...] one would have thought that the very first splendid phrases of Joseph Calleja (a voice that reminds us of Beniamino Gigli) would have inspired the other protagonists. He displayed a “fraseggio” full of power and sensibility [...]"

Jacques Schmitt, ResMusica.com, March 4 2009

Voix Des Arts

"With the Tebaldo of Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja this performance achieves its greatest success. Bringing precisely the sappy, Italianate tone for which the role begs and a beautifully-placed timbre with greater weight than many of his rivals in the role, Calleja sings with expert musicality and great sensitivity from his first note to his last. Tebaldo’s first-act aria and cabaletta are delivered with swagger and vocal exuberance, characterizing the hot-blooded young man to perfection. In the second-act duet with Romeo, Mr. Calleja pours forth floods of golden tone, recalling the young José Carreras, and strikes sparks off the flint of Ms. Garanča’s impassioned singing. Learning of Giulietta’s presumed death, a veil falls over Mr. Calleja’s singing that conveys heartbreaking grief and guilt without in any way dissipating the ardor of his vocalism. Already a fixture on the world’s most important stages, Mr. Calleja nonetheless announces his presence among the best singers of our time with this performance. Even considering that his competitors include Nicolai Gedda (commanding despite being strained and past his best) and Ramón Vargas, Mr. Calleja here contributes what seems, on balance, the best Tebaldo on records by a considerable margin.

[...] this Capuleti [...] has in Joseph Calleja an undoubtedly great bel canto singer."

Joseph Newsome, Voix Des Arts, March 7 2009

Opera Magazine

"Garanča's verbal neutrality is thrown into relief in Romeo's formally interesting duet with Tebaldo by the forward, meaningful Italian of Joseph Calleja. With his (welcomely) old-fashioned vocal coloration, the Maltese tenor emerges splendidly here: a performance seemingly informed by the young Pavarotti's live traversal under Abbado. The low roles in this opera rarely call forth superior singing."

David Shengold, Opera Magazine, June 2009