Lucia di Lammermoor, DonizettI

Associated Press

Mike Silverman, February 25, 2011

Tenor Joseph Calleja, in his third leading role at the Met this season, sang an Edgardo of exceptional elegance. In their Act 1 love duet, his honeyed tones blended beautifully with Dessay's leaner sound. When he burst into the wedding scene to denounce Lucia for betraying him, his singing was anguished without ever turning strident. And Calleja was at his best in the final scene, when Edgardo pours out his grief in a heartbreaking two-part aria, before stabbing himself so he can join Lucia in death. This was golden age vocalism, pure and simple.

Opera News

David Belcher, February 24, 2011

In Calleja, Dessay found a singing actor whose potency equaled hers. Calleja's young, crystalline voice seemed to lift the quality of Dessay's — her lower register has never been her comfort zone — in their duets, particularly in "Verrano a te sull'aure," which ends Act I. Their voices were exquisitely matched — the vocal antithesis of the contrast between his massive frame and her gamine petiteness.

Calleja's passionate, pure singing was matched by that of baritone Ludovic Tézier, whose rich vocalism and powerful acting turned Lucia's scheming brother Enrico into an almost sympathetic character. At the tomb scene near the opera's end, Calleja delivered "Fra poco a me ricovero" as if it were Edgardo's own mad scene.

The Classical Review

George Loomis, February 25, 2011

The performance also included the first Met Edgardo of tenor Joseph Calleja, who won a warm reception from the audience. Tall, and ardent in voice and manner, he brought an emotional charge to Edgardo music, especially his curse of Lucia. Still, the quality of the voice will not please everyone. Though vibrant and plenty strong, it lacks ring and resonance, and sometimes its fast vibrato can intrude. But debate over these issues goes back at least as far as the days of Fernando de Lucia and will be ultimately resolved by listeners in their own way. In any case, Calleja’s Edgardo has much to recommend it.

The New York Times

Zachary Woolfe, February 25, 2011

And Joseph Calleja was sensationally ardent as Lucia’s lover, Edgardo, one of the best roles of his young, exciting Met career. In so many productions, the tomb scene that ends the opera seems hopelessly anticlimactic after Lucia’s unraveling, but in this performance Donizetti’s structure finally made sense. It felt more like Edgardo’s tragedy than Lucia’s, so why not let him have the last, gorgeously eloquent word?

ClassicsToday.com

Robert Levine

It was another good night for tenors, with the Maltese-born Joseph Calleja singing an ardent, musical Edgardo, rising to great heights in his final scene.

Mundoclasico.com

Horacio Tomalino, March 3, 2011

On an evening overflowing with vocal exuberance, Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja was an excellent Edgardo, betraying great lyricism and artistic sensitivity. Every note he sang turned into gold and he bombarded the audience with such vocal resourcefulness, with such an expressive voice. His aria "Tombe degli avi miei” was one of the magical moments of the evening and for which he deservedly received acclaim, a triumph that lasted until his impassioned “Tu che a Dio spiegasti l ali” - not suited anyone suffering from a heart condition.



Blogs:

Poison Ivy

March 13, 2011

Joseph Calleja as Edgardo had a very different sort of triumph. I've heard Calleja over the radio, but last time it was the first time I heard him in the house. There are certain singers where it's impossible to talk of them without raving about being floored waves of sheer sound. Usually, people will say about those singers, "If you didn't hear them live, you didn't hear them, period." In the past, people spoke that way about Nellie Melba, Kirsten Flagstad, Renata Tebaldi, Franco Corelli. Nowadays, they talk of Anna Netrebko that way. To that list of singers, I'd add Joseph Calleja. His voice is like how a tenor sounds in one's dreams, but rarely does in reality -- a bright, warm, ringing voice, with the honeyed sweetness of Gigli. His tight but controlled vibrato reminds me of Bjoerling. He even looks a bit like Pavarotti before the waistline explosion. The role of Edgardo is a deeper, richer role than the Duke (Calleja's most frequently sung role at the Met), and its high tessitura holds no terrors for him. He is one of the few tenors to take both "Tombe degli avi miei" and "Tu che a Dio spiegasti l'ali" at score pitch. The radio gives really no idea of the impact of Calleja's voice on the ears -- this is a big, versatile lyric tenor voice. Calleja isn't just sonic overload though -- his phrasing is musical and stylish, with the kind of old-fashioned deployment of rubato and portamento that a lot of tenors eschew today. Calleja is tall and imposing onstage as well, and when he wrapped the tiny Dessay in a big bear hug, I sighed with happiness, not just at the golden sound, but at how Calleja and Dessay both used their voices for dramatic effect -- a shy, reserved girl from an unhappy family has found much-needed security in a strong authority figure. "Verrano a te" became not just a love duet, but a snapshot of a very realistic courtship. Calleja dominated "Chi mi frena" as his voice sailed above the ensemble. The best news? Calleja is only 32, and I hope his best years are still ahead of him.

Out West Arts

March 20, 2011

Joseph Calleja […] was the best I’ve ever heard him. Romantic, impetuous and heart breaking, Calleja was vocally certain through the whole show even fleshing out some of the less intriguing passages in the opera like the opening of Act III.

Sonic Labyrinth

Jeffrey Johnson, March 19, 2011

Calleja was particularly impressive in his Act III arias: “Fra poco a me ricovero" and "Tu che a spiegasti l’ali" where his grand style vowel colors and elaborate phrasing brought the opera to a powerful close.