The wonder-tenor Joseph Calleja ennobles Bizet’s Arabically perfumed sensuality with elegance and alert expressiveness."Hanauer Anzeiker
REVIEWS: THE PEARL FISHERS
Concert performance of Bizet's opera Les pêcheurs de perles at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt, February 2009
Bildzeitung Frankfurt
“Lucic’s full, warm, powerful voice is joined here by the clear radiant tenor of Joseph Calleja. And the audience experienced a miracle. An unbeatable, harmonious friendship duet. Calleja easily produces tones that go straight to the heart, evoking pure happiness [...] Tatiana Lisnic as object of their passion glowed with enchanting coloratura singing, and grows beyond herself in her impassioned attempt to rescue her lover from his friend."
Dr Becker, Bildzeitung, Frankfurt
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
“The outstanding performance of the singers added greatly to the impression. First and foremost the Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja as Nadir, who clad his dream aria ‘Je crois entendre encore’, sung with stirring voix mixte, in a tone overcast with melancholy. In the famous duet ‘Au fond du temple saint’, Calleja entered into a noble harmony with the powerful Zurga of Željko Lucic, which took on even greater harmony when the two singers repeated it as an encore at the end of the concert. And Tatiana Lisnic made it clear why both men had fallen in love with the priestess Léila."
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 25 Februrary 2009
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
"Joseph Calleja as Nadir met all our expectations. The legato culture in the romance, his effortless radiant power, crowned by organically integrated top pianissimo high notes, inspired Željko Lucic to mighty outbursts and a magnificent high A."
Gerhard Schroth, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 25 Februrary 2009
Frankfurter Neue Presse
"How blessed is the house that can work with such artists. Tatiana Lisnic sang Léila with great agility, so to speak flying like a bird in her great love, moreover with a clear vocal line and stirring expression. Truly beautiful the way Joseph Calleja as Nadir responds to this emotional intensity, with crystalline, not too melting and not too pale top notes."
Rudolf Jöckle, Frankfurter Neue Presse, 25 February 2009
Frankfurter Rundschau
"One exceptional stroke of luck for this performance was tenor Joseph Calleja as Nadir. Infallible in diction and expression with equal fullness of voice and effortlessness in moments of both lyrical and dramatic intensity."
Hans-Klaus Jungheinrich, Frankfurter Rundschau, 25 February 2009
Hanauer Anzeiker
"Both request concert numbers, the men’s duet “Au fond du temple saint” and Nadir’s dream aria “Je crois entendre encore” were exemplarily performed. The wonder-tenor Joseph Calleja ennobles Bizet’s Arabically perfumed sensuality with elegance and alert expressiveness."
Klaus-Dieter Schüssler, Hanauer Anzeiker, February 2009
Offenbach Post
"Željko Lucic teamed up heart-warmingly, yet without kitsch, in a deeply felt friendship duet with Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja. Calleja’s powerful tenor voice possesses all the necessary radiance. And we owe it also to his masterful interpretation that the performance didn’t slip into schmalz. Another audience favorite, with good reason, was Tatiana Lisnic as Léila. Stirring and with solidly based coloratura technique, she depicted the emotional confusion of the priestess. Her soprano rose above the orchestra and just as effortlessly rose to pianissimo heights her tenor partner had displayed before – right up to a top C. Frankfurt can look forward eagerly to the return of the husband and wife combination of Calleja-Lisnic."
Eva Schumann, Offenbach Post, 25 February 2009
Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung
"Singers like Joseph Calleja and Željko Lucic can breathe life into this Bizet opera."
Bernd Zegowitz, Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung, February 2009
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ALTE OPER, FRANKFURT, Les Pêcheurs de Perles
23 & 25 Februrary 2009
| Leila | Tatiana Lisnic |
| Nadir | Joseph Calleja |
| Zurga | Željko Lucic |
| Nourabad | Bálint Szabó |
| Conductor | Christoph Poppen |
| Orchestra/choir | Chor der Oper Frankfurt Frankfurter Museumsorchester |
