Tosti: A vucchella

Although no longer a regular guest, José Carreras was in the 1970s and ’80s one of the great, up-and-coming singers and he returns in 2012 once more for a song recital in Salzburg on August 30. Accompanied here by Edoardo Müller, his recital of 1981 takes us from the French song with piano by Massenet and Fauré via the tenor “classics” of Tosti to the canciones of De Falla, Mompou and Turina – and all sung with a secure sense of style and with great subtlety.

Carreras’s encores delighted adherents of the brilliant tenor repertoire, and can be appreciated on this recording too.

Blessed with “a golden-age voice” (The Sunday Times) that routinely inspires comparisons with legendary singers from earlier eras, Joseph Calleja will follow the success of The Maltese Tenor with a tribute to one of the most popular tenors of all time; the unique “crossover” star of the Hollywood musical – Mario Lanza.

This is an album that Joseph Calleja has always wanted to record. As a youth in Malta he saw Lanza in the cult film The Great Caruso and was so captivated that he gave up his predilection for Metallica and Iron Maiden and decided to become an opera singer

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‘The public feels so close and intimate. There’s really nowhere to escape…’ Angela Gheorghiu

Maltese soprano Gillian Zammit studied in Italy with Carlo Bergonzi and Victoria de los Angeles and is a versatile performer with an operatic repertoire that ranges from Baroque to 20th century opera. Roles include Semel, Tales of Hoffmann, Gianni Schicchi, Hansel and Gretel, Due Zauberflote and Rigoletto which gained her glowing review from OPERA magazine. Gillian is also highly regarded as a recital singer with a varied repertoire of Lieder, Spanish, French and Italian song, as well as being a respected exponent of Maltese Baroque music of which she has recorded several CD s. She has performed in Germany, US, France, London, and Romania and has collaborated with many notable artists including Joseph Calleja.

Legendary tenor José Carreras performed the evening of music recorded here at the Vienna State Opera in September 1988 as a musical “thank you” to all the Austrians who had supported him in his fight over the previous year against the potentially lethal condition of leukaemia. The pianist is at this very special concert was Vincenzo Scalera, and the repertoire encompasses Fauré, Massenet, Turina, Liszt, Puccini, Tosti and more.

Jose Carreras was diagnosed with leukaemia in 1987, and was only given a 10% chance of survival. However, as a result of an iron will, a positive outlook and good fortune, he gradually regained his health, and went on to produce the best selling series of “Three Tenors” recordings alongside Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti. During 1988 he appeared in a series of comeback concerts including this one that took place on 16 September in Vienna.

Blessed with “a golden-age voice” (The Sunday Times) that routinely inspires comparisons with legendary singers from earlier eras, Joseph Calleja will follow the success of The Maltese Tenor with a tribute to one of the most popular tenors of all time; the unique “crossover” star of the Hollywood musical – Mario Lanza.

This is an album that Joseph Calleja has always wanted to record. As a youth in Malta he saw Lanza in the cult film The Great Caruso and was so captivated that he gave up his predilection for Metallica and Iron Maiden and decided to become an opera-singer.