Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1391768
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 11 JULY 2021 4 OPERA TAKING place between the 17th and the 22nd of June, the Symphonic Middle East marked the EUFSC's first foray into the Middle East, with Joseph Calleja taking pride of place as the festi- val's honorary guest. Moreover, the occasion also represented a milestone for the tenor's own career as well, with Calleja's appearance at the illustrious Dubai Opera marking the first time that he has performed, or indeed, ever visited the United Arab Emirates city of Dubai. Despite his brief sojourn in the city – Calleja landed a short while before the festival and departed early the day after – the famed opera singer was im- pressed by what Dubai had to offer, marvelling at how "an old fishing village that was nothing special has been turned into an international, multinational hub", and acclaiming the posi- tive atmosphere emitted by the city as it begins emerging from the throes of the coronavirus pandemic. Calleja also touched upon the pressures that come with per- forming live concerts, reveal- ing that "the more time passes, the worse it is because my rep- utation is always growing, and people are always expecting to hear one of the best tenors in the world perform, and the fear is not that I don't know how to sing or what to do, but that I won't be able to give what I know I can give to the audi- ence". However, he added that despite the pressure, nothing beats the joy of live perfor- mance for most artists. Throughout his performance, which consisted of a wide va- riety of work from across the entire spectrum of the opera canon, Calleja was joined on stage by the ASSO, who were led by their Founder, Principal Conductor, and Artistic Direc- tor, Principal Conductor of the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra Sergey Smbatyan. In fact, it was the orchestra that opened the concert itself, with a ren- dition of the famous Overture of Giuseppe Verdi's "The Force of Destiny". This was then fol- lowed by the seminal aria-bal- lade "Questa o quella" from Verdi's "Rigoletto", after which Calleja delighted audiences with his interpretation of "E' la solita storia del pastore" from the Opera "The Arlesiana" by Francesco Cilea. Smbatyan and the ASSO then gave a performance of the Intermezzo from Pietro Mascagni's "Cavalleria Rusti- cana", whereupon Calleja ap- peared on stage once again to sing Reisvegliati, Amore from American-Maltese composer Alexey Shor's "Crystal Palace" Suite, which marked the first time that Calleja has ever per- formed works by this contem- porary composer, and inspired particularly raucous applause from an audience thrilled to see contemporary works being included in the concert pro- gramme. In fact, many in the audi- ence were full of praise at the selection of works that were performed at the concert, with one labelling them as an "ex- cellent choice", and another insisting that it was "a perfect selection that sounds so amaz- ing with his [Calleja's] wonder- ful voice". Noticeably, many drew particular attention to Shor's work, with the contem- porary composer appearing to have left his mark on the evening's proceedings, includ- ing on the Maltese ambassador to the UAE, H.E. Maria Camill- eri Calleja, who declared that "I really loved the music, and especially the piece by Alexey Shor", as well as another audi- ence member, who noted that the music "reminded me of childhood memories and hap- py events, so it was very pleas- ant to listen to". Calleja himself also hailed what he labelled as a "varied programme, full of the cavalli di battaglia of the lyrical reper- toire, as well as excellent new music like Alexey Shor". The tenor spoke fondly of the experience of singing the diverse mix of classic and contemporary music, as well as of singing in Armenian for the first time, since his per- formance of Shor was then followed by a rendition of the Joseph Calleja impresses at the Symphonic On 19 June 2021, world-famous tenor and Maltese cultural ambassador Joseph Calleja delivered his first- ever concert in Dubai as part of the inaugural edition of the Symphonic Middle East festival, organised by the European Foundation for Support of Culture (EUFSC) in collaboration with SAMIT Event Group World-famous tenor and Maltese cultural ambassador Joseph Calleja