Ave Maria Sacred arias by Bizet, Mascagni, Massenet, Schubert, Verdi et al Joseph Calleja (tenor), Malta Philharmonic Orchestra/Sergey Smbatyan Decca 485 3944 61:31 mins
Collections of popular sacred pieces – and pretty well all recorded here falls into that category – are often compromised by either poor arrangements or a sentimental approach that compromises the material itself. Neither of these strictures applies here. The Maltese tenor is on top form, his voice rich and fluid, with lovely, pure Latin colours and keen textual enunciation, the result achieving those hard-to-define qualities of conviction and sincerity.
Whether it’s the arrangement of the ‘big-tune’ in the Cavalleria rusticana Intermezzo, or Adolphe Adam’s ‘O Holy Night’, Calleja feels right inside the music, offering a heightened emotional charge; yet equally the lavish phrases and impassioned delivery of the Agnus Dei posthumously adapted from Bizet’s incidental music to L’arlésienne never sound overblown. He remains throughout a stylish artist, his widely varied tone and dynamics shot through with considerable delicacy of expressive feeling.
Calleja also captures the rhythmic jauntiness of the ‘Cujus animam’ from Rossini’s Stabat Mater perfectly while proving equally energised in the ‘Domine Deus’ from the same composer’s Petite Messe Solennelle – a solo he negotiates with faultless breath control and impressive ease of access to his top register.
Wagner – perhaps surprisingly – proves to be congenial territory in the shape of confident and exciting accounts of the prayer from Rienzi and ‘Der Engel’ from the Wesendonck Lieder. Contributions from violinist Daniel Hope and baritone Etienne Dupuis (the latter partnering Calleja in ‘The Pearl Fishers’ duet) are nicely done. Both orchestra and conductor make a good showing.
George Hall