The Magic Of Mantovani Joseph Calleja

• Lew Pollack (1895 - 1946) & Erno Rapee (1891 - 1945):
• 1 Charmaine 03:28
• Oscar Hammerstein II (1895 - 1960) & Richard Rodgers (1902 - 1979):
• 2 Edelweiss 02:53
• Charles Singleton (1913 - 1985), Bert Kaempfert (1923 - 1980) & Edward Snyder (1919 - 2011):
• 3 Spanish Eyes 02:55
• Consuelo Velazquez (1916 - 2005):
• 4 Bésame Mucho 03:14
• Jay Livingston (1915 - 2001) & Raymond Evans (1915 - 2007):
• 5 Que Será, Será 02:06
• Leonard Bernstein (1918 - 1990) & Stephen Sondheim (b. 1930):
• 6 Maria 03:13
• Leonard Bernstein:
• 7 Somewhere 01:11
• 8 I Feel Pretty 02:02
• 9 Tonight 02:58
• Tulio Trapani (1905 - 1980) & Lee Lange:
• 10 Cara Mia 02:40
• Nino Rota (1911 - 1979) & Larry Kusik:
• 11 Parla Più Piano 03:43
• Renato Ranucci (1912 - 1991):
• 12 Arrivederci Roma 03:03
• George Forrest (1915 - 1999) & Robert Wright (1914 - 2005):
• 13 Stranger In Paradise 02:58
• Bert Kaempfert:
• 14 Strangers In The Night 03:34
• Henry Mancini (1924 - 1994):
• 15 Moon River 02:35
• Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II:
• 16 You'll Never Walk Alone 02:56
• James P. Carrell (1787 - 1854) & David S. Clayton (1801 - 1854):
• 17 Amazing Grace 03:11
• Erno Rapee & Lew Pollack:
• 18 Charmaine 03:07
• Charles Singleton, Bert Kaempfert & Edward Snyder:
• 19 Spanish Eyes 02:52
• Bert Kaempfert:
• 20 Strangers In The Night 03:40
• Total Runtime 58:19

Info for The Magic Of Mantovani

The Magic of Mantovani features remasters of famed Anglo-Italian conductor Mantovani's original orchestral stereo recordings, set with brand new vocals for the first time from "outstanding" (Guardian) tenor Joseph Calleja. Highlights include selections from West Side Story, Rodgers and Hammerstein classics, and beloved mid-century standards, including a special guest appearance by Grammy-winning American soprano Renée Fleming in a performance of "Somewhere".

“Joseph Calleja has done the impossible — brought my Grandfather’s beautiful music back to life. Now a whole new audience can appreciate its wonder!” (Mantovani’s grandson Simon Mott)

The family of ‘Britain’s most successful album act before the Beatles’, conductor, composer and arranger Mantovani, and his longtime record label Decca, are to release a brand new album in which his original orchestral 1950s and ‘60s recordings are remastered and reimagined with the golden voice of tenor Joseph Calleja.

The forthcoming album, The Magic of Mantovani, will be released on Decca on 25th September 2020, and features one of today’s most acclaimed and sought-after singers, the award-winning Maltese tenor, Joseph Calleja.

This new release follows Calleja’s biggest success to date, Be My Love – a Tribute to Mario Lanza, another dreamy nostalgia trip through the orchestral hits of the 1950s.

To mark Father’s Day this weekend, Decca releases the iconic anthem ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, famous with fans of musical theatre and football alike. Rogers & Hammerstein’s 1945 ballad has been transformed by Calleja’s vibrant vocals, perfectly supported by the glittering crescendos of Mantovani’s original orchestra.

Family features heavily in the many volumes of photographs held by the Mantovani estate. Reflecting on his upbringing, Mantovani’s son Kenneth says, “My father was very much a family man despite the glamourous professional life that he led, and he was very modest about his success. He had a wonderfully gentle sense of humour which endeared him to all he met. Both he and my mother created an extremely happy life for my sister, Paula and myself, welcoming my wife and Paula’s husband into the fold. When a new recording was released, he was always keen to play it to us and to seek our reactions! I feel very grateful that we had such a happy upbringing and delighted we are still able to enjoy his beautiful music, particularly now with the new Joseph Calleja collaboration.”

In a year which marks 40 years since Mantovani’s untimely death in March 1980, and 80 years since he signed to Decca, his trademark “cascading” strings sound led to the star being the first artist ever recording artist to sell over 1 million stereo albums. Recorded before the COVID−19 outbreak, true to style on Decca original 1950s microphones, Calleja’s “outstanding” (Guardian) and “timelessly beautiful voice” (The i) breathes new life into what became known as the famous ‘Mantovani sound’ with abiding favourites such as ‘Moon River’, ‘Que Sera’ and ‘Strangers in the Night’.

Mantovani’s career was defined by No. 1 records: ‘Charmaine’, his signature track (and released as a new single today), was his first single to sell 1 million copies and his hits included ‘Cara Mia’ which spent 10 weeks at No.1 in the UK Singles Chart. But it is the incredible catalogue of over 80 albums made across four decades and coinciding with the birth of the long-playing record which propelled Mantovani to global superstar status and over 100 million record sales.

The magical, “shimmering” effect was achieved with a full-size orchestra, warmed by the resonance of Decca’s new ‘Full Frequency Range Recording’. Huge international record sales and a weekly radio programme installed the hallmark Mantovani orchestral sound into millions of homes. To mark his 25th anniversary with Decca, in 1966, as well as his 60th birthday, the company presented him with a solid gold baton.

This new release features a special guest appearance by Grammy award-winning American soprano Renée Fleming in ‘Somewhere’ from West Side Story. The release introduces Operalia-winning Italian-Canadian mezzo Emily D’Angelo in ‘I Feel Pretty’ and the duet ‘Tonight’ with Calleja.

More than any other musician in history, Mantovani took the genre of light orchestral music to unprecedented heights. Now, the magic of Mantovani is back with one of the most celebrated tenors of the 21st century giving the iconic orchestral arrangements a fresh, new sound.

Joseph Calleja, tenor

Blessed with a golden age voice that routinely inspires on both sides of the Atlantic. At only 33 years of age, he has sung 28 principal roles and performed on most of the world’s leading opera stages, including New York’s Metropolitan Opera, London’s Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, and the Vienna Staatsoper. An exclusive recording artist for Decca Classics, his third solo album, The Maltese Tenor, debuted as the best-selling vocal album on the core classical charts in the U.K. and Germany when it was released earlier this year; it will be released in the U.S. this fall.

Joseph Calleja begins the 2011-12 season with recitals in Eastern Europe — at the Ljubljana Festival in Slovenia, and at the Dvořák Prague Festival in the Czech Republic — and will embark on a concert tour in Korea. He follows this with concerts in Paris, Munich, and Vienna, performing repertoire from The Maltese Tenor and will take part in a performance of Verdi’s Requiem in Cologne. In December, Calleja will appear with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic at the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Stockholm, a performance which will be broadcast on international television. Returning to the opera stage at the end of the year, the tenor sings Nadir in Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. He kicks off 2012 performing the title character in a new production of Gounod’s Faust at the Metropolitan Opera, then returns to Europe for the title roles in Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux at Munich’s Bayerische Staatoper, and Mascagni’s L’amico Fritz at the Frankfurt Opera. In the spring, in a highly anticipated return to the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Calleja sings Rodolfo in La bohème. He concludes the season with a concert at the famous Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen; singing Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor in a return to the Deutsche Oper Berlin; and appearing once more as Rodolfo at the Munich Opera Festival.

Last season, Joseph Calleja took on three signature roles at the Met: Rodolfo in La bohème, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, and the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto (the role in which he made his house debut in 2006.) Also at the Met, he debuted in the title role of Bartlett Sher’s new production of Tales of Hoffmann, where he “gave his all, singing with ardor, stamina, and poignant vocal colorings and winning a rousing ovation” (New York Times). Other recent successes include the role of Pinkerton in a new, season-opening production of Madama Butterfly at the Houston Grand Opera, and a role debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, where, almost “steal[ing] the show” (Independent), he proved himself a “thrilling Adorno” (Financial Times) opposite Plácido Domingo in Simon Boccanegra.

Born in Malta in 1978, Joseph Calleja began singing at the age of 16, inspired by the film The Great Caruso starring Mario Lanza. After singing in his church choir, he began formal training with Maltese tenor Paul Asciak. Calleja made his professional debut in Malta in 1997 as Macduff in Macbeth, and later that year won an award in the Belvedere Hans Gabor competition, launching his international opera career. He went on to win the 1998 Caruso Competition in Milan and was a prizewinner in Domingo’s Operalia the following year.

Calleja made his Covent Garden debut as the Duke of Mantua, and soon returned to sing Alfredo, Macduff, and Adorno, and sang in a concert performance as Nicias in Massenet’s Thaïs. At the Vienna Staatsoper – in addition to his celebrated Verdi roles – he has portrayed Elvino in Bellini’s La sonnambula and Arturo in I puritani; Nemorino in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore and the title role of Roberto Devereux. At Vienna’s Konzerthaus, he sang Tebaldo in Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi alongside Anna Netrebko and Elīna Garanča, in concert performances recorded by Deutsche Grammophon and released in early 2009. He sang Tebaldo again in concert performances at the Salzburg Festival, and appeared as Verdi’s Duke and Bellini’s Elvino at the Zurich Opera. The Duke of Mantua was also the vehicle for debuts with the Bayerische Staatsoper, the Netherlands Opera, the Welsh National Opera, and Deutsche Oper Berlin, where he gave his first performances as the lead in Gounod’s Faust. Audiences at Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu got their first impression of him as Nemorino, and he debuted as Rodolfo at Dresden’s Semperoper and at the Frankfurt Opera – where he also returned for role debuts as Roméo in Roméo et Juliette and Ruggiero in La rondine. Calleja’s German debut was as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni at the Regensburg Festival, a role he reprised for his debut with the Teatre Principal de Palma, Majorca. His first appearance at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro was in the role of Lind in the world premiere of Azio Corghi’s Isabella. In addition, he has sung Alfredo in a new production of La traviata at the Opera National du Rhin, Strasbourg; Ernesto in Don Pasquale in Brussels; Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia in Liège; Fenton in Falstaff at the Teatro Regio di Torino; Edoardo di Sanval in Verdi’s Un giorno di regno in Bologna; Verdi’s Duke in Rotterdam and Copenhagen; Rodolfo at the Bregenz Festival; and Leicester in Maria Stuarda in Stockholm and Parma.

This album contains no booklet.