Maltese pride at the Proms

As the 6,000-strong crowd at the Royal Albert Hall in London enveloped him in raucous applause, tenor Joseph Calleja’s eyes began to mist over. Malta’s most famous export had just performed a flawless rendition of Giacomo Puccini’s aria Nessun Dorma at one of the world’s most famous classical music festivals. And Mr Calleja’s performance on Saturday night, as the star attraction on the BBC’s Last Night of the Proms, did not go unnoticed by his audience, who clapped, whooped and hollered through repeated encores. Compatriots cheering him on from behind their TV sets probably reserved their loudest cheer for later on, when Mr Calleja peeled off a Team GB tracksuit top to proudly reveal a black t-shirt imprinted with a large, white Maltese eight-pointed cross. This was his fourth performance at the BBC Proms, a yearly eight-week bonanza of classical concerts held at the Albert Hall. But, unlike the three previous times, this year Mr Calleja was asked to headline the Proms’ prestigious closing night – the first tenor in 30 years to do so. The honour was not lost on Mr Calleja, who, in the build-up to the big night, said he was “extremely excited and honoured to be headlining”. If Mr...