Calleja sets the tone on PM's first day in Paris

The notes of Malta’s national anthem reverberated across the historic walls of Cathédral Saint-Louis des Invalides in Paris tonight propelled by the timbre of Joseph Calleja’s voice. Widely regarded as one of the world’s top opera singers, Calleja was invited to perform at an exclusive concert in Paris organised by the Maltese embassy to give Malta topmost visibility among France’s major players. Titled Joseph Calleja: La Grande Voix De Malte, the concert involved the participation of France’s best orchestra, the Orchestre de la Garde Républicaine, under the baton of Colonel Francois Boulanger. Calleja enchanted the audience of some 650 guests - including Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, Ambassador Pierre Clive Agius and 200 Maltese - with interpretations of Malta’s Innu Malti and La Marseillaise. The one-hour programme, which included popular French and Italian arias, ended with a standing ovation for Calleja and an encore of Puccini's Tosca: E Lucevan Le Stelle. "Opera is a language of emotions when words are not enough to get the message across," Calleja said after the concert, as he was constantly stopped and congratulated on his performance. In between signing programmes and...