Ave Maria (CD)

Released for Easter the album features four Ave Marias by Mascagni, Massenet, Schubert and Andrea Bocelli. Bocelli gave his good friend Calleja special permission to record his own Ave Maria, the only other tenor to have done so. Massenet’s Ave Maria is a brand new arrangement of the composer’s own transcription of his famous ‘Meditation’ from Thaïs.

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Schubert’s Ave Maria is the classic arrangement made by Decca for Pavarotti in the 1970s while the Mascagni uses his ‘Intermezzo’ from Cavalleria rusticana. Hear Calleja sing Wagner for the first time ahead of his debut as Parsifal at Bayreuth this year.

Guests include Daniel Hope, violin, and French baritone Étienne Dupuis in the duet from The Pearl Fishers.

TRACK LIST

MASCAGNI: Ave Maria (Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana)
VERDI: Messa da Requiem - Ingemisco
MASSENET: Méditation from Thaïs
BIZET: Agnus Dei (after L’Arlesienne Suite No. 2 - Intermezzo)
BOCELLI: Ave Maria
STRADELLA: Pietà, Signore
ROSSINI: Stabat Mater - Cujus animam gementem 
ROSSINI: Petite messe solennelle - Domine Deus
BIZET: Au fond du temple saint from "Les pécheurs de perles" (Pearl Fishers Duet)
WAGNER: Rienzi - Allmacht'ger Vater blick herab
WAGNER: Wesendonck Lieder - No. 1: Der Engel
GRUBER: Silent Night
ADAM: O Holy Night
LIGUORI: Tu scendi dalle stelle
SCHUBERT: Ave Maria, D.839

ARTISTS
Joseph Calleja, tenor
Daniel Hope, solo violin (Massenet)
Étienne Dupuis, tenor (Bizet)
Malta Philharmonic Orchestra
Sergey Smbatyan