Preview: Macbeth, Royal Opera House, London

Macbeth_ROH.jpgA stab at the Scottish opera
By Michael Church [Independent, 16 February 2006]
When Joseph Calleja sings Macduff in the revival of Phyllida Lloyd’s production of Verdi’s Macbeth, he will be revisiting a part he first sang in the Astra theatre on the tiny Maltese island of Gozo. It will be great to do it again, he says, “and fingers crossed for my one big aria”. As the acclaimed possessor of a uniquely sweet and even tone, this young tenor need have no fears, but how he got to where he is now makes a discreetly remarkable tale.