Life was reasonably boring lately. You know the feeling I'm sure; work slowly permeates all areas until it takes over. Too busy to diet, too busy to exercise, too busy to relax. I had to put a stop to all this nonsense and claim back some time for myself in a radical way (that's me ;) )

So I said to myself  ... why not try Rock Climbing?

These guys worked their magic on me.  I really had a great time and strongly recommend this stress busting experience. I never visualised Malta from a rock climbing perspective and can now tell you that Malta is a paradise for climbers! I also made new friends who are definitely planning to come again next summer and just for climbing!

So if you're under the weather and caught in the rat race - get a grip and try it out.

It really helped me kick start my metabolism back into shape and I am now on healthier foods and jogging regularly. I can't wait for my next rock climbing adventure.

Thank you  http://www.mcadventure.com.mt     You Rock!

Today its general election day in Malta

Today its general election day in Malta.

May this beautiful country be inspired by its brand Ambassador, Malta's world renowned tenor Joseph Calleja. Humble, talented and filled with honest love and admiration for his Maltese roots; yet Joseph would not have achieved what he achieved had it not been for the social fabric that surrounded him. Joseph was discovered by his piano teacher while he was fooling around with his voice. The teacher encouraged him to nurture his voice/talent and also got him in touch with seasoned Maltese tenor Paul Asciak. In Paul's own words.

"It was eleven years ago that Joseph Calleja first walked into my studio. He had been introduced by his piano teacher, who had asked me to give him an audition. With all the over-enthusiasm of youth, he announced the pieces he wanted to sing. At the age of sixteen it was not surprising that he chose songs from Mario Lanza’s film repertoire and the taxing “Nessun dorma”. With all the experience and responsibility of my seventy-one years, I hesitated as to whether I should allow him to proceed with his choice … but it is difficult to curb youthful enthusiasm! After a few bars of the evergreen Be My Love, even if sung in pushed tones, it was evident that this was a voice of unique beauty, but obviously an instrument which needed careful and disciplined teaching over a long period. Calleja’s voice, even at this tender age, had a rich baritone quality in its middle register, with a rather white tone in its upper range. It was even difficult to ascertain whether he would eventually end up as a baritone or tenor. What on the other hand was obvious, was that with the right rigorous study this raw material could develop into an exceptional and outstanding voice.

It was here that I had to reach back to my own experience both as singer and teacher. Although my own voice was very much a heavyspinto, it was always a voice with a penchant for singing belcanto. This was part of the vocal technique which had been passed on to me in my youth by my first teacher, a local Maltese tenor who had the privilege of studying with Bavagnoli, who in turn had coached and tutored none other than the great Aureliano Pertile. This sound technique, based on parameters established by singers of the Golden Age, was further reinforced by a period of study under the tenor Dino Borgioli, himself a great exponent of lyrical and belcanto singing. All this knowledge was now to be passed over to the youthful Calleja. Initially my tutelage was very much devoted to what he was not to do, rather than to what he should do. Like any modern youth, the young Calleja wanted quick results. At such an early age it was better for him to sing less and listen more, and much of our time was therefore spent listening to the recordings of the great tenors of the past such as Anselmi, Bonci, Schipa, early Gigli and Tagliavini, with all their distinctive techniques and legato school of singing. This was of course supplemented by the normal technical exercises and some occasional seventeenth and eighteenth-century arias. This ensured that Joseph’s tuition developed on a sound technical basis, with an exact placing of the voice, correct breathing technique and a sustained elegance of line.

Over a period of three years Joseph’s voice assumed many of the qualities of this old school of singing, and developed beautifully into a light, flexible and mellow instrument with both a distinctive timbre and a promising ringing top. After an initial introduction in a series of private recitals, at the age of nineteen he was offered the role of Macduff in a local production of Verdi’s Macbeth. It was not, of course, the ideal role at this early period of his career, but this debut demonstrated an already remarkable stage presence, and his Ah! La paterna mano earned him much praise and merited applause. A year later Joseph appeared in concert performances in Reggio Calabria, Italy, and as our study sessions continued, his stage appearances further added to his confidence. His participation in numerous vocal competitions, in all of which he was amongst the winners, manifested his exceptional initial promise. In the Plácido Domingo Operalia in 1998 in Hamburg he had a successful start and was forecast a certain winner. Unfortunately he contracted a virus and we had to return to Malta. The great tenor, however, had obviously been impressed by what he had heard and a week later we received an invitation to be present at the final Gala Night. Back in Hamburg, Joseph was invited to participate in the Operalia in 1999 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. As the youngest male participant there he was one of the winners, and Domingo invited him for performances of Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia in Washington, which he undertook during the following year.

Gradually, this young tenor has established a firm international reputation. Performing in the world’s leading opera houses, always in roles appropriate to his vocal qualities, Calleja has proved to possess a voice which is today justly considered to be amongst the most exciting available. Essentially it is a medium-sized lyrical instrument, which however has the characteristic of cutting through the orchestra that the Italians refer to as “una voce che corre bene in teatro”. Perhaps essentially he is very much the ideal Donizetti tenor. As Riccardo Chailly commented in the notes accompanying Calleja’s first Decca recital release, the voice is earmarked by a Golden Age character, “a sound harking back to a quality I thought we had long lost”. It is a voice with a wonderful predisposition to sing legato, a voice which also boasts a rare quality in today’s tenor voices: the ability to spin out melting dreamlike diminuendos. During our lessons I would work with Calleja to sing every note of the tenor’s range and produce diminuendos on each and every note. Fortunately, it is also a voice which seems to have little difficulty with the passaggio, the tenor’s notorious transition from chest to head voice.

To end, may I express my sense of great satisfaction that I have somehow contributed to the development of Joseph’s God-given natural gift. In wishing him further success in his career, I join the proud people of my native island home, which has already produced other internationally recognized singers, in the hope of the fulfillment of the dream of one day having one of the world’s leading tenors hailing from our land. From the quality of Calleja’s singing in this recital it seems we are not far from achieving this.

Paul Asciak  11th Mar 2012"

Quoted from http://josephcalleja.com/2012/03/11/paul-asciak-on-joseph-calleja/

Let us therefore hope that today's as well as all future generations, all keep this important social fabric close to heart. May we firmly believe that no man is an island and that time-tested values like strong families, faith and culture really do make that difference to everybody's lives by producing that genuine interest and honest love for each other and for Malta. A social fabric that keep Malta alive and healthy. May God bless Malta and keep her shining.