Icilio Calleja

Maltese opera singer (usually tenor, sometimes baritone) (born June 25, 1882 on Corfu, Greece 1882 – died November 18, 1941 in Alexandria, Egypt) Of Maltese and Greek ancestry, Calleja was born on the island of Corfu, but grew up as the son of a banker in Alexandria, Egypt. He studied law at the Sorbonne in Paris, but soon turned to professional singing, taking lessons with Marco Foà in Milan. He made his professional debut in 1906 as Canio in ‘’Pagliacci’’ at the Teatro Verdi in Firenze. He performed in opera houses all over Italy, including repeatedly at La Scala in Milan, where he perfomed the role of Hagenbach in "La Wally" under Arturo Toscanini in 1907, sang the role of Don Alvaro in "La Forza del Destino" in 1908, starred as Otello in 1913 and sang in the premiere of Smareglia’s opera "Abisso" in 1914. Calleja spent most of his career in Italy, except for guest appearances in Cairo, Egypt ("Aida", 1909), the United States (with the Chicago Grand Opera Company in 1912) and Spain (Madrid and Barcelona, 1914-1915), and Malta (1919-1920, 1923). In 1917, he briefly sang baritone roles, e.g., as Tonio in "Pagliacci" and at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome as Gérard in "Andrea Chénier." He retired from the stage in 1929 and moved back to Alexandria, Egypt. Calleja made relatively few recordings: for Fonotipia, Columbia, and Pathé he recorded mostly operatic arias, including songs from Verdi's "Aida" and "Otello," Puccini's "La Fanciulla del West," Franchetti's "Germania", Giordano's "Andrea Chenier," Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci," Bizet's "Carmen," and Mascagni's "Isabeau." He also recorded the "Inno di Garibaldi."