The magic of Mantovani : the original recordings with Joseph Calleja

"For me, this is the best crossover album in years. It's a perfect blend of the honeyed tones of Joseph Calleja, surely the world's finest lyric tenor - set down in Malta last year - and the equally celebrated 'cascading strings' of Mantovani, captured in the early years of stereo. The opening number, Charmaine, will captivate all but the seriously cloth-eared ... Mantovani was a successful bandleader in the 1930s but really stood out in the LP era, after most of his rivals had disappeared ... It's impossible to overstate Calleja's contribution to this album. His golden voice sounds glorious throughout, and he phrases with remarkable skill to make it appear that these pieces were always vocal when, of course, Mantovani rarely used (or needed) a singer for any of his biggest hits ... Not to be missed".

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"Promotional materials for this Decca release proclaim the orchestra leader Mantovani Britain's greatest LP success before The Beatles, and indeed, his popularity in his time is rivaled only by his general obscurity in the 21st century. He's ripe for a revival, and tenor Joseph Calleja does his bit with this release. For those unfamiliar with Mantovani, his recordings were almost all instrumental, consisting of lush orchestral arrangements ... His music was designated light classical in Britain and easy listening in the U.S., but to those who loved it (and still do), it is not necessarily light or easy. The intricacy of the arrangements and the brilliance with which Mantovani realized them far exceeded those of his contemporaries. Herein lies the problem with The Magic of Mantovani: Calleja adds the lyrics of the original songs back into the original remastered instrumental tracks, and in so doing, he loses a lot of what makes Mantovani so interesting ... This said, Calleja's versions succeed on their own terms. He has a real flair for semi-popular material, which is something the operatic scene has needed for a while ... This is delightful, and it is likely that the album will satisfy Calleja's growing body of fans even as true Mantovani lovers may be less satisfied".

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