Joseph Calleja hosts programme on Malta for German TV

Tenor Joseph Calleja has been engaged by German TV station Deutsche Welle to present seven, seven-minute episodes which make up a programme about Malta to be broadcast at the end of next month.

Filming took place over five days at various locations, including Valletta, Vittoriosa, Rinella, Mdina, Manoel Island, the Blue Lagoon and tourist spots in Gozo.

Mr Calleja told The Times the programme, called Euro Max - to be broadcast worldwide in English, German and Arabic, would be great publicity for Malta.

"We tried to include as much of the islands as possible, dedicating a whole episode to Gozo, averaging eight to nine hours of shooting a day. I tried my best to do justice to our incredible history, heritage and stunning locations."

The episodes will feature fashion in Malta, cuisine, filming locations and tourism in Gozo, Malta's maritime tradition and a feature about the renowned opera singer himself.

The idea came about after one of the programme-makers saw a feature on Mr Calleja and then one on Malta. They then decided to combine the two since the tenor has a committed following in Germany.

The tenor also features on a film soundtrack CD which recently made it to number one on the Billboard Classical Chart.

The score to the restaurant comedy No Reservations, which stars Catherine Zeta-Jones and Aaron Eckhart as rival chefs, is made up largely of well-known opera arias sung by Decca artists, including the late Luciano Pavarotti. Mr Calleja sings La donna e mobile.

"It is a privilege to be included in the same soundtrack with opera legends such as Pavarotti, Carlo Bergonzi and Joan Sutherland," Mr Calleja said.

He praised the Malta Tourism Authority, HSBC and Frankie's Diving Centre in Gozo for their assistance in making the Deutsche Welle programme possible. A local film crew, led by Paul Parker, was also engaged by the station.