British news was temporarily dominated by Malta’s biggest export yesterday when tenor Joseph Calleja was interviewed on Sky News, ahead of the live broadcast of his La Bohème performance in London’s Trafalgar Square.

Accompanied by the creative director of London’s Royal Opera House in the familiar Sky News studio, Mr Calleja was interviewed by the equally familiar anchorman Adam Bolton, renowned for reporting on breaking political stories and presenting the news programme Boulton & Co.

Maltese viewers, who regularly tune into the popular, 24/7 British TV news channel, would have been surprised – and proud – to see the tenor.

Mr Calleja was being interviewed by the political editor for cultural reasons, in the context of his performances that started in April, where he portrays lovelorn Rodolfo in Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème at London’s Royal Opera House.

Today’s performance is being broadcast live on 27 movie screens across the UK, including Trafalgar Square in the heart of the capital.

Deborah Bull, creative director of the Royal Opera House, introduced Mr Calleja as an elite performer and one of the world’s best singers. She said today’s experience would be “fantastic”.

During the interview, which was punctuated by extracts of his performance, Mr Calleja insisted opera is for the masses. It was conceived for the people, he said, adding that, up to some time ago, it would cause fist-fights in Italy amid arguments over the best interpretations.

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