Popular Italian singer Claudio Baglioni said it was an honour to sing with Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja tonight, after the two met through a recording for an album released in 2009.

Baglioni yesterday landed in Malta to join Calleja, X-Factor winner Leona Lewis, internationally renowned bass baritone Bryn Terfel and young Maltese singer Federica Falzon on the Granaries in Floriana tonight.

“It is a great pleasure and honour to sing with Calleja. We got to know each other through a recording a while back for my album Q.P.G.A. Joseph did his vocal cameo beautifully.”

Baglioni has visited Malta for three solo concerts and six years ago teamed up with Riccardo Cocciante and Gianni Morandi for a concert at the Valletta Grand Harbour aimed at boosting awareness of the migration problem in the Mediterranean.

It seems like time flew and I hope we have a great night

“We had a great concert with local groups, including Ira Losco and other Maltese artists. It’s very nice to be back. It seems like time flew and I hope that we have a great night,” he told Times of Malta when he got off the plane from Rome yesterday.

The Italian singer first rose to prominence in the early 1970s with ballads like E Tu and Piccolo Grande Amore. In the 1980s he produced the critically acclaimed Strada Facendo and Avrai.

His various works include the official anthem for the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin.

In 2008, he recorded and released his version of the Maltese song L-Aħħar Bidwi f’Wied il-Għasel. Tonight, he will form part of what Calleja described as “the best line-up ever”.

The national orchestra will be directed by maestro Paul Bateman and the line-up will be backed by the Joseph Calleja BOV Children’s Choir.