Among the thousands of people at the Floriana Granaries yesterday evening, 96-year-old Paul Stainer was probably Joseph Calleja’s oldest British fan.

Avid opera lover Mr Stainer, who has made the trip to Malta from London 55 times so far, flew over specifically for the tenor’s annual summer concert.

This was the third consecutive year that the man from Dulwich, south London, attended the event in Malta after he first heard a recital by Mr Calleja some 10 years ago in London.

“Mr Calleja’s name cropped up on some of my trips here over the past 20 years, and then I heard him live at the St John’s Smith Square in London. I wasn’t the only one there… He had a very good reception that night and I have followed his career ever since,” he said, smiling.

Last night’s concert included the participation of Italian singer Antonello Venditti, American singer songwriter Suzanne Vega, the BOV Children’s Choir and the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra.

For Mr Stainer, attending something that is so special to Maltese people, including his friends Alex and Angela Camilleri, is worth the big effort.

He will next see Mr Calleja in September at his local cinema, which streams the Royal Opera House operas.

The Maltese tenor will open the upcoming Royal Opera House season in a new production of Norma, which will also mark his role debut as the heroic Pollione.

For Mr Stainer, the beauty of opera is that it is an extension of watching orchestras play and it is the complete theatre of music, dialogue, production and orchestra.

Before yesterday, he last saw Mr Calleja live in January at the Royal Festival Hall in London, which incidentally marked the tenor’s birthday.

The two eventually met in 2014 following the annual event. Photograph provided by Paul Stainer

“Most people who follow opera have heard of him and probably seen him,” Mr Stainer says of the tenor, whom he met in person two years ago following the annual summer concert.

When asked about his love for music, he said: “In life, you have to be enthusiastic about something. Music is what keeps me going, and I will keep watching opera and go to classical music concerts for as long as I can physically do it.”

Mr Stainer listens to orchestra recitals at the Royal Festival Hall twice a week between September and June, and takes a break in summer.

This summer, he plans on coming again in September. He was in Malta last May and, although he is spending a couple of days here this week, Mr Stainer will come for a “proper holiday” in September.

When he first came to Malta in 1962 with his late wife Dolly, the flight included a stopover in Rome, but the eventual introduction of the direct flights made it much easier for him to fly over.