Like many of us, opera singer Joseph Calleja has been stuck at home in Malta instead of touring the globe performing for his fans.

But this Saturday he will join 40 leading artists in an ambitious virtual performance organized by New York’s Metropolitan Opera.

And to promote the At-Home Gala, he has roped in one of his biggest fans: his German Shepherd dog, Mars.

In the video he sings a note-perfect Ah Leve Toi Soleil from the opera Romeo et Juliette, pausing only for a smile when Mars licks his face.

“It was a spur of the moment thing,” he says. “They always come down to ‘listen to me practice’. I have three dogs and so far none of them has started howling mid aria.”

Calleja, who performed live from his home for Times of Malta last month, will join other global superstars for the four-hour show, live streamed for free on the Met’s website on Saturday at 7pm. 

The Met’s Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin and General Manater Peter Gelb will host from their homes in Montreal and New York City.

All the performers have pre-recorded their performances individually in their homes on the days leading up to the gala. 

The At-Home Gala is part of the Met’s urgent ‘The Voice Must Be Heard’ fundraising campaign to support the company and its future as it is in lockdown due to the coronavirus.