Plácido Domingo and Joseph Calleja thrilled a sell-out audience with a captivating repertoire of popular classics in the picture-perfect setting of Fort Manoel on Tuesday night.

Featuring as the special guest at Calleja’s 25th-anniversary concert, Domingo rolled back the years with stellar renditions of Spanish classics Granada and No Puede Ser.

Calleja brought a touch of West Side Story to the evening before the two opera stars got together to bring the crowd to their feet with performances of Torna a Surriento and Brindisi.

The Maltese tenor thanked the Spanish legend for providing him with a “goosebumps moment” after fulfilling a long-term objective to sing alongside Domingo in Malta. The two have performed together on several occasions in the past but until now never got together in Calleja’s homeland.

The spectacle at Manoel Island during the concert.

The night was also illuminated by the silky voices of Italian-American soprano Jeanette Vecchione-Donatti and mezzo-soprano Marvic Monreal, Laetitia Grimaldi Spitzer and Gillian Zammit, who also directed the BOV Children’s Choir that took part in the concert.

Domingo also jokingly turned his hand to conducting the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra while the night’s two conductors, Sergey Smbatyan and guest Ramon Tebar, were on stage together for the rousing finale.

Joseph Calleja – 25th Anniversary Concert was produced by Mint Media with the support of the Malta Tourism Authority, the European Foundation for Support of Culture, Bank of Valletta and Midi.