"I am more excited to perform in Malta next summer than I am for my début at the Metropolitan Opera in New York three months later," says world-famous tenor, Joseph Calleja, who yesterday announced his upcoming and anticipated Fort Manoel concert on July 8.

The high-calibre event is yet another milestone for promoter Renaissance Productions Ltd, which, since its recent inception, has this summer already been involved in the Andrea Bocelli concert in Taormina and started off with a bang, bringing over to Malta Italian conductor Riccardo Muti.

When Mr Calleja opens his mouth you automatically almost stand to attention - the power, clarity and depth of his voice, even in an ordinary conversation, are exceptional.

"I am very excited about the Malta concert and that, finally, I have met Maltese like me who are not afraid of challenges and obstacles and who see problems as opportunities and not as barriers that cannot be overcome."

It all dates back to when Mr Calleja met RPL director Amabile Zammit, who was then organising the upcoming La Boheme concert in Gozo. "We immediately hit it off," he says of the friendship that developed between the two.

"One day, he (Mr Zammit) told me he planned to bring over Mro Muti but I was sceptical and warned him that he had just cancelled a performance at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden just like that. It was a major scandal and the news was reported in all the major media.

"You can imagine how impressed I was when two Maltese - or should I say Gozitans - managed to bring over the biggest and most popular conductor... and at the height of his career and success... Unfortunately, I could not make the event."

Fuelled by his faith in RPL, Mr Calleja "got really into this concert", which he maintains is going to be the "biggest musical event of the coming summer" and has all the right ingredients for success.

The timing of the rising star has been impeccable. He has entered the stage just when the sun is setting on heavyweights such as Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and José Carreras. And his is clearly dawning into a very bright day... Overseas, he is a crowd-puller in his own right.

Since he hit the big time, Mr Calleja's engagements have taken him to practically every major European city, where he has appeared in over 20 leading tenor roles in theatres such as the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, Vienna State Opera, Zurich Opera and Deutsche Oper Berlin among others, as well as a number of festivals.

He is also the youngest vocal artist ever to be exclusively signed on by Decca and his first album, Tenor Arias, was released in spring 2004 to critical acclaim. His second CD, The Golden Voice, has just been released this week. Future engagements include the roles of Macduff in Covent Garden and the Duke in Rigoletto at the Metropolitan Opera.

But despite these high-flying engagements, Mr Calleja is quick to say that "when I work abroad, it is not as fancy as some imagine. Of course, I stay in good hotels and there is a certain aura around opera singers. But, nowadays, things are changing. People expect an opera singer in blue jeans, if you know what I mean.

"The diva structure is slowly fading away. Of course, you have the operatic stars, but they are much more accessible today. Opera in general has become much more accessible. Prices are cheaper and it is easier to approach a singer."

And Mr Calleja is proof of that statement. He greets me enthusiastically by my first name, although we have never met, and reminds me that I had interviewed his Moldovan wife, the equally talented and successful soprano Tatiana Lisnic, at his house.

Always ready to shine the spotlight on someone else, Mr Calleja talks about the young, up-and-coming and appealing opera singers, with particular reference to the five "excellent" voices emerging from South America.

"It is a good thing because when you have so many good voices singing around the world it means there are more quality performances going out to the people and attracting more people to opera.

"Opera is clearly undergoing a renaissance... excuse the pun. And if it continues on this track it will not be a dying art. It will mutate and become more modern, with much more focus on acting and the theatrical side...

"Even though this is much harder, I think today's singers are capable of offering both to a certain extent."

In Mr Calleja's case, the voice is the most important thing. "Opera is, first and foremost, the voice. But with the right stage director, I think I can also give a very good portrayal of the character... which I hope you'll be able to see in my role in La Boheme in two weeks' time in Gozo," he anticipates.

When he returns to Malta, his roots, he is much happier, he confides. "Of course, I do not associate it with work. Malta for me is a relaxing destination; it's where I enjoy my family; it's where I enjoy my people!

"And this is why I love singing here, especially in the case of the Gozo Boheme. For us it is not really financial at all. It is just to give something back and for the joy of singing to a Maltese audience."