Oh. My. God.
Published:
November 5, 2012 at 12:02am
51 Comments Comment
Leave a Comment
Featured Posts
-
Paltry €50,000 fine for illegal Siggiewi zoo lifted in exchange for state school visits...more
-
Owner of illegal Siggiewi zoo parties with Environment Minister one day before Planning Authority sanctions it...more
-
World Economic Forum index/Malta: public trust in politicians plummets 17 places in one year...more
-
When freeloading Clyde Puli spent 16 days at the Olympic Games in China and made us pay for it...more
-
The leader of the Nationalist Party and Miss Rebecca Dimech...more
-
Well, the Kap tal-Kattolici u l-Latini certainly has a roving eye...more
Not to pour high-grade napalm on the flames, but what do exam results count when you’re ta’ gewwa hafna with this:
http://www.mordinson.de/img/anna-netrebko.jpg
Absolutely exquisite.
Teddy of Heinekin would eat his heart out.
An excellent example of the prudishness, deference and, in the end, naiveté with which the Maltese treat their cherished celebrities.
I was at a dinner party once and the subject turned – once again – to how great and fabulous Joseph Calleja is. I was sitting there, slightly irritated by the Classic FM level of conversation, so I suggested that maybe Joseph Calleja wouldn’t be a household name if he didn’t cover the Sicily, 1900 repertoire of which the Maltese are so fond.
“How can you say that,” fumed an uncle of mine, “Joseph Calleja sang with Anna Netrebko!”
“Sang, you say? Just sang?” I quipped.
This confused everyone. “At the Metropolitan,” ventured one venerable great-aunt.
I sighed, gave up and attacked the wine bottle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh7MbbeuHXo
Wrong link .
Sorry, this is what I wanted to share ….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhTexhW8Ykc
X’haseb Joseph Calleja li hu biss jifhem fl-opri? Eh mela, Franco Debono mhux opra ta’ Verdi qed jaghmel jew?
Ahjar jagmel opra ta’ karita u jisparixxi.
The best he can do is soap opera. In fact, his career has progressed from the soap box (remember the priedka tat-tifel?) to the soap opera.
La forza del destino
U mela. Bl-ghagir tieghu, Franco sar qisu prima donna. U qed jaghmel hafna arja.
I feel ill when I realise Dr Debono was voted in by a majority in his district. Reading his blog is not only an offence to one’s intelligence but to the party and to the nation.
I was just reading this comment and was sure you’d report it. Where does his ego stop? Sky is the limit?
That is what Churchill meant when he praised democracy in theory but which in practice disappears as soon as one tries to hold a five minute intelligent conversation with most voters.
I’d choose performing in front of thousands in the world’s best cities any day over a law degree from the University of Malta and days spent at the Valletta law courts and on the beat round Valletta’s streets.
Oh come on, who in his right mind would skip Uni and be seen walking into higher secondary just to end up performing on stages all over the world? Higher secondary ta, taf x’int tghid?
Dottor Debono, if nothing else, you are hilarious.
How many pickpockets does Debono have to defend in court to make up ONE fee Joseph Calleja charges for ONE performance at the Met? At Albert Hall, at La Scala and other opera houses around Europe and N America?
And how many mentions does he have to get in law reports on the inside pages of The Times of Malta to alleviate his anger at the international press coverage Calleja gets?
This guy is certainly not government material. Tal-misthija.
Today, for the first time in my life, I felt pity for Franco Debono when I read what he wrote about Joseph Calleja, our national treasure.
Really, the man should travel more, open his mind a bit and rid himself of his damned village mentality.
I realised who Joseph Calleja really was when once, many years ago, I was travelling to Monte Carlo through Nice. There was a taxi strike and my wife and I offered to share the only taxi available with a lady who seemed to be stranded at the airport and who resided in Monte Carlo. We started talking, as civilised people do, and when this lady came to know that we were Maltese the first thing she said was:
“Oh my God! Then you must know Joseph Calleja!! He will be a top tenor in the near future”. She when on to explain what a wonderful young gentleman this Joseph Calleja is and what a shame it was that we did not know him personally. Later on she told us that her husband was the musical director of the Vienna Staatsoper, no less.
The second time I felt really proud to be Maltese because of Joseph Calleja was three years ago when my wife and I were guests at the gala night at the Royal Opera House for the performance of Simon Boccanegra. Joseph Calleja was singing with the Maestro himself, Placido Domingo. It being a Gala Performance the audience was made up of seasoned opera fanatics and the creme de la creme of international society from around the world, myself excepted. The audience stopped the performance twice with its applause, and you guessed it: on both occasions it was for Joseph Calleja.
This was not at some village parish hall; this was the gala performance at The Royal Opera House. After the performance we were guests to dinner with the main singers, also at the Royal Opera House, sitting at the head table with the sponsors of the event.
When someone informed Joseph Calleja that amongst the guests there was a couple from Malta he immediately came up to us and embraced us as if we had known him forever. And this was the man who had been the evening’s hero, literally the talk of the (London) town.
When, a year later, we were again guests at the gala performance at The Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, this time for Tosca, we could not believe ourselves: guests were still talking about the magnificent performance by Joseph Calejja and what a shame it was that this great tenor was not with us on that occasion as well.
The above is not what I read in the international press but my personal experience. But just to put matters in perspective, in the history of opera only two maestros were received at the Metropolitan in New York the way Joseph Caleja was, and both of them are now teaching the angels how to sing. Yes, such is the greatness of our national treasure, and that is why he takes it all in his stride, and remains as affable and as adorable a young man as ever.
I travel. I travel far and I travel wide, and I travel very, very often. The only Maltese person I have ever been asked about (in a positive way) is Joseph Calleja.
Do I explain myself clearly enough why I feel real pity for the man who thinks he can degrade our national treasure just because The Maestro has chosen to develop his God-given unique gift to extraordinary levels rather than become an insignificant village lawyer defending criminals?
One does not have to be a village lawyer to do a world first by singing three different operas in one week; one has to be a genius. Not even the greatest of the great have done that.
Yes, Joseph Calleja is not only a superstar by any standard. He is not only, and more importantly, a real gentleman who truly loves his country and his fellow countrymen.
Joseph Calleja has proven to the world that his intelligence is of genius level; witness his learning the arguably one of the most difficult operas, Simon Boccanegra, in just two weeks and giving a show stopping performance on the most prestigious stage in Europe.
The man who dared try to degrade our national treasure has proven only one thing: those whom the Gods choose to destroy, they first drive mad.
I read the above and can only think “kudos to Lawrence Gonzi and the PN for never giving Franco a ministerial post and for barring him from contesting elections.”
Let Franco’s blog be a real-time permanent reminder of how his psyche malfunctions.
@Ken
Yes, we voted for this piece of shit. How could we have known him? He was an unknown quantity, but we wanted change from the same old tired faces in our district. I think we paid the price and learned our lesson.
in his replies to the Joseph Calleja post, Franco refers to Joseph’s operatic repertoire as ‘songs’!
Now if Bizet, Puccini et al. had Franco’s demeanour they would be turning in their graves, but I’m sure they’ll excuse him for the poor sod he is.
Oh dear – What a hopeless, empty vessel.
Who says that to be intelligent or gifted, one has to graduate from university?
If one needs proof we have our sample Franco who toiled to get his LLD, and proves beyond doubt that rote-learning gets you a degree.
The University of Malta thought it fit to honour Joseph Calleja and it should be grateful that he accepted the honour.
Suffice to say that with all his excellent from II results and his law degree, Franco Debono is known only within Malta’s shores for his political buffunati, whilst Joseph Calleja, who left formal education at 16, is world-renowned and acclaimed to be one of the few famous tenors who performed at the most prestigious venues in New York, London, Milan, Vienna, etc.
Win or lose for the PN, Franco, we will soon forget that you ever existed, and the clock is ticking.
Try and prolong this charade as much as possible for your own sake before you are assigned to the Hal Ghaxaq/Gudja wilderness.
Debono is proof that our electoral system does not work.
I think he is proof that our electoral system does work.
Franco is not an exception in the Maltese islands.
I have followed Franco Debono’s blog and also written in to him on the subject – but he has not published or responded to the challenges.
He has this crazy notion that the only people worthy of leadership are those that have been to University. Worse still everyone else ‘huwa guar-rimi’ – they can go onto the scrapheap of civilisation.
What Franco fails to understand is that not everyone had the opportunity to go to university. Those of us who completed our Sixth Form in the late 70s had the option of student/worker schemes and in the case of medical students (what I aspired to) it meant cleaning toilets and whitewashing hospital wards. The alternative was to go overseas to complete your university education. Little problem if your father was an ordinary ‘worker’. I know many parents who sold their only assets to put their children through University.
Others, like me, ended up kicking and screaming on the other side of the world because my father worked for a parastatal and had his work conditions severely reduced when the Govt took over. Being forcefully remove from the home and community you were brought up in at the age of 18 is no joke. It is one thing to choose to emigrate and quite another when you have no real option.
You land on your feet and thanks to your upbringing you work hard and forge a career in your own right. You succeed and achieve much. After your first job they stopped asking for qualifications – they were after capability not results. My work life overseas taught me everything I know professionally. No university would have given me the experience and training I received there.
We used to take on graduates and congratulate them on their qualifications – we knew they were capable of a higher level of learning but frankly their university training was not going to make a huge difference to their working life per se. We didn’t care if their qualification was in chemistry or in politics – we wanted bright people with good minds – but we did not ignore those who were bright but did not go to university.
We celebrated great minds that made great contributions to our operation. Those that worked and lead bet than others were promoted and I, for one, made it to the dizzying heights of senior corporate management. No one cared if you had a degree or not.
This is where I have a serious problem, not only with Franco (but he takes the cake), but also with this obsession in Malta to demand a university degree for just about any job. There are jobs which need technical university training – Law and medicine and geology etc are examples. But there are other fields where I would prefer a great performer who is not qualified to a university trained professor who is incapable of leading or performing in a commercial environment – it is all horses for courses.
Joseph Calleja is but one example of someone who performs brilliantly and is one of a handful that are at the top of their profession. He could have studied at university for years – it would not make an iota difference to his performance – his tailored training for his ‘job’ is what was required – not academic training.
Like Joseph Calleja there are Maltese businessmen who have hit the dizzying heights of mega success – with or without a university degree. (Daphne maybe you can mention some Maltese business men who have been hugely successful but dont have a degree – not sure who they are but doubt that Bertie Mizzi, Joe Gasan and the Panta guys have degrees).
This is where Franco is a sad fellow. Not only does he look down on the rest of us that have not been to university but he thinks that his law training gives him a monopoly on good ideas. The Steve Jobs of this world had no university degrees – but they achieved greatness.
This is what the world, and Malta needs, great ideas by visionaries – and we don’t give a damn if they have a university degree. A brain is a brain and the sooner we capitalise on what is available rather than what is printed on a piece of paper, the better off we will be. It is about time Malta woke up to this reality – to embrace our resource and not discriminate against it arbitrarily because of a piece of paper. After all, what we achieve in Form II does not necessarily form where we get to later in life.
Oh Franco , you can stuff your immortal Form II result up your backside .
Bill Gates was a school drop-out. You wish you can achieve a zillionth what he achieved.
Your comment about Joseph Calleja just shows the envy, HDURA, you have towards anyone who is successful.
There is only one word to describe you – monster. The sooner you seek therapy the better for you.
And Simon Busuttil has an “amicable chat” with this miserable worm. Aaaagh.
Franco, Joseph and Joseph shared the same class at St. Aloysius’s College. There is more to this than meets the eye.
[Daphne – Rubbish. Calleja is just 33. He’s years younger than Muscat and Debono.]
And Joseph Calleja is ex-De La Salle.
Sean: Joseph Calleja was at De La Salle College, not St Aloysius.
Joseph Calleja went to De La Salle not St Aloysius’ College.
http://www.facebook.com/joseph.calleja.7?fref=ts
Oh dear Franco. Try not to show how truly shallow you are.
Different people are good at different things and at different levels. It’s what makes the world so diverse and interesting to live in.
Maybe this example can help you understand this concept better:
Two men are from the ‘south’, both do reasonably well in school (maybe one better than the other), both study at St. Aloysius College, both enter University and study law.
However that’s where comparisons end. One becomes a well respected Minister and the perfect gentleman, the other remains an ill-mannered jerk and the most derided person in Malta.
True, comparisons are odious, but since you insist on comparing yourself to all, there’s a comparison for you.
And another thing, I prefer Joseph Calleja a zillion times over, with higher secondary education (what’s wrong with that?) and international recognition, to your miserable self.
In no time he will be calling him ‘bicca tenur’.
“Ghannej mal-banda.”
` Nanu ` ghax Franco ghandu l-giant brain u l-big achievements f`Form 2C .
Franco’s life motto:
“When you hit rock bottom, keep digging”
Typical chav mentality: Certuffikati biss.
OMG, indeed. He wrote yet another post on the subject. And then he doesn’t want us to call him sick.
“They would have loved harder, and maybe told you ‘Fil-kant kont tajjeb, pero fl-iskola TUBA!’”
Oh yes, they would have LOVED harder at the Jesuits Church. Who’s the buffu now.
Missek tisthi, Franco, b’dan il-kumment u qed nikteb bil-Malti biex zgur tifhem ghax l-Ingliz tieghek xejn ma jimpressjona.
Izjed u izjed m’hemmx post ghalik fil-PN meta dan il-gvern qed jinkludi lil kulhadd fis-sistema edukattiva.
Jigifieri ghalik min ma jasalx sas-sixth form ma jiswa xejn. Veru jmissek tisthi!
U veru nispera li taqrah dan il-kumment u tirrispondini. Kieku qieghed hdejja daqqa ta’ harta naghtik. Veru baxx u pastaz.
Risposta brillanti! Leli
Franco Debono will be trying to set up a website of his own to rival http://www.josephcalleja.com
But what will he put in it?
His form 2 report.
La tlaqna, tlaqna.
Please allow me to ask: Where is Franco Debono’s family? Where are his friends (if he has any)? Does anybody care about him? He needs help, and fast.
The man is clearly bananas.
He does a great disservice to those who seek honest change within the Nationalist Party.
He is abhorred by both the conservative and liberal factions of the party. If anything, the upcoming elections will flush him down the toilet of history, hopefully once and for all. That would be quite a relief in itself.
“If anything, the upcoming elections will flush him down the toilet of history, hopefully once and for all. ”
His only hope of salvation lies with Silvio Parnis.
Joseph Calleja’s name will long be remembered in history. Franco Debono, who’s he?
Lawyers are being churned out in an assembly line fashion. By comparison, a Joseph Calleja is a rarity and never similarly mass-produced.
Believe me, even lawyers are ashamed to have Franco Debono in their midst.