Paul Asciak was 85 on 28 January. Isn’t that incredible? He is the delectable and intelligent Simone Cini’s granny and still as active as ever.

The CD with 17 tracks which he recently launched is already in our Top 20 and selling well abroad. Who says our lives should be over once we are 60?

Paul is an inspiration. I last saw him and his wife Bice at the Casino Maltese when Joseph Calleja was presented with the Gold Award by the President of Malta. And Paul will always be associated with Joseph Calleja. I remember hearing Joseph sing for the first time at his parents’ home, The Majors, all those years ago, with the late Budaj and of course, Paul who was his teacher and motivator was very much present and introducing him to the small group invited. How privileged I was!

This is another CD worth collecting. However, I must state my grumbles before anything else. I much prefer Paul singing in Italian than in English.

Somehow it suits his style and the arias he sings, better. Also, a couple of pages more added to the notes which accompany the CD would have allowed for a slightly bigger typeface, especially for the notes in Italian and the explanation of the 17 tracks at the back would have been more legible with a slightly bigger typeface and a stronger one. They are rather too faint.

That over I know that this CD is going to be another favourite, starting with the first track Mama Mia che vo’ sapé which carries our emotions to other spheres, the CD ending at track 17 with a duet with soprano Katarzina Rymarezyk from Verdi’s Otello.

We have Torna a Surriento, Dicitencello vule containing those Italian of Italian words of love: ‘te voglio bene, te voglio bene assai’, composed by Fusco-Falvo also the composer of I te vurria vasa. Then there is Lolita and the Victorian parlour song, Bingham-Capel’s Love, could I only tell thee? and that marvellous aria from Cilia’s L’Arlesiana: E la solita storia del pastore, also sung so beautifully by Joseph Calleja on one of his CDs and every note a wrench to one’s heart. This sort of music puts God right back on the map for me. I admire the composer and the singer who has the voice and the ability to interpret such exquisite music. Thank you Paul.

There are arias from Puccini and Verdi and all beautifully sung. Paul manages to find different vocal colours throughout the 17 tracks. One of my favourite tracks is Paul singing Giordano’s Amor ti vieta from Fedora. It is amazing how these tunes have hooked the human heart ever since they were first sung. What genius these composers had with such a gift for melody. But of course much credit has to be given to the singers who interpret them. And Paul Asciak is certainly one of them. With this CD he is going to entice a new audience I have little doubt, both here and abroad.

This CD is being sold, among other countries, in Korea and Denmark. An extensive review will soon appear in the popular magazine Opera and until today, the Wiener Staatsoper has had a full window display of Paul’s CD. The tracks were selected by that Universal man, Richard England, who knows everything there is to know about opera. The CD notes are introduced with a quote from tenor Joseph Calleja: “Tenor Paul Asciak’s voice always impressed for its virility, squillo and burnished sound that made is so ideal in the repertoire he sang successfully in the most important opera houses of his time. Meeting him, my teacher and mentor, so early on in my life was crucial for the subsequent development of my career. His experience, gained by performing opposite some of the all time greats during the end of the Golden Age of opera, was and remains invaluable to this day.”

Valentine’s Day is soon and romantics can certainly indulge in this CD with its beautiful singing and evergreen songs and arias. I would trade if for chocolate any time.

MARIE BENOIT