Malta’s very own Joseph Calleja, better known as the Maltese Tenor, was one of the star performers on Sunday, as Wimbledon unveiled a new £70 million (€79 million) retractable roof at its No. 1 Court.
Calleja opened the celebrations delivering a stirring and just beautiful rendition of Con te partiro, a song made famous by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli. The performance was accompanied by an orchestra and choir, as the famous tennis venue hosted a day of celebrations to reveal the new roof ahead of the summer Wimbledon championships.
Calleja also belted Giacomo Puccini’s famous song Nessun Dorma, which is no easy feat.
His performance received resounding applause, and few ‘woos’ too! The new roof took three years to build and is designed to close in under 10 minutes and allow the action on the legendary court to continue regardless of the weather. The capacity has also been increased by around 1,000 seats, rising to 12,345.
The celebrations also involved a number of exhibition matches featuring Wimbledon legends Martina Navratilova, John McEnroe, Lleyton Hewitt and Goran Ivanisevic, as well as current stars Venus Williams and Jamie Murray. English singer Paloma Faith also hit the stage to perform a quirky number during the celebrations.
Watch his opening performance of Con te partiro and then skip to 2:19:00 for Nessun Dorma: