Joseph Calleja, the 33-year-old Maltese tenor who finished 2011 with a top-ranked solo album (The Maltese Tenor) and a Grammy nomination for his recording of La traviata with Renée Fleming, will ring in 2012 with a return to the Metropolitan Opera in the title role in Gounod's Faust, opening January 5. Calleja is the third of three leading tenors to take on the character in Tony Award-winner Des McAnuff's new-to-the-Met production this season (the two who have preceded him are Jonas Kaufmann and Roberto Alagna). With Ferruccio Furlanetto as the devil and Marina Poplavskaya as Marguerite, Calleja, "one of the finest lyric tenors before the public today" (Associated Press), will give five performances (Jan 5-19). Last season, he took on three signature roles at the Met: Rodolfo in La bohème; Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor; and the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto, the role in which he made his house debut in 2006. On the same stage, he debuted in the title role of Bartlett Sher's new production of Tales of Hoffmann, where he "gave his all, singing with ardor, stamina, and poignant vocal colorings and winning a rousing ovation" (New York Times).