José Carreras
Encyclopedia
Josep Maria Carreras i Coll (ʒuˈzɛp kəˈreɾəs; born 5 December 1946), better known as José Carreras (xoˈse kaˈreɾas), is a Spanish
Catalan
tenor
particularly known for his performances in the opera
s of Verdi and Puccini. Born in Barcelona
, he made his debut on the opera stage at the age of 11 as Trujamán in Manuel de Falla
's El retablo de Maese Pedro and went on to a career that encompassed over 60 roles on the stages of the world's leading opera houses and in the recording studio.
He gained fame with a wider audience as one of The Three Tenors
along with Plácido Domingo
and Luciano Pavarotti
in a series of mass concerts that began in 1990 and continued until 2003. Carreras is also known for his humanitarian
work as the president of the José Carreras International Leukaemia Foundation (La Fundació Internacional Josep Carreras per a la Lluita contra la Leucèmia), which he established following his own recovery from the disease in 1988.
, a working class district in Barcelona
, Spain. In 1951, his family emigrated to Argentina
in an unsuccessful search for a better life. However, within a year they had returned to Sants where Carreras was to spend the rest of his childhood and teenage years.
He showed an early talent for music and particularly singing, which intensified at the age of 6 when he saw Mario Lanza
in The Great Caruso
. The story recounted in his autobiography and numerous interviews is that after seeing the film, Carreras sang the arias incessantly to his family, especially 'La donna è mobile'
, often locking himself in the family's bathroom when they became exasperated with his impromptu concerts. At that point, his parents, with the encouragement of his grandfather Salvador Coll, an amateur baritone, found the money for music lessons for him. At first he studied piano and voice with Magda Prunera, the mother of one of his childhood friends, and at the age of 8, he also started taking music lessons at Barcelona's Municipal Conservatory.
At the age of 8, he also gave his first public performance, singing 'La donna è Mobile' accompanied by Magda Prunera on the piano, on Spanish National Radio. A recording of this still exists and can be heard on the video biography, José Carreras – A Life Story. On 3 January 1958, at the age of 11, he made his debut in Barcelona's great opera house, the Gran Teatre del Liceu, singing the boy soprano role of Trujamán in Manuel de Falla
's El retablo de Maese Pedro. A few months later, he sang for the last time as a boy soprano
at the Liceu in the second act of La Bohème
.
Throughout his teenage years, he continued to study music, moving on to the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu
and taking private voice lessons, first with Francisco Puig and later with Juan Ruax, whom Carreras has described as his "artistic father". Following the advice of his father and brother, who felt that he needed a 'back-up ' career, he also entered the University of Barcelona
to study chemistry, but after two years he left the university to concentrate on singing.
, which opened on 8 January 1970. Although only a minor role, the few phrases he sang caught the attention of the production's leading lady, the eminent soprano and fellow Catalan
, Montserrat Caballé
. She asked him to sing Gennaro with her in Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia
, which opened on 19 December 1970. It was his first principal adult role, and the one which he considers to be his true debut as a tenor. In 1971, he made his international debut in a concert performance of Maria Stuarda
in London's Royal Festival Hall
, again with Caballé singing the title role. Caballé was instrumental in promoting and encouraging his career for many years, appearing in over 15 different operas with him, while her brother and manager, Carlos Caballé, was also Carreras's manager until the mid-1990s.
During the 1970s Carreras's career progressed rapidly. In late 1971, he won first prize in Parma
's prestigious Voci Verdiane competition which led to his Italian debut as Rodolfo in La bohème
at the Teatro Regio di Parma
on 12 January 1972. Later that year he made his American debut as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly
with the New York City Opera
. Other major house debuts followed – the San Francisco Opera
in 1973, as Rodolfo; the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company
in 1973, as Alfredo in La traviata
; the Vienna Staatsoper in 1974, as the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto
; London's Royal Opera House
in 1974, as Alfredo; the New York Metropolitan Opera
in 1974, as Cavaradossi in Tosca
; and La Scala
, Milan in 1975, as Riccardo in Un ballo in maschera
. By the age of 28, he had already sung the tenor lead in 24 different operas in both Europe and North America, and had an exclusive recording contract with Philips
, which resulted in valuable recordings of several less often performed Verdi operas, notably Il Corsaro
, I due Foscari
, La battaglia di Legnano
, Un giorno di regno
, and Stiffelio
.
Carreras's leading ladies during the 1970s and 1980s included some of the most famous soprano
s and mezzo-sopranos of the day: Montserrat Caballé
, Birgit Nilsson
, Viorica Cortez
, Renata Scotto
, Ileana Cotrubas
, Sylvia Sass
, Teresa Stratas
, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa
, Frederica von Stade
, Agnes Baltsa
, Teresa Berganza
, and Katia Ricciarelli
. His artistic partnership with Ricciarelli began when they both sang in the 1972 La bohème at Parma and lasted for 13 years, both in the recording studio and on stage. They later made a studio recording of La bohème for Philips Classics
and can be heard together on over 12 other commercial recordings of both operas and recitals, predominantly on the Philips and Deutsche Grammophon
labels.
Of the many conductors he worked with during this period, the one with whom Carreras had the closest artistic relationship and who had the most profound influence on his career was Herbert von Karajan
. He first sang under Karajan in the Verdi Requiem at Salzburg
on 10 April 1976, with their final collaboration in a 1986 production of Carmen
, again at Salzburg. With Karajan's encouragement, he increasingly moved towards singing heavier lirico-spinto
roles, including Aïda
, Don Carlos
, and Carmen, which some critics have said were too heavy for his natural voice and may have shortened his vocal prime. (See the section on Carreras's voice.)
The 1980s saw Carreras occasionally moving outside the strictly operatic repertoire, at least in the recording studio, with recitals of songs from zarzuela
, musicals
, and operetta
s. He also made full-length recordings of two musicals – West Side Story (1985) and South Pacific
(1986) – both with Kiri Te Kanawa
as his co-star. His 1987 Philips recording of the Argentine folk mass, Misa Criolla, conducted by its composer, Ariel Ramirez
, brought the work to a worldwide audience. Although many of Carreras's stage performances are available on video, he also ventured into film. In 1986, he portrayed the 19th century Spanish tenor Julián Gayarre
in Romanza Final (The Final Romance) and in 1987, he started working on a film version of La bohème directed by Luigi Comencini
.
It was during the filming of La bohème in Paris that he was found to be suffering from acute lymphoblastic leukemia
and given a 1 in 10 chance of survival. However, he recovered from the disease after undergoing a gruelling treatment involving chemotherapy
, radiation therapy and an autologous bone marrow transplant
at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
in Seattle. Following his recovery, he gradually returned to both the operatic and the concert stage, embarking on a tour of come-back recitals in 1988 and 1989 and singing with Montserrat Caballé in Medea
(Mérida, 1989) and in the world premiere of Balada's Cristóbal Colón (Barcelona, 1989)
The 1990s continued to see Carreras performing on the operatic stage in Carmen
and Fedora
and making role debuts in Samson et Dalila (Peralada
, 1990), Verdi's Stiffelio
(London, 1993), and Wolf-Ferrari
's Sly
(Zurich, 1998). However, his opera performances became less frequent as he increasingly devoted himself to concerts and recitals. His final performance in a fully staged opera was on 12 July 2002 in Tokyo, where he reprised the title role in Sly, while his final operatic performances at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, the opera house where his career began, were in Samson et Dalila (March 2001).
In 1990 the first Three Tenors
concert, took place in the Baths of Caracalla
in Rome on the eve of the 1990 FIFA World Cup
finals. It was originally conceived to raise money for Carreras's leukemia foundation and as a way for his colleagues, Plácido Domingo
and Luciano Pavarotti
, to welcome their "little brother" back to the world of opera. However, it and the subsequent Three Tenors concerts brought Carreras a fame that went far beyond the opera house. It is estimated that over a billion people around the world watched the television broadcast of the 1994 Three Tenors concert in Los Angeles. By 1999, the CD from the first Three Tenors concert in Rome had sold an estimated 13 million copies, making it the best-selling classical recording of all time. The early 1990s also saw Carreras serving as the Musical Director for the opening and closing ceremonies of 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games
, and performing in a worldwide concert tour in tribute to his first singing hero, Mario Lanza
.
Carreras's recording and concert repertoire has now moved almost entirely into Neapolitan songs, the light classical genre, and 'easy-listening'. He has also increasingly performed and recorded with artists from outside the classical music world, such as Diana Ross
, Edyta Górniak
, Lluis Llach
, Peter Maffay
, Udo Jürgens
, Klaus Meine
, Charles Aznavour
, Kim Styles
, Sarah Brightman
, Sissel Kyrkjebø
, Debbie Harry
, Majida El Roumi
, and Giorgia Fumanti
.
Following his own recovery from leukemia
, Carreras sought both to repay the debt he owed to medical science and to improve the lives and care of other leukemia sufferers. On 14 July 1988, he established the José Carreras International Leukemia Foundation (Fundació Internacional Josep Carreras per a la Lluita contra la Leucèmia) in Barcelona
. The foundation, which publishes a tri-monthly magazine on its activities, Amigos de la Fundación, concentrates its efforts in four main areas:
The José Carreras International Leukaemia Foundation also has affiliates in the U.S., Switzerland, and Germany, with the German affiliate the most active of the three. Since 1995, Carreras has presented an annual live television benefit gala in Leipzig
to raise funds for the foundation's work in Germany. Since its inception, the gala alone has raised well over €
71 million. Carreras also performs at least 20 charity concerts a year in aid of his foundation and other medical related charities. He is an Honorary Member of the European Society for Medicine and the European Haematology Association, an Honorary Patron of the European Society for Medical Oncology, and a Goodwill Ambassador for UNESCO
.
and Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur
(France); Gran Croce di Cavaliere
and Grande Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana
; Grand Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria
; the Cruz de Oro del Orden Civil de la Solidaridad Social from Queen Sofia of Spain
, The Prince of Asturias Prize, and the Bundesverdienstkreuz
from the Federal Republic of Germany. On 23 February 2004, the Austrian Post Office issued a 1€
stamp to commemorate the 30th anniversary of his debut at the Vienna Staatsoper.
He has Honorary Doctorates from the University of Barcelona
and Miguel Hernández University (Spain); Napier
, Loughborough
and Sheffield
universities (United Kingdom); the Mendeleev Russian University of Chemistry and Technology (Russia); the University of Camerino
(Italy); Rutgers University
(United States); the University of Coimbra (Portugal); the National University of Music Bucharest
(Romania); Philipps-Universität Marburg (Germany); the University of Pécs
(Hungary) and most recently, the Hyunghee University (Korea) and the University of Porto
(Portugal).
In Spain the central plaza in Sant Joan d'Alacant
bears his name, as do two theatres – the Auditori Josep Carreras in Vila-seca (near Tarragona
) and The Teatro Josep Carreras in Fuenlabrada
.
, and when the Franco
government came into power in 1939, he was no longer allowed to teach. His mother, Antonia Coll i Saigi, ran a small hair-dressing salon, where, as a child, Carreras often sang to the customers in return for pocket money. He was very close to his mother, who was convinced that he would one day be a great singer, and her death from cancer when he was only 18 affected him greatly. In José Carreras: A Life Story, he said that "even now, every time I go on stage, I always, always, have a quick thought for her." In 1971 Carreras married Mercedes Pérez. They had two children: a son, Albert (born in 1972), and a daughter, Julia (born in 1978). The marriage ended in divorce in 1992. In 2006, Carreras married Jutta Jäger, but separated from her in 2011. Carreras's nephew, David Giménez Carreras
, is a conductor and Director of the Orquestra Simfònica del Vallès
. He has conducted many of Carreras's concerts since the late 1990s as well as his opera performances in Sly at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in June 2000.
In its prime, Carreras's voice was considered one of the most beautiful tenor
voices of the day. The Spanish critic, Fernando Fraga has described it as a lyric tenor
with the generosity of a spinto
, having "a noble timbre
, richly coloured and sumptuously resonant". This is particularly true of the middle range of his voice. Fraga also noted, as has Carreras himself, that even in his youth the high notes of the tenor range were always somewhat problematic for him, and became more so as his career progressed. Like his idol, Giuseppe di Stefano
, Carreras was also known for the beauty and expressiveness of his phrasing and for his passionate delivery. These qualities are perhaps best exemplified in his 1976 recording of Tosca
with Montserrat Caballé
in the title role and conducted by Sir Colin Davis.
According to several critics his assumption of the heavier spinto roles such as Andrea Chénier
, Don José in Carmen
, Don Carlo, and Alvaro in La forza del destino
put a strain on his naturally lyric instrument which may have caused the voice to prematurely darken and lose some of its bloom. Nevertheless he produced some of his finest performances in those roles. The Daily Telegraph wrote of his 1984 Andrea Chénier at London's Royal Opera House
: "Switching effortlessly from the lyric poet Rodolfo in La Bohème a few weeks ago to the heroic poet Chenier, the Spanish tenor's vocal artistry held us spellbound throughout." Of his 1985 performance in Andrea Chénier at La Scala
(preserved on DVD), Carl Battaglia wrote in Opera News
that Carreras dominated the opera "with formidable concentration and a cleverly refined vocal accent that imparts to this spinto role an overlay of intensity lacking in his essentially lyric tenor." However, Carl H. Hiller's review of the La Scala performance in Opera
also noted that while in the quiet phrases of the score "he could display all the tonal mellowness of which this perhaps most beautiful tenor voice of our time is capable", he had difficulty with the high loud notes, which sounded strained and uneasily produced. Critic Peter G. Davis wrote of Carreras' choice to continue his career:
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....
Catalan
Catalan people
The Catalans or Catalonians are the people from, or with origins in, Catalonia that form a historical nationality in Spain. The inhabitants of the adjacent portion of southern France are sometimes included in this definition...
tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
particularly known for his performances in the opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
s of Verdi and Puccini. Born in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, he made his debut on the opera stage at the age of 11 as Trujamán in Manuel de Falla
Manuel de Falla
Manuel de Falla y Matheu was a Spanish Andalusian composer of classical music. With Isaac Albéniz, Enrique Granados and Joaquín Turina he is one of Spain's most important musicians of the first half of the 20th century....
's El retablo de Maese Pedro and went on to a career that encompassed over 60 roles on the stages of the world's leading opera houses and in the recording studio.
He gained fame with a wider audience as one of The Three Tenors
The Three Tenors
The Three Tenors is a name given to the Spanish singers Plácido Domingo and José Carreras and the Italian singer Luciano Pavarotti who sang in concert under this banner during the 1990s and early 2000s. The trio began their collaboration with a performance at the ancient Baths of Caracalla, in...
along with Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo KBE , born José Plácido Domingo Embil, is a Spanish tenor and conductor known for his versatile and strong voice, possessing a ringing and dramatic tone throughout its range...
and Luciano Pavarotti
Luciano Pavarotti
right|thumb|Luciano Pavarotti performing at the opening of the Constantine Palace in [[Strelna]], 31 May 2003. The concert was part of the celebrations for the 300th anniversary of [[St...
in a series of mass concerts that began in 1990 and continued until 2003. Carreras is also known for his humanitarian
Humanitarianism
In its most general form, humanitarianism is an ethic of kindness, benevolence and sympathy extended universally and impartially to all human beings. Humanitarianism has been an evolving concept historically but universality is a common element in its evolution...
work as the president of the José Carreras International Leukaemia Foundation (La Fundació Internacional Josep Carreras per a la Lluita contra la Leucèmia), which he established following his own recovery from the disease in 1988.
Early years
The youngest of three children, Carreras was born in SantsSants
Sants is a neighborhood in the southern part of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Formerly an industrial town on the plain bordering Barcelona, known as Santa Maria de Sants, it belongs nowadays to the district of Sants-Montjuïc and is bordered by the districts of Eixample to the northeast, Les Corts to...
, a working class district in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Spain. In 1951, his family emigrated to Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
in an unsuccessful search for a better life. However, within a year they had returned to Sants where Carreras was to spend the rest of his childhood and teenage years.
Mario Lanza
right|thumb|[[MGM]] still, circa 1949Mario Lanza was an American tenor and Hollywood movie star of the late 1940s and the 1950s. The son of Italian emigrants, he began studying to be a professional singer at the age of 16....
in The Great Caruso
The Great Caruso
The Great Caruso is a 1951 biographical film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by Richard Thorpe and produced by Joe Pasternak with Jesse L. Lasky as associate producer from a screenplay by Sonya Levien and William Ludwig. The original music was by Johnny Green and the cinematography by...
. The story recounted in his autobiography and numerous interviews is that after seeing the film, Carreras sang the arias incessantly to his family, especially 'La donna è mobile'
La donna è mobile
"La donna è mobile" is the cynical Duke of Mantua's canzone from Giuseppe Verdi's opera Rigoletto . The inherent irony is that it is the callous playboy Duke himself who is mobile...
, often locking himself in the family's bathroom when they became exasperated with his impromptu concerts. At that point, his parents, with the encouragement of his grandfather Salvador Coll, an amateur baritone, found the money for music lessons for him. At first he studied piano and voice with Magda Prunera, the mother of one of his childhood friends, and at the age of 8, he also started taking music lessons at Barcelona's Municipal Conservatory.
At the age of 8, he also gave his first public performance, singing 'La donna è Mobile' accompanied by Magda Prunera on the piano, on Spanish National Radio. A recording of this still exists and can be heard on the video biography, José Carreras – A Life Story. On 3 January 1958, at the age of 11, he made his debut in Barcelona's great opera house, the Gran Teatre del Liceu, singing the boy soprano role of Trujamán in Manuel de Falla
Manuel de Falla
Manuel de Falla y Matheu was a Spanish Andalusian composer of classical music. With Isaac Albéniz, Enrique Granados and Joaquín Turina he is one of Spain's most important musicians of the first half of the 20th century....
's El retablo de Maese Pedro. A few months later, he sang for the last time as a boy soprano
Boy soprano
A boy soprano is a young male singer with an unchanged voice in the soprano range. Although a treble, or choirboy, may also be considered to be a boy soprano, the more colloquial term boy soprano is generally only used for boys who sing, perform, or record as soloists, and who may not necessarily...
at the Liceu in the second act of La Bohème
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
.
Throughout his teenage years, he continued to study music, moving on to the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu
Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu
Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu is a music college in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was created in 1837 with the name Liceo Filo-dramático de Montesión....
and taking private voice lessons, first with Francisco Puig and later with Juan Ruax, whom Carreras has described as his "artistic father". Following the advice of his father and brother, who felt that he needed a 'back-up ' career, he also entered the University of Barcelona
University of Barcelona
The University of Barcelona is a public university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia in Spain. It is a member of the Coimbra Group, LERU, European University Association, Mediterranean Universities Union, International Research Universities Network and Vives Network...
to study chemistry, but after two years he left the university to concentrate on singing.
1970s and 1980s
Juan Ruax encouraged Carreras to audition for what was to become his first tenor role at the Liceu, Flavio in NormaNorma (opera)
Norma is a tragedia lirica or opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini with libretto by Felice Romani after Norma, ossia L'infanticidio by Alexandre Soumet. First produced at La Scala on December 26, 1831, it is generally regarded as an example of the supreme height of the bel canto tradition...
, which opened on 8 January 1970. Although only a minor role, the few phrases he sang caught the attention of the production's leading lady, the eminent soprano and fellow Catalan
Catalan people
The Catalans or Catalonians are the people from, or with origins in, Catalonia that form a historical nationality in Spain. The inhabitants of the adjacent portion of southern France are sometimes included in this definition...
, Montserrat Caballé
Montserrat Caballé
Montserrat Caballé is a Spanish operatic soprano. Although she sang a wide variety of roles, she is best known as an exponent of the bel canto repertoire, notably the works of Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti and Verdi....
. She asked him to sing Gennaro with her in Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia
Lucrezia Borgia (opera)
Lucrezia Borgia is a melodramma, or opera, in a prologue and two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto after the play by Victor Hugo, in its turn after the legend of Lucrezia Borgia. Lucrezia Borgia was first performed on 26 December 1833 at La Scala, Milan with...
, which opened on 19 December 1970. It was his first principal adult role, and the one which he considers to be his true debut as a tenor. In 1971, he made his international debut in a concert performance of Maria Stuarda
Maria Stuarda
Maria Stuarda is a tragic opera, , in two acts, by Gaetano Donizetti, to a libretto by Giuseppe Bardari, based on Friedrich Schiller's 1800 play Maria Stuart....
in London's Royal Festival Hall
Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. It is a Grade I listed building - the first post-war building to become so protected...
, again with Caballé singing the title role. Caballé was instrumental in promoting and encouraging his career for many years, appearing in over 15 different operas with him, while her brother and manager, Carlos Caballé, was also Carreras's manager until the mid-1990s.
During the 1970s Carreras's career progressed rapidly. In late 1971, he won first prize in Parma
Parma
Parma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its ham, its cheese, its architecture and the fine countryside around it. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....
's prestigious Voci Verdiane competition which led to his Italian debut as Rodolfo in La bohème
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
at the Teatro Regio di Parma
Teatro Regio di Parma
Teatro Regio di Parma is a famous 19th century opera house and opera company in Parma, Italy. The theatre was originally known as the Teatro Ducale....
on 12 January 1972. Later that year he made his American debut as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. Puccini based his opera in part on the short story "Madame Butterfly" by John Luther Long, which was dramatized by David Belasco...
with the New York City Opera
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
. Other major house debuts followed – the San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera is an American opera company, based in San Francisco, California.It was founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola and is the second largest opera company in North America...
in 1973, as Rodolfo; the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company
Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company
The Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company was an American opera company located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that was active between 1958 and 1974. The company was led by a number of Artistic Directors during its history, beginning with Aurelio Fabiani. Other notable Artistic Directors include Julius...
in 1973, as Alfredo in La traviata
La traviata
La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La dame aux Camélias , a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The title La traviata means literally The Fallen Woman, or perhaps more figuratively, The Woman...
; the Vienna Staatsoper in 1974, as the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto
Rigoletto
Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. It was first performed at La Fenice in Venice on March 11, 1851...
; London's Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
in 1974, as Alfredo; the New York Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
in 1974, as Cavaradossi in Tosca
Tosca
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900...
; and La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
, Milan in 1975, as Riccardo in Un ballo in maschera
Un ballo in maschera
Un ballo in maschera , is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi with text by Antonio Somma. The libretto is loosely based on an 1833 play, Gustave III, by French playwright Eugène Scribe who wrote about the historical assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden...
. By the age of 28, he had already sung the tenor lead in 24 different operas in both Europe and North America, and had an exclusive recording contract with Philips
Philips Records
Philips Records is a record label that was founded by Dutch electronics company Philips. It was started by "Philips Phonographische Industrie" in 1950. Recordings were made with popular artists of various nationalities and also with classical artists from Germany, France and Holland. Philips also...
, which resulted in valuable recordings of several less often performed Verdi operas, notably Il Corsaro
Il corsaro
Il corsaro is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi, from a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on Lord Byron's poem The Corsair...
, I due Foscari
I due Foscari
I due Foscari is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on a historical play, The Two Foscari by Lord Byron....
, La battaglia di Legnano
La battaglia di Legnano
La battaglia di Legnano is an opera in four acts, with music by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian-language libretto by Salvadore Cammarano. It was based on the play La Bataille de Toulouse by Joseph Méry. The opera received its first performance on 27 January 1849, at the Teatro Argentina, Rome...
, Un giorno di regno
Un giorno di regno
Un giorno di regno, ossia il finto Stanislao is an operatic melodramma giocoso in two acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on the play Le faux Stanislas by Alexandre Vincent Pineu-Duval...
, and Stiffelio
Stiffelio
Stiffelio is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi, from an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the play Le pasteur, ou L'évangile et le foyer by Émile Souvestre and Eugène Bourgeois...
.
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
s and mezzo-sopranos of the day: Montserrat Caballé
Montserrat Caballé
Montserrat Caballé is a Spanish operatic soprano. Although she sang a wide variety of roles, she is best known as an exponent of the bel canto repertoire, notably the works of Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti and Verdi....
, Birgit Nilsson
Birgit Nilsson
right|thumb|Nilsson in 1948.Birgit Nilsson was a celebrated Swedish dramatic soprano who specialized in operatic and symphonic works...
, Viorica Cortez
Viorica Cortez
Viorica Cortez is a noted Romanian-born mezzo-soprano, later French by naturalisation. Starting her operatic and concert career in the mid-1960s, she went on to become one of the most prominent female performers of the '70s and '80s...
, Renata Scotto
Renata Scotto
Renata Scotto is an Italian soprano and opera director.Recognized for her sense of style, musicality and as a remarkable singer-actress, Scotto is considered one of the preeminent singers of her generation, specializing in the bel canto repertoire with excursions into the verismo and Verdi...
, Ileana Cotrubas
Ileana Cotrubas
Ileana Cotrubaş is a Romanian opera soprano whose career spanned from the 1960s to the 1980s. She was much admired for her acting skills and facility for singing opera in many different languages.-Biography:...
, Sylvia Sass
Sylvia Sass
Sylvia Sass is a Hungarian operatic soprano who has sung leading roles both in her native country and internationally.-Life and career:...
, Teresa Stratas
Teresa Stratas
Teresa Stratas, OC , is a retired Canadian operatic soprano. She is especially well-known for her award-winning recording of Alban Berg's Lulu.-Early life and career:...
, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa
Kiri Te Kanawa
Dame Kiri Jeanette Te Kanawa, ONZ, DBE, AC is a New Zealand / Māori soprano who has had a highly successful international opera career since 1968. Acclaimed as one of the most beloved sopranos in both the United States and Britain she possesses a warm full lyric soprano voice, singing a wide array...
, Frederica von Stade
Frederica von Stade
Frederica von Stade is an American mezzo-soprano. Born in Somerville, New Jersey, she acquired the nickname "Flicka" in her childhood. Von Stade attended the Mannes College of Music in New York City. She made her debut with the Metropolitan Opera in 1970 and in 1971 appeared as Cherubino in The...
, Agnes Baltsa
Agnes Baltsa
Agnes Baltsa is a leading Greek mezzo-soprano.Baltsa was born in Lefkada. She began playing piano at the age of six, before moving to Athens in 1958 to concentrate on singing...
, Teresa Berganza
Teresa Berganza
Teresa Berganza, born on March 16, 1935), is a Spanish mezzo-soprano. She is most closely associated with the roles of Rossini, Mozart, and Bizet. She is admired for her technical virtuosity, musical intelligence and beguiling stage presence.- Biography :...
, and Katia Ricciarelli
Katia Ricciarelli
-Biography:Born at Rovigo, Veneto, to a very poor family, she struggled during her younger years when she studied music.She studied at the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory in Venice, won several vocal competitions in 1968, and made her professional debut as Mimì in La bohème in Mantua in 1969,...
. His artistic partnership with Ricciarelli began when they both sang in the 1972 La bohème at Parma and lasted for 13 years, both in the recording studio and on stage. They later made a studio recording of La bohème for Philips Classics
Philips Records
Philips Records is a record label that was founded by Dutch electronics company Philips. It was started by "Philips Phonographische Industrie" in 1950. Recordings were made with popular artists of various nationalities and also with classical artists from Germany, France and Holland. Philips also...
and can be heard together on over 12 other commercial recordings of both operas and recitals, predominantly on the Philips and Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon is a German classical record label which was the foundation of the future corporation to be known as PolyGram. It is now part of Universal Music Group since its acquisition and absorption of PolyGram in 1999, and it is also UMG's oldest active label...
labels.
Of the many conductors he worked with during this period, the one with whom Carreras had the closest artistic relationship and who had the most profound influence on his career was Herbert von Karajan
Herbert von Karajan
Herbert von Karajan was an Austrian orchestra and opera conductor. To the wider world he was perhaps most famously associated with the Berlin Philharmonic, of which he was principal conductor for 35 years...
. He first sang under Karajan in the Verdi Requiem at Salzburg
Salzburg Festival
The Salzburg Festival is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer within the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart...
on 10 April 1976, with their final collaboration in a 1986 production of Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
, again at Salzburg. With Karajan's encouragement, he increasingly moved towards singing heavier lirico-spinto
Spinto
Spinto is a vocal term used to characterize a soprano or tenor voice of a weight between lyric and dramatic that is capable of handling large musical climaxes in opera at moderate intervals...
roles, including Aïda
Aida
Aida sometimes spelled Aïda, is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette...
, Don Carlos
Don Carlos
Don Carlos is a five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French language libretto by Camille du Locle and Joseph Méry, based on the dramatic play Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien by Friedrich Schiller...
, and Carmen, which some critics have said were too heavy for his natural voice and may have shortened his vocal prime. (See the section on Carreras's voice.)
The 1980s saw Carreras occasionally moving outside the strictly operatic repertoire, at least in the recording studio, with recitals of songs from zarzuela
Zarzuela
Zarzuela is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular song, as well as dance...
, musicals
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
, and operetta
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
s. He also made full-length recordings of two musicals – West Side Story (1985) and South Pacific
South Pacific (musical)
South Pacific is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. The story draws from James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 book Tales of the South Pacific, weaving together characters and elements from several of its...
(1986) – both with Kiri Te Kanawa
Kiri Te Kanawa
Dame Kiri Jeanette Te Kanawa, ONZ, DBE, AC is a New Zealand / Māori soprano who has had a highly successful international opera career since 1968. Acclaimed as one of the most beloved sopranos in both the United States and Britain she possesses a warm full lyric soprano voice, singing a wide array...
as his co-star. His 1987 Philips recording of the Argentine folk mass, Misa Criolla, conducted by its composer, Ariel Ramirez
Ariel Ramirez
Ariel Ramírez was an Argentine composer, pianist and music director. He was considered "a chief exponent of Argentine folk music" and noted for his "iconic" musical compositions....
, brought the work to a worldwide audience. Although many of Carreras's stage performances are available on video, he also ventured into film. In 1986, he portrayed the 19th century Spanish tenor Julián Gayarre
Julián Gayarre
Sebastián Julián Gayarre Garjón , better known as Julián Gayarre, was a Spanish opera singer who created the role of Marcello in Donizetti's Il Duca d'Alba and Enzo in Ponchielli's La Gioconda.Although he faced strong competition for this title from the likes of Roberto Stagno, Italo Campanini,...
in Romanza Final (The Final Romance) and in 1987, he started working on a film version of La bohème directed by Luigi Comencini
Luigi Comencini
Luigi Comencini was an Italian film director. Together with Dino Risi, Ettore Scola and Mario Monicelli, he was considered among the masters of the commedia all'italiana genre....
.
It was during the filming of La bohème in Paris that he was found to be suffering from acute lymphoblastic leukemia
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is a form of leukemia, or cancer of the white blood cells characterized by excess lymphoblasts.Malignant, immature white blood cells continuously multiply and are overproduced in the bone marrow. ALL causes damage and death by crowding out normal cells in the bone...
and given a 1 in 10 chance of survival. However, he recovered from the disease after undergoing a gruelling treatment involving chemotherapy
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with an antineoplastic drug or with a combination of such drugs into a standardized treatment regimen....
, radiation therapy and an autologous bone marrow transplant
Bone marrow transplant
Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is the transplantation of multipotent hematopoietic stem cell or blood, usually derived from bone marrow, peripheral blood stem cells, or umbilical cord blood...
at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, is one of the world’s leading cancer research institutes...
in Seattle. Following his recovery, he gradually returned to both the operatic and the concert stage, embarking on a tour of come-back recitals in 1988 and 1989 and singing with Montserrat Caballé in Medea
Médée (Cherubini)
Médée is a French language opéra-comique by Luigi Cherubini.The libretto by François-Benoît Hoffmann was based on Euripides' tragedy of Medea and Pierre Corneille's play Médée....
(Mérida, 1989) and in the world premiere of Balada's Cristóbal Colón (Barcelona, 1989)
1990 – present
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
and Fedora
Fedora (Giordano)
Fedora is an opera in three acts by Umberto Giordano to an Italian libretto by Arturo Colautti, based on the play Fédora by Victorien Sardou. Along with Andrea Chénier and Siberia, it is one of the most notable works of Giordano...
and making role debuts in Samson et Dalila (Peralada
Peralada
Peralada is a village in province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. It was the home of the Frankish Counts of Perelada who controlled this portion of the Marca Hispanica before becoming part of the lands held by the Count of Barcelona....
, 1990), Verdi's Stiffelio
Stiffelio
Stiffelio is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi, from an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the play Le pasteur, ou L'évangile et le foyer by Émile Souvestre and Eugène Bourgeois...
(London, 1993), and Wolf-Ferrari
Wolf-Ferrari
Wolf-Ferrari:* Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, born: Ermanno Wolf , an Italian composer and teacher** List of operas by Wolf-Ferrari* Manno Wolf-Ferrari , an Italian conductor, and a nephew of Ermanno- See also :...
's Sly
Sly
-People:* Sly Stone , American musician and frontman for Sly & the Family Stone* Sylvester Stallone , American actor* Sly Bailey , British businesswoman, chief executive of Trinity Mirror, UK's largest newspaper publisher, and non-executive director of EMI* Sly Dunbar , Jamaican drummer* Sylvain...
(Zurich, 1998). However, his opera performances became less frequent as he increasingly devoted himself to concerts and recitals. His final performance in a fully staged opera was on 12 July 2002 in Tokyo, where he reprised the title role in Sly, while his final operatic performances at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, the opera house where his career began, were in Samson et Dalila (March 2001).
In 1990 the first Three Tenors
The Three Tenors
The Three Tenors is a name given to the Spanish singers Plácido Domingo and José Carreras and the Italian singer Luciano Pavarotti who sang in concert under this banner during the 1990s and early 2000s. The trio began their collaboration with a performance at the ancient Baths of Caracalla, in...
concert, took place in the Baths of Caracalla
Baths of Caracalla
The Baths of Caracalla in Rome, Italy were Roman public baths, or thermae, built in Rome between AD 212 and 216, during the reign of the Emperor Caracalla.- History :...
in Rome on the eve of the 1990 FIFA World Cup
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
finals. It was originally conceived to raise money for Carreras's leukemia foundation and as a way for his colleagues, Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo KBE , born José Plácido Domingo Embil, is a Spanish tenor and conductor known for his versatile and strong voice, possessing a ringing and dramatic tone throughout its range...
and Luciano Pavarotti
Luciano Pavarotti
right|thumb|Luciano Pavarotti performing at the opening of the Constantine Palace in [[Strelna]], 31 May 2003. The concert was part of the celebrations for the 300th anniversary of [[St...
, to welcome their "little brother" back to the world of opera. However, it and the subsequent Three Tenors concerts brought Carreras a fame that went far beyond the opera house. It is estimated that over a billion people around the world watched the television broadcast of the 1994 Three Tenors concert in Los Angeles. By 1999, the CD from the first Three Tenors concert in Rome had sold an estimated 13 million copies, making it the best-selling classical recording of all time. The early 1990s also saw Carreras serving as the Musical Director for the opening and closing ceremonies of 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
, and performing in a worldwide concert tour in tribute to his first singing hero, Mario Lanza
Mario Lanza
right|thumb|[[MGM]] still, circa 1949Mario Lanza was an American tenor and Hollywood movie star of the late 1940s and the 1950s. The son of Italian emigrants, he began studying to be a professional singer at the age of 16....
.
Carreras's recording and concert repertoire has now moved almost entirely into Neapolitan songs, the light classical genre, and 'easy-listening'. He has also increasingly performed and recorded with artists from outside the classical music world, such as Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
, Edyta Górniak
Edyta Górniak
Edyta Górniak is one of the most popular female singers from Poland.- Beginnings :At the age of 14 Górniak formed a band and was playing at private parties and evening dances. After taking singing lessons, in 1989, aged 16, she gave her first public appearance on a Polish television talent show...
, Lluis Llach
Lluís Llach
Lluís Llach i Grande is a Catalan composer and songwriter.Though partially dependent on arrangers, like Manel Camp or Carles Cases in his early works, Llach's songwriting has largely evolved from the more basic early compositions to a vastly more complex harmonic and melodic writing...
, Peter Maffay
Peter Maffay
Peter Alexander Makkay better known as Peter Maffay is a German musician.- Biography :Born in Brasov, Romania, the son of a German , he was 14 when his family relocated to his parents' Germany in 1963. In the same year, he started his first band, The Dukes...
, Udo Jürgens
Udo Jürgens
Udo Jürgens is an Austrian composer and singer of popular music whose career spans over fifty years...
, Klaus Meine
Klaus Meine
Klaus Meine is a German singer, best known as the lead vocalist and occasional rhythm guitarist of the heavy metal band Scorpions...
, Charles Aznavour
Charles Aznavour
Charles Aznavour, OC is an Armenian-French singer, songwriter, actor, public activist and diplomat. Besides being one of France's most popular and enduring singers, he is also one of the best-known singers in the world...
, Kim Styles
Kim Sozzi
Kim Sozzi is an American dance-pop singer originally from Long Island, New York.-Career:Kim Sozzi's career began in 1999 when she signed a contract on Columbia Records for her first major album, Life Goes On. Her first single from the album was "Til I Cry You Out Of Me", followed by "Letting Go"...
, Sarah Brightman
Sarah Brightman
Sarah Brightman is an English classical crossover soprano, actress, songwriter and dancer. She is famous for possessing a vocal range of over 3 octaves and singing in the whistle register...
, Sissel Kyrkjebø
Sissel Kyrkjebø
Sissel Kyrkjebø , also simply known as Sissel, is a Norwegian soprano.Sissel is considered one of the world's top crossover sopranos. Sissel's musical style runs the gamut from pop recordings and folk songs, to classical vocals and operatic arias...
, Debbie Harry
Debbie Harry
Deborah Ann "Debbie" Harry is an American singer-songwriter and actress, best known for being the lead singer of the punk rock and new wave band Blondie. She has also had success as a solo artist, and in the mid-1990s she performed and recorded as part of The Jazz Passengers...
, Majida El Roumi
Majida El Roumi
Magida El-Roumi was born in Kfarshima, Lebanon, on December 13, 1956. She is a Lebanese singer and a soprano, who started her musical career in the early 1970s when she participated in the talent show, Studio El Fan on Télé Liban and won the gold medal for best female singer...
, and Giorgia Fumanti
Giorgia Fumanti
Giorgia Fumanti is an Italian soprano , composer, producer and arranger now based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Her music is best compared to that of Andrea Bocelli, Sarah Brightman and Enya. Her debut EMI album "From My Heart" reached the top 20 on the Billboard Crossover Chart...
.
Humanitarian work
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
, Carreras sought both to repay the debt he owed to medical science and to improve the lives and care of other leukemia sufferers. On 14 July 1988, he established the José Carreras International Leukemia Foundation (Fundació Internacional Josep Carreras per a la Lluita contra la Leucèmia) in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
. The foundation, which publishes a tri-monthly magazine on its activities, Amigos de la Fundación, concentrates its efforts in four main areas:
- Development of clinical research into the cure and treatment of leukemia through scholarships and research grants.
- Campaigns to increase bone marrow and cord bloodCord bloodUmbilical cord blood is blood that remains in the placenta and in the attached umbilical cord after childbirth. Cord blood is collected because it contains stem cells which can be used to treat hematopoietic and genetic disorders.-Collection:...
donation for leukemia patients requiring transplants, along with the operation of REDMO, the Spanish national registry of bone marrow donors.
- Strengthening of the research and clinical infrastructures in both leading international institutions and hospitals and laboratories in the developing world.
- Provision of social services to leukemia patients and their families, including free accommodation near transplant centres.
The José Carreras International Leukaemia Foundation also has affiliates in the U.S., Switzerland, and Germany, with the German affiliate the most active of the three. Since 1995, Carreras has presented an annual live television benefit gala in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
to raise funds for the foundation's work in Germany. Since its inception, the gala alone has raised well over €
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
71 million. Carreras also performs at least 20 charity concerts a year in aid of his foundation and other medical related charities. He is an Honorary Member of the European Society for Medicine and the European Haematology Association, an Honorary Patron of the European Society for Medical Oncology, and a Goodwill Ambassador for UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
.
Awards and distinctions
Carreras has received numerous awards and distinctions for both his artistic and humanitarian work. These include: Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des LettresOrdre des Arts et des Lettres
The Ordre des Arts et des Lettres is an Order of France, established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture, and confirmed as part of the Ordre national du Mérite by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963...
and Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
(France); Gran Croce di Cavaliere
Italian orders of merit
There are five orders of knighthood awarded in recognition of service to the Italian Republic. Below these sit a number of other decorations, associated and otherwise, that do not confer knighthoods...
and Grande Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana
Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic was founded as the senior order of knighthood by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi in 1951...
; Grand Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria
Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria
The Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria...
; the Cruz de Oro del Orden Civil de la Solidaridad Social from Queen Sofia of Spain
Queen Sofía of Spain
Queen Sofía of Spain is the wife of King Juan Carlos I of Spain.-Early life and family:Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark was born in Psychiko, Athens, Greece on 2 November 1938, the eldest child of the King Paul of Greece and his wife, Queen Frederika , a former princess of Hanover...
, The Prince of Asturias Prize, and the Bundesverdienstkreuz
Bundesverdienstkreuz
The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany is the only general state decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has existed since 7 September 1951, and between 3,000 and 5,200 awards are given every year across all classes...
from the Federal Republic of Germany. On 23 February 2004, the Austrian Post Office issued a 1€
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
stamp to commemorate the 30th anniversary of his debut at the Vienna Staatsoper.
He has Honorary Doctorates from the University of Barcelona
University of Barcelona
The University of Barcelona is a public university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia in Spain. It is a member of the Coimbra Group, LERU, European University Association, Mediterranean Universities Union, International Research Universities Network and Vives Network...
and Miguel Hernández University (Spain); Napier
Napier University
Edinburgh Napier is one of the largest higher education institutions in Scotland with over 17,000 students, including nearly 5,000 international students, from more than 100 nations worldwide.-History:...
, Loughborough
Loughborough University
Loughborough University is a research based campus university located in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, in the East Midlands of England...
and Sheffield
University of Sheffield
The University of Sheffield is a research university based in the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It is one of the original 'red brick' universities and is a member of the Russell Group of leading research intensive universities...
universities (United Kingdom); the Mendeleev Russian University of Chemistry and Technology (Russia); the University of Camerino
University of Camerino
The University of Camerino is a university located in Camerino, Italy. It claims to have been founded in 1336, was officially recognized by the Pope in 1727, and is organized into five faculties.-History:...
(Italy); Rutgers University
Rutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
(United States); the University of Coimbra (Portugal); the National University of Music Bucharest
National University of Music Bucharest
The National University of Music Bucharest is a university-level school of music located in Bucharest, Romania. Established as a school of music in 1863 and reorganized as an academy in 1931, it has functioned as a public university since 2001...
(Romania); Philipps-Universität Marburg (Germany); the University of Pécs
University of Pécs
The University of Pécs is the Hungarian university with the largest number of students and faculties.-History:...
(Hungary) and most recently, the Hyunghee University (Korea) and the University of Porto
University of Porto
The University of Porto is a Portuguese public university located in Porto, and founded 22 March 1911. It is the largest Portuguese university by number of enrolled students and has one of the most noted research outputs in Portugal...
(Portugal).
In Spain the central plaza in Sant Joan d'Alacant
Sant Joan d'Alacant
Sant Joan d'Alacant is a municipality belonging to Alicante metropolitan area, in the southeast of Valencian Community, Spain. It is the geographic center of the Old Garden of Alicante. Its limits are with the settled areas of Alicante , Mutxamel and El Campello...
bears his name, as do two theatres – the Auditori Josep Carreras in Vila-seca (near Tarragona
Tarragona
Tarragona is a city located in the south of Catalonia on the north-east of Spain, by the Mediterranean. It is the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and the capital of the Catalan comarca Tarragonès. In the medieval and modern times it was the capital of the Vegueria of Tarragona...
) and The Teatro Josep Carreras in Fuenlabrada
Fuenlabrada
Fuenlabrada is a city and municipality located in the Madrid Metropolitan Area, Community of Madrid, Spain. It is located to the southwest of the community, 22,5 km far from the capital, and had a population of 197,836 in 2009. Is the fourth biggest town of Madrid after the capital, Móstoles...
.
Family
Throughout his childhood in Barcelona, Carreras's father, Josep Carreras i Soler, worked as a traffic policeman. He had originally been a French teacher. However, he had fought on the Republican side during the Spanish Civil WarSpanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
, and when the Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
government came into power in 1939, he was no longer allowed to teach. His mother, Antonia Coll i Saigi, ran a small hair-dressing salon, where, as a child, Carreras often sang to the customers in return for pocket money. He was very close to his mother, who was convinced that he would one day be a great singer, and her death from cancer when he was only 18 affected him greatly. In José Carreras: A Life Story, he said that "even now, every time I go on stage, I always, always, have a quick thought for her." In 1971 Carreras married Mercedes Pérez. They had two children: a son, Albert (born in 1972), and a daughter, Julia (born in 1978). The marriage ended in divorce in 1992. In 2006, Carreras married Jutta Jäger, but separated from her in 2011. Carreras's nephew, David Giménez Carreras
David Giménez Carreras
David Giménez Carreras is a Spanish conductor. He is the Music Director of the Orquestra Simfònica del Vallès. and a principal guest conductor of the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra...
, is a conductor and Director of the Orquestra Simfònica del Vallès
Vallès Symphony Orchestra
The Orquestra Simfònica del Vallès , founded in 1987, is a symphony orchestra based in Sabadell, Spain. The principal conductor of the orchestra is Rubén Gimeno.- See also :* Barcelona Symphony and Catalonia National Orchestra* L'auditori* Sabadell...
. He has conducted many of Carreras's concerts since the late 1990s as well as his opera performances in Sly at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in June 2000.
Voice
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
voices of the day. The Spanish critic, Fernando Fraga has described it as a lyric tenor
Voice type
A voice type is a particular kind of human singing voice perceived as having certain identifying qualities or characteristics. Voice classification is the process by which human voices are evaluated and are thereby designated into voice types...
with the generosity of a spinto
Spinto
Spinto is a vocal term used to characterize a soprano or tenor voice of a weight between lyric and dramatic that is capable of handling large musical climaxes in opera at moderate intervals...
, having "a noble timbre
Timbre
In music, timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices and musical instruments, such as string instruments, wind instruments, and percussion instruments. The physical characteristics of sound that determine the...
, richly coloured and sumptuously resonant". This is particularly true of the middle range of his voice. Fraga also noted, as has Carreras himself, that even in his youth the high notes of the tenor range were always somewhat problematic for him, and became more so as his career progressed. Like his idol, Giuseppe di Stefano
Giuseppe Di Stefano
Giuseppe Di Stefano was an Italian operatic tenor who sang professionally from the late 1940s until the early 1990s. He was known as the "Golden voice" or "The most beautiful voice", as the true successor of Beniamino Gigli...
, Carreras was also known for the beauty and expressiveness of his phrasing and for his passionate delivery. These qualities are perhaps best exemplified in his 1976 recording of Tosca
Tosca
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900...
with Montserrat Caballé
Montserrat Caballé
Montserrat Caballé is a Spanish operatic soprano. Although she sang a wide variety of roles, she is best known as an exponent of the bel canto repertoire, notably the works of Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti and Verdi....
in the title role and conducted by Sir Colin Davis.
According to several critics his assumption of the heavier spinto roles such as Andrea Chénier
Andrea Chénier
Andrea Chénier is a verismo opera in four acts by the composer Umberto Giordano, set to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica. It is based loosely on the life of the French poet, André Chénier , who was executed during the French Revolution....
, Don José in Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
, Don Carlo, and Alvaro in La forza del destino
La forza del destino
La forza del destino is an Italian opera by Giuseppe Verdi. The libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on a Spanish drama, Don Álvaro o la fuerza del sino , by Ángel de Saavedra, Duke of Rivas, with a scene adapted from Friedrich Schiller's Wallensteins Lager. It was first performed...
put a strain on his naturally lyric instrument which may have caused the voice to prematurely darken and lose some of its bloom. Nevertheless he produced some of his finest performances in those roles. The Daily Telegraph wrote of his 1984 Andrea Chénier at London's Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
: "Switching effortlessly from the lyric poet Rodolfo in La Bohème a few weeks ago to the heroic poet Chenier, the Spanish tenor's vocal artistry held us spellbound throughout." Of his 1985 performance in Andrea Chénier at La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
(preserved on DVD), Carl Battaglia wrote in Opera News
Opera News
Opera News is an American classical music magazine. It has been published since 1936 by the Metropolitan Opera Guild, a non-profit organization located at Lincoln Center which was founded to support the Metropolitan Opera of New York City...
that Carreras dominated the opera "with formidable concentration and a cleverly refined vocal accent that imparts to this spinto role an overlay of intensity lacking in his essentially lyric tenor." However, Carl H. Hiller's review of the La Scala performance in Opera
Opera (magazine)
Opera is a monthly British magazine devoted to covering all things related to opera.Based in London, the magazine was founded in 1950 by George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood. It was launched at the house of Richard Buckle, under the imprint 'Ballet Publications Ltd'...
also noted that while in the quiet phrases of the score "he could display all the tonal mellowness of which this perhaps most beautiful tenor voice of our time is capable", he had difficulty with the high loud notes, which sounded strained and uneasily produced. Critic Peter G. Davis wrote of Carreras' choice to continue his career:
Even critics hostile to the Three Tenors phenomenon draw the veil of charity over Carreras's charmless contributions to those mechanized events, hesitating to point out that his voice lost its luster and lyric beauty long before its owner fell ill. Yet that unpleasant fact never seems to dampen the enthusiasm of his fans, who may be less interested in music and expressive singing than in applauding triumph over adversity.
Recordings
Listed below is a representative selection of notable commercial recordings from the peak years of José Carreras's career. He has an extremely large discography and videography, which also includes many performances preserved on private recordings. The complete list of recordings through 1999 is available on Carreras's official web site (see External links).Complete operas
- Bizet: Carmen (Agnes Baltsa, José Carreras, Leona Mitchell, Samuel Ramey, The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, James Levine) DVD Deutschegrammophon 73000
- Donizetti: L'elisir d'amore (Katia Ricciarelli, José Carreras, Leo Nucci, Susanna Rigacci, Domenico Trimarchi, Coro della RAI di Torino, Orchestra Sinfonica Della Rai Di Torino, Claudio Scimone) CD Philips 00289 475 4422
- Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor (Montserrat Caballé, José Carreras, Samuel Ramey, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Jesús López-Cobos) CD Philips 00289 470 4212
- Giordano: Andrea Chénier (José Carreras, Piero Cappuccilli, Eva Marton, Nella Verri, Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Riccardo Chailly) DVD Kultur ISBN 0-7697-8050-4
- Halévy: La Juive (June Anderson, Julia Varady, José Carreras, Philharmonia Orchestra, Antonio Almeida) CD Philips 00289 475 7629
- Massenet: Werther (José Carreras, Frederica Stade, Isobel BuchananIsobel BuchananIsobel Buchanan is a Scottish operatic soprano.-Early life and career:Isobel Buchanan was born in Glasgow, Scotland. In 1971, she received a scholarship to the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, where in 1974, she was awarded with Student of the Year prize...
, Thomas Allen, Robert Lloyd, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Colin Davis) CD Philips 00289 475 7567 - Puccini: La Bohème (Katia Ricciarelli, José Carreras, Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Colin Davis) CD Philips 00289 442 2602
- Puccini: Manon Lescaut (Kiri Te Kanawa, José Carreras, Paolo Coni, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Riccardo Chailly) CD Decca 460-750-2
- Puccini: Madama Butterfly (Mirella Freni, Teresa Berganza, José Carreras, Juan Pons, Philharmonia Orchestra, Giuseppe Sinopoli) CD Deutsche Grammophon 423 5672
- Puccini: Tosca (Montserrat Caballé, José Carreras, Ingvar Wixell, Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Colin Davis) CD Philips 00289 464 7292
- Saint-Saëns: Samson et Dalila (Agnes Baltsa, José Carreras, Jonathan Summers, Simon Estes, Paata Burchuladze, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Sir Colin Davis) CD Philips 000289 475 8706
- Verdi: Un ballo in maschera (Montserrat Caballé, José Carreras, Ingvar Wixell, Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Colin Davis) CD Philips 00289 470 5862
- Verdi: Il Corsaro (Montserrat Caballé, Jessye Norman, José Carreras, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Lamberto Gardelli) CD Philips 00289 475 6769
- Verdi: Don Carlo (José Carreras, Agnes Baltsa, Fiamma Izzo D'amico, Piero Cappuccilli, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan) DVD Sony Classical 48312
- Verdi: I due Foscari ( José Carreras, Piero Cappuccilli, Katia Ricciarelli, Samuel Ramey, ORF Symphony Orchestra, Lamberto Gardelli, CD Philips 422426
- Verdi: La forza del destino (Sesto Bruscantini, José Carreras, Montserrat Caballé, Piero Cappuccilli, Nicolai Ghiaurov, Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Giuseppe Patané) CD Myto 984192
- Verdi: Un giorno di regno (Jessye Norman, Fiorenza Cossotto, José Carreras, Ingvar Wixell, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Lamberto Gardelli) CD Philips 00289 475 6772
- Verdi: I lombardi alla prima crociata (José Carreras, Ghena Dimitrova, Carlo Bii, Silvano Carroli, Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Gianandrea GavazzeniGianandrea GavazzeniGianandrea Gavazzeni was an Italian pianist, conductor , composer and musicologist.Gavazzeni was born in Bergamo. For almost 50 years, starting from 1948, he was principal conductor at La Scala, Milan, in 1966-68 being its music and artistic director.He had his Metropolitan Opera debut on 11...
) DVD Kultur 2036 - Verdi: Simon Boccanegra (Piero Cappuccilli, Mirella Freni, José Carreras, Nicolai Ghiaurov, José van Dam, Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Claudio Abbado) CD Deutsche Grammophon 449 7522
- Verdi: Stiffelio (Sylvia Sass, José Carreras, Matteo Manuguerra, ORF Symphony Orchestra, Lamberto Gardelli) CD Philips 00289 475 6775
Recitals, sacred music and cross-over
- Bernstein: West Side Story (Kiri Te Kanawa, José Carreras, Tatiana Troyanos, Kurt Ollmann, Marilyn Horne, Leonard Bernstein) CD Deutschegrammophon 457 1992
- Puccini: Messa di Gloria (José Carreras, Hermann Prey, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Claudio Scimone) CD Erato 48692
- Ramirez: Misa Criolla, Navidad Nuestra CD Philips 420955
- Verdi: Messa da Requiem (Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Agnes Baltsa, José Carreras, José Dam, Vienna Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan) CD Deutschegrammophon 439 0332
- Various: Ave Maria (José Carreras, Vienna Boys Choir, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Uwe Christian Harrer) Philips 4111382
- Various: José Carreras – The Golden Years (arias and songs by Puccini, Verdi, Donizetti, Massenet, Bizet, Lehár, Handel, Gastoldi, Giordano, Tosti, Cardillo, Denza, de Curtis, Lara, d' Hardelot, Brodszky, Bernstein, Lloyd Webber) CD Philips 462892
- Various: The Very Best of José Carreras (arias from Aida, Macbeth, Cavalleria rusticana, Pagliacci, Turandot, Don Carlo, Carmen, Faust, Roméo et Juliette, Polyeucte, Le Cid, Sappho, Hérodiade, La Juive, L'Africaine, Le Roi d'Ys, La Périchole) CD EMI 7243 5 75903 2 7
External links
- Josep Carreras — official website
- Official website dedicated primarily to Carreras's 2004 CD Energia
- Fundació Internacional Josep Carreras per a la Lluita contra la Leucèmia – the official web site for Carreras's leukemia foundation with versions in Catalan, Spanish and English.
- Deutsche José Carreras Leukämie-Stiftung – the official web site for the German branch of Carreras's leukemia foundation.
- The Unofficial José Carreras Web Site – a large data base of media articles and reviews dating from 1970 to 2002.
- The José Carreras Timeline 1958–2004.
- Complete performance records at The New York Metropolitan Opera and La Scala
- Agent Peter Kupfer