José Carreras to retire from opera?

[Richard]

Hello everybody!

I heard on the radio this morning that José Carreras is to retire from full opera because it's too demanding on his voice. He intends to continue to give recitals.

From BBC News:

José Carreras bowing out of opera


Carreras said that opera singers can easily
cross over to popular music

Spanish tenor José Carreras has announced that he is to retire from performing on the operatic stage.

The 62-year-old singer told The Times newspaper that in opera terms "my career is done", admitting full roles were now too demanding.

But Carreras said that he still hoped to perform in recitals, and would "adapt the repertoire to my needs".

Placido Domingo is now the only one of the Three Tenors still appearing in opera. Luciano Pavarotti died in 2007.

Carreras is due to receive a lifetime achievement award at the Classical Brits in London on Thursday.

It is expected that Domingo will present him with his honour, but the pair are unlikely to perform together.

Carreras and his two fellow tenors were watched by hundreds of millions of viewers in a performance on the eve of the 1990 World Cup in Italy.

The Spaniard said the trio approached the concert in "a genuine and spontaneous way" as "we were football fans".

The performance also raised funds for Carreras' leukaemia foundation, which he founded after recovering from the illness in 1988.

Carreras still gives around 50 recitals a year and has recently released a new album of popular operatic pieces.

His career, which began in 1970, encompasses a repertoire of 60 operas.

The star has performed on all the great operatic stages of the world, including New York's Metropolitan Opera House and the Royal Opera House in London.

Richard

[roger]

Hi Richard,

Thank you for posting that. When I heard the news this morning, I couldn't help feeling saddened by it but it seems this isn't quite the end of an era that the headline might suggest. He is only retiring from opera - not from performing completely.

I was fortunate enough to see him twice; on both occasions, he was appearing with Hayley. Okay, perhaps we should say that Hayley was appearing with him!

Here are two extracts from my report of the second occasion - Hampton Court in June 2005:

Moments later, Jose Carreras stood centre stage and nodded discretely towards the conductor to indicate that he was ready. With the exception of a couple of short orchestral works, he carried the whole of the first half – magnificently, I thought. I had seen him once before at the Royal Albert Hall in December 2003 when Hayley was his guest. I felt that, last night, his performance was even better and his interaction with some of the audience displayed that, despite the seriousness of his singing, he also has a sense of humour. This was apparent very early on as he adjusted his cummerbund and referred to it as a belt! He explained that he had forgotten his own so he had borrowed this one from a kind waiter! He indicated that it was not the most perfect fit as he continued to fiddle about with it! As the conductor, arms aloft, prepared to bring in the orchestra, Jose with deliberate mistiming added, “My reputation’s ruined, I know”! The audience loved it.

Jose returned and performed his next two songs before Hayley reappeared to sing the first and only duet of the night. It was ‘All I Ask Of You’ from Phantom of the Opera. Once it had been identified from the first few notes of the introduction, someone sitting near me said, “Oh wonderful”. Yes, it was. Jose began and it sounded wonderful but when Hayley started to sing, it was truly beautiful. When they sang together it was quite magical.

Hayley left the stage to Jose who then closed the concert. He left the stage to thunderous applause and it was obvious that we had not seen the last of him. He returned for the first of four encores. After the second of them, Hayley joined him and Jose made a brief announcement: “This is not original but we have rehearsed the Phantom duet so we would like to sing it again”. And so, we got ‘All I Ask Of You’ once more. I don’t know if it was my imagination but it seemed to me that both Hayley and Jose knew they had done the job so now they could relax and enjoy themselves. The result, as far as I’m concerned, sounded better than ever. I mentioned this to Dave shortly after the concert ended and he agreed with me. There was something about this second rendition that raised it to even greater heights of magnificence and beauty.

My thanks go to the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra under the baton of David Gimenez for a superb evening. My enormous thanks to Jose Carreras for his magnificent voice and for his obvious charm which the ladies of the audience clearly appreciated as was demonstrated when they were almost queuing up to hand him flowers!

If I hear that he is appearing anywhere in the London area, I certainly hope to be there.

My full report from Hampton Court is HERE but let's keep this particular thread for Jose Carreras please.

Roger

[Richard]

Hello Roger!

I remember the concert at Hampton Court too. As I said in the Faryl Smith thread, José Carreras will be appearing there again on Tuesday 2nd June 2009, but the tickets are rather pricey at £75, £95 and £115.

Full details: www.hamptoncourtfestival.com/jose-carreras.htm

There's a two-page article about José Carreras from The Times HERE.

Richard

[Richard]

This story is now in doubt, so I've added a question mark to the title of this thread.

From BBC News:

Confusion over 'retiring' tenor

The future of tenor José Carreras is in doubt following conflicting statements concerning his intention to retire.

In an interview with The Times, the 62-year-old is quoted as saying that, in opera terms, his career is "done" and that full roles are now too demanding.

His international manager, however, has said Carreras would perform opera again if the right production came up.

For the next few years, though, he will focus on concerts and touring, Michael Storrs told the BBC's Rebecca Jones.

"It's a complete non-story," he added, claiming the Times had "misrepresented" what the singer had said.

Carreras is due to receive a lifetime achievement award at the Classical Brits in London on Thursday.

Placido Domingo, the other surviving member of the 'Three Tenors' following Luciano Pavarotti's death in 2007, is expected to present him the honour.

Richard

[Richard]

Hello folks!

I posted this video as an aside in the general thread for Hayley's postponed New Zealand tour, but it's so funny I'm posting it here as well. This is the Drinking Song from La Traviata performed as you've never heard it before by José Carreras, Katia Ricciarelli, Agnes Baltsa and Ruggero Raimondi. I think they've all had a couple, at least!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HP1_tk12qo

Richard

[nicola]

José Carreras is my favourite of the three tenors. He has the most beautiful voice. I can lsiten to him for hours. I am not often fond of the full fledged male opera singer but there is something very soothing in his voice. HIm, and José Cura. <3