José Carreras, born on December 5, 1946, is a Spanish opera singer known for performing high-pitched parts in operas by composers such as Donizetti, Verdi, and Puccini. He was born in Barcelona and first performed in an opera at age 11 as Trujamán in Manuel de Falla’s El retablo de Maese Pedro. Over his career, he performed more than 60 different roles in famous opera houses around the world and recorded many musical performances. He became widely known as part of a group called the Three Tenors, which included Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti, and performed together in large concerts from 1990 to 2003. He also started a charity organization called the José Carreras International Leukaemia Foundation after he recovered from leukemia in 1988. This organization works to help people fight the disease.

Life and career

José Carreras was born in Sants, a working-class neighborhood in Barcelona. He was the youngest child of Antònia Coll i Saigi and Josep Carreras i Soler. In 1951, his family moved to Argentina to find better opportunities. However, this move did not work well, and they returned to Sants within a year. Carreras spent the rest of his childhood and teenage years there.

He showed an early interest in music, especially singing. This interest grew stronger when he was six years old after watching the movie The Great Caruso, which starred Mario Lanza. Carreras often sang the songs from the movie, especially "La donna è mobile," to his family. He sometimes locked himself in the bathroom to practice when his family became tired of his singing. His parents, with help from his grandfather Salvador Coll, who was an amateur singer, found money for music lessons. At first, he studied piano and voice with Magda Prunera, the mother of a childhood friend. At age eight, he began taking lessons at Barcelona’s Municipal Conservatory.

At eight years old, Carreras performed publicly for the first time. He sang "La donna è mobile" with Magda Prunera playing the piano on Spanish National Radio. A recording of this performance still exists and can be heard in the video biography José Carreras – A Life Story. On January 3, 1958, when he was eleven, he made his debut at Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu, singing the role of Trujamán in El retablo de Maese Pedro by Manuel de Falla. A few months later, he sang his final performance as a boy soprano in La Bohème at the Liceu.

Throughout his teenage years, Carreras continued studying music. He later attended the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu and took private voice lessons with Francisco Puig and Juan Ruax, whom he called his "artistic father." Following advice from his father and brother, who believed he needed a backup career, he studied chemistry at the University of Barcelona for two years before leaving to focus on singing.

Juan Ruax encouraged Carreras to audition for his first tenor role, Flavio in Norma, at the Liceu on January 8, 1970. Though a small role, his performance caught the attention of Montserrat Caballé, a famous soprano and fellow Catalan. She invited him to sing Gennaro in Lucrezia Borgia with her on December 19, 1970. This was his first major adult role and the one he considers his true debut as a tenor. In 1971, he made his international debut in London’s Royal Festival Hall, singing in Maria Stuarda with Caballé. Caballé helped promote his career for many years, appearing in over fifteen operas with him. Her brother and manager, Carlos Caballé, managed Carreras until the mid-1990s.

In the 1970s, Carreras’s career grew quickly. In late 1971, he won first prize in Parma’s Voci Verdiane competition, leading to his Italian debut as Rodolfo in La bohème at the Teatro Regio di Parma on January 12, 1972. Later that year, he made his American debut as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with the New York City Opera. He performed at major opera houses, including San Francisco Opera, Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company, Vienna Staatsoper, London’s Royal Opera House, New York Metropolitan Opera, and La Scala in Milan. By age 28, he had sung the tenor lead in 24 operas across Europe and North America. He had an exclusive recording contract with Philips, which produced recordings of several Verdi operas, including Il Corsaro, I due Foscari, La battaglia di Legnano, Un giorno di regno, and Stiffelio.

During the 1970s and 1980s, Carreras performed with many famous sopranos and mezzo-sopranos, including Montserrat Caballé, Birgit Nilsson, Viorica Cortez, Renata Scotto, Ileana Cotrubaș, Sylvia Sass, Teresa Stratas, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Frederica von Stade, Agnes Baltsa, Teresa Berganza, and Katia Ricciarelli. His partnership with Ricciarelli began in 1972 during a performance of La bohème in Parma. They performed together for thirteen years, both on stage and in recordings. They made a studio recording of La bohème for Philips Classics and appeared together on over 12 other recordings.

One of the conductors who had the greatest influence on Carreras’s career was Herbert von Karajan. Carreras first performed under Karajan in the Verdi Requiem in Salzburg in 1976, and their final collaboration was in a 1986 production of Carmen, also in Salzburg. Karajan encouraged Carreras to sing heavier roles, such as Aida, Don Carlos, and Carmen. Some critics believed these roles were too difficult for his voice and may have shortened his vocal peak.

In the 1980s, Carreras performed in non-operatic music, including songs from zarzuela, musicals, and operettas. He recorded full-length versions of two musicals, West Side Story (1985) and South Pacific (1986), with Kiri Te Kanawa. The West Side Story recording was special because Leonard Bernstein, the composer, conducted it. Bernstein had not conducted the music in nearly 30 years, and a documentary was made about the recording sessions. Carreras faced challenges with the rhythm and pronunciation in his solo, and Bernstein corrected him repeatedly. In 1987, Carreras recorded Misa Criolla, an Argentine folk mass, with its composer, Ariel Ramírez. This recording introduced the work to a global audience.

Carreras also appeared in films. In 1986, he played the 19th-century Spanish tenor Julián Gayarre in Romanza Final (The Final Romance). In 1987, he worked on a film version of La bohème directed by Luigi Comencini.

During the filming of La bohème in Paris, Carreras was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and given a 1 in 10 chance of survival. After a difficult treatment involving chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and an autologous bone marrow transplant at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, he recovered. He returned to performing with a series of comeback recitals in 1988 and 1989. He also performed with Montserrat Caballé in Medea (Mérida, Spain,

Voice

In his best years, Carreras's voice was regarded as one of the most beautiful tenor voices of his time. A Spanish critic, Fernando Fraga, described it as a lyric tenor with the strength of a spinto, noting that it had "a noble tone, rich and full with deep resonance." This was especially true in the middle part of his voice. Fraga and Carreras both mentioned that even when he was young, the high notes of the tenor range were challenging for him, and these difficulties grew as his career continued. Like his idol, Giuseppe di Stefano, Carreras was known for the beauty and emotional expression in his singing, as well as his passionate performances. These traits are best shown in his 1976 recording of Tosca, where he sang alongside Montserrat Caballé in the lead role and was conducted by Sir Colin Davis.

Several critics noted that Carreras's performances in heavier spinto roles, such as Andrea Chénier, Don José in Carmen, Don Carlo, and Alvaro in La forza del destino, placed stress on his naturally lyric voice. This may have caused his voice to darken and lose some of its brightness earlier than usual. Despite this, he delivered some of his best performances in these roles.

The Daily Telegraph wrote about his 1984 performance of Andrea Chénier at London's Royal Opera House: "Moving easily from the gentle poet Rodolfo in La Bohème a few weeks earlier to the brave poet Chenier, the Spanish tenor's singing skill kept the audience completely engaged throughout." Of his 1985 performance of Andrea Chénier at La Scala (recorded on DVD), Carl Battaglia wrote in Opera News that Carreras "dominated the opera with strong focus and a carefully refined vocal style that gave the spinto role a powerful intensity not typical of his naturally lyric voice." However, Carl H. Hiller's review in Opera noted that while Carreras could show the warm, rich tone of his voice in quiet parts of the score, he struggled with high, loud notes, which sounded tense and difficult to produce.

Recordings

This list shows some of the most famous recordings from José Carreras's best years. He has many recordings and videos, which also include performances saved on private recordings.

• Bizet: Carmen (Agnes Baltsa, José Carreras, Leona Mitchell, Samuel Ramey, The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, James Levine) DVD Deutsche Grammophon 73000
• Bizet: Carmen (Agnes Baltsa, José Carreras, Katia Ricciarelli, José van Dam, Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan) CD Deutsche Grammophon 410 0882
• 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 de Almeida ) CD Philips 00289 475 7629
• Massenet: Werther (José Carreras, Frederica Stade, Isobel Buchanan , Thomas Allen, Robert Lloyd, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Colin Davis) CD Philips 00289 475 7567. For details, see Werther (Colin Davis recording)
• 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
• Puccini: Turandot (Eva Marton, José Carreras, Katia Ricciarelli, John-Paul Bogart; 2008 remaster of 1983 Harold Prince video production at Vienna State Opera House, Lorin Maazel) DVD Arthaus Musik 107319
• Rossini: Otello (Frederica von Stade, Nucci Condò, José Carreras, Salvatore Fisichella, Gianfranco Pastine, Samuel Ramey, Ambrosian Chorus, Philharmonia Orchestra, Jesús López Cobos) CD Philips 00289 432 4562. For details, see Otello (Jesús López Cobos recording)
• 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 475 829
• Strauss: Die Fledermaus (José Carreras, Renée Fleming, Plácido Domingo, Vienna Philharmonic, Franz Welser-Möst) DVD Deutsche Grammophon 00440-073-4538, 2009
• Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier (José Carreras, Renée Fleming, Thomas Hampson, Vienna Philharmonic, Franz Welser-Möst) DVD Deutsche Grammophon 00440-073-4538, 2009