José Carreras facts for kids

Quick facts for kids José Carreras
Carreras performing at the World Economic Forum in 2011
Born	Josep Maria Carreras Coll (1946-12-05) 5 December 1946 (age 78) Barcelona, Spain
Nationality	Spanish Argentine
Occupation	Opera singer (tenor)
Years active	1954–present
Spouse(s)	Mercedes Pérez ​ ​ (m. 1971; div. 1992)​ Jutta Jäger ​ ​ (m. 2006; separated 2011)​
Children	2

Josep Maria Carreras Coll (born 5 December 1946), known to many as José Carreras, is a famous Catalan opera singer from Spain. He is a tenor, which means he sings high notes in opera. He is especially known for his performances in operas by composers like Donizetti, Verdi, and Puccini.

José Carreras was born in Barcelona. He first sang on an opera stage when he was just 11 years old. He went on to sing in over 60 different opera roles. He performed in the world's most famous opera houses and made many recordings. He became even more famous as one of the Three Tenors, singing with Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti. They performed big concerts together from 1990 to 2003. José Carreras is also known for his humanitarian work. He started the José Carreras International Leukaemia Foundation after he recovered from leukaemia in 1988.

José Carreras: A Life in Music

Early Life and Musical Beginnings

José Carreras was born in Sants, a working-class area in Barcelona. He was the youngest of three children. In 1951, his family moved to Argentina for a better life. But they returned to Sants within a year. José spent his childhood and teenage years there.

Carreras, age 8, in his first public performance on Spanish National Radio in December 1954.

He showed a talent for music and singing very early. When he was six, he saw the movie The Great Caruso starring Mario Lanza. After that, he sang opera songs all the time, especially "La donna è mobile". His parents, with help from his grandfather, found music teachers for him. He first studied piano and singing. At age eight, he also started music lessons at Barcelona's Municipal Conservatory.

At eight years old, he sang "La donna è mobile" on Spanish National Radio. This was his first public performance. On January 3, 1958, when he was eleven, he made his debut at Barcelona's big opera house, the Gran Teatre del Liceu. He sang the part of Trujamán in Manuel de Falla's El retablo de Maese Pedro. A few months later, he sang at the Liceu for the last time as a boy singer.

As a teenager, he kept studying music. He took private singing lessons with Juan Ruax, who he called his "artistic father." He also studied chemistry at the University of Barcelona. But after two years, he left university to focus on singing.

Rising to Stardom

Juan Ruax encouraged Carreras to try out for his first tenor role at the Liceu. This was Flavio in Norma in 1970. The main singer, Montserrat Caballé, noticed his voice. She asked him to sing with her in Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia. This was his first main adult role, and he considers it his true start as a tenor. In 1971, he sang internationally for the first time in London. Caballé helped him a lot in his early career.

In the 1970s, Carreras's career grew quickly. In 1971, he won a singing competition in Parma, Italy. This led to his Italian debut in La bohème in 1972. Later that year, he sang in America for the first time in Madama Butterfly. He then performed in other major opera houses. These included the San Francisco Opera (1973), the Vienna Staatsoper (1974), London's Royal Opera House (1974), the New York Metropolitan Opera (1974), and La Scala, Milan (1975).

By age 28, he had sung the main tenor role in 24 different operas. He also had a recording contract with Philips. This led to recordings of several less common Verdi operas.

Carreras playing Julián Gayarre in the film Romanza Final (1986)

During the 1970s and 1980s, Carreras sang with many famous female opera singers. These included Montserrat Caballé, Renata Scotto, and Kiri Te Kanawa. He often sang with Katia Ricciarelli for thirteen years. They made many recordings together.

He also worked closely with conductor Herbert von Karajan. Their first collaboration was in 1976. Karajan encouraged him to sing more dramatic roles like Aida and Carmen. Some critics thought these roles might have been too demanding for his voice.

In the 1980s, Carreras also recorded songs from zarzuela (Spanish operetta), musicals, and operettas. He recorded two musicals, West Side Story (1985) and South Pacific (1986). Both featured Kiri Te Kanawa. For West Side Story, he worked with the composer, Leonard Bernstein. A documentary was made about the recording. In 1986, he acted in a film called Romanza Final, playing a 19th-century Spanish tenor.

Overcoming Illness and The Three Tenors

In 1987, while filming La bohème in Paris, José Carreras was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Doctors gave him only a 1 in 10 chance of survival. But he recovered after intense treatment. This included chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and a bone marrow transplant in Seattle. After getting better, he slowly returned to the opera and concert stage. He gave comeback concerts in 1988 and 1989.

Carreras backstage at the Royal Albert Hall, December 2001

In 1990, the first Three Tenors concert happened in Rome. It was held on the eve of the 1990 FIFA World Cup finals. The idea was to raise money for Carreras's leukaemia foundation. It was also a way for his friends, Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti, to welcome him back. These concerts made Carreras famous far beyond the opera world. Over a billion people watched the 1994 concert in Los Angeles on TV. The CD from the first concert sold about 13 million copies. It became the best-selling classical recording ever.

In the early 1990s, Carreras was also the Musical Director for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. He also went on a world tour to honor his singing hero, Mario Lanza.

Since the 2000s, Carreras has mostly performed concerts and recitals. He sings classical songs, Neapolitan songs, and lighter classical music. He has also sung with artists from outside classical music, like Diana Ross and Sarah Brightman. In 2009, he announced he would no longer sing main opera roles. However, he still performs in concerts. In 2014, he returned to opera for a new role in the opera El Juez (The Judge).

Helping Others: His Foundation

Carreras visiting a leukaemia patient on the cover of Amigos de la Fundación, July 2005

After recovering from leukaemia, Carreras wanted to help others. On July 14, 1988, he started the José Carreras International Leukaemia Foundation in Barcelona. The foundation works in four main areas:

• Supporting research into leukaemia treatments.
• Encouraging bone marrow and cord blood donations.
• Improving research and hospital facilities for leukaemia patients.
• Providing social services, like free housing, for patients and their families.

The foundation also has offices in the U.S., Switzerland, and Germany. Since 1995, Carreras has hosted a yearly TV show in Leipzig to raise money for the foundation in Germany. This show alone has raised over €71 million. Carreras also performs about 20 charity concerts each year. He is a Goodwill Ambassador for UNESCO.

Awards and Family

Carreras in 2010

José Carreras has received many awards for his singing and his charity work. Some of these include:

• The Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the White Elephant (Thailand).
• Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur (France).
• Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (Italy).
• The Prince of Asturias Prize for Art (Spain).
• The Gold Medal of the Generalitat of Catalonia (Spain).
• The Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music (2009).

He also has honorary doctorates from many universities around the world. In Spain, a town square and two theaters are named after him.

José Carreras's father was a traffic policeman. He used to be a French teacher, but he couldn't teach after the Spanish Civil War. His mother ran a small hair salon. As a child, José often sang to her customers for pocket money. He was very close to his mother. Her death from cancer when he was 18 affected him deeply. He said that he always thinks of her before he goes on stage.

In 1971, Carreras married Mercedes Pérez. They had two children, Albert (born 1972) and Julia (born 1978). They divorced in 1992. In 2006, Carreras married Jutta Jäger, but they separated in 2011. His nephew, David Giménez Carreras, is a conductor. He has conducted many of José Carreras's concerts.

José Carreras's Voice

Carreras in Andrea Chénier, La Scala, 1985

When José Carreras was at his peak, his voice was thought to be one of the most beautiful tenor voices. Critics described it as a "lyric tenor" with a rich and warm sound. This was especially true for the middle part of his voice. He was known for how beautifully and expressively he sang phrases. He also sang with great passion. These qualities can be heard in his 1976 recording of Tosca.

Some critics felt that singing very dramatic roles, like in Andrea Chénier or Carmen, might have put a strain on his voice. They thought it might have caused his voice to change and lose some of its brightness too soon. However, he still gave some of his best performances in these roles.

For example, a newspaper wrote about his 1984 Andrea Chénier performance: "The Spanish tenor's vocal artistry held us spellbound throughout." Another critic noted that in quiet parts of the music, he showed "all the tonal mellowness of which this perhaps most beautiful tenor voice of our time is capable."

Recordings

Opera Recordings

Here are some of the important opera recordings José Carreras made:

• Bizet: Carmen (with Agnes Baltsa, The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, James Levine)
• Donizetti: L'elisir d'amore (with Katia Ricciarelli, Claudio Scimone)
• Puccini: La Bohème (with Katia Ricciarelli, Colin Davis)
• Puccini: Tosca (with Montserrat Caballé, Colin Davis)
• Verdi: Un ballo in maschera (with Montserrat Caballé, Colin Davis)
• Verdi: Don Carlo (with Agnes Baltsa, Herbert von Karajan)

Other Recordings

José Carreras also recorded other types of music:

• Bernstein: West Side Story (with Kiri Te Kanawa, conducted by Leonard Bernstein)
• Ramirez: Misa Criolla (a folk mass)
• Rodgers: South Pacific (with Kiri Te Kanawa)
• Verdi: Messa da Requiem (with Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Herbert von Karajan)
• Various: Ave Maria (with Vienna Boys Choir)
• Various: The Very Best of José Carreras (arias from many operas)
• Various: Christmas in Moscow (with Plácido Domingo, Sissel)

See also

In Spanish: José Carreras para niños