Jose Carreras- Nessun Dorma live in 1975

[SuperBeccamo]

love him, looked like a comedian sung like an angel

[bodiloto]

quasi tutti dormono.

[nightstylo]

gettig touch by this song eventho i cant understand a single word of it, thas the power and meaning of music i think. jose scored

thanks and a bow to him..

gr from holland

[inalagata]

@nightstylomore or less he says:nobody sleep...you too,princess,in your cold stay (room) you look at the stars that tremble of love and hope...but my mistery hides inside me...nobody will know my name...no,no...over your mouth i will say it when the light shines,mi kiss will undo the silence that makes you mine.Night, dissipate....hide,stars...In the dawn i will conquer.

sorry my english, its better when you read or listen in italian,its pure poetry,you can find it in youtube.

[nightstylo]

@inalagata

thanks you very much, i will search youtube for it.

gr

[inalagata]

@nightstylo in italian:nessun dorma! tu pure,o principessa nella tua fredda stanza guardi le stelle che fremono d´ Amore e di speranza...Ma il mio mistero e´ chiuso in me...il nome mio nessun sapra,no,no...sulla tua bocca lo diró quando la luce splendera... e d ill mio baccio sciogliera il silenzo che ti fa mia (chorus:il nome suo nessun sapra,e noi dovrem,ahime,morir,morir¡¡) Dilegua,o notte...tramontate,stelle...al­l´alba vincero,vincero´...VINCERÓ!!!!

[SHEPARDWISPERER]

never can get enough nessun dorma ,,,,,,

[TheJedgeworth]

Always room in heaven for another fine version of Nessum Dorma. Thank you.

[Lebensberaterin1]

Ich war bei seinem Durchbruch in der Wiener Staatoper dabei! WAO.......

[crcanassr]

Turandot: Down with your heads morons... I bet you she would have had a hard time deciding which head to cut first, Pavarotti? Domingo" Lanza? Carreras? Corelli? Del Monaco? I do not are who is better, all of them are very good. I bet you the Maestro, Puccini, is turning on his grave reading this silly discussions.

[TheWNMan]

In fact both Carreras and Domingo have a habit of signing in the back of their throats too often, which gives a "forced" quality to their singing.

[TheWNMan]

@cforcat01 Well, well, well, Mr./Ms. cforcat01 has no account. I wonder why.... I agree with operabitch77. To those morons who do not know how the internet works: This is not a school playground. Say what you will and be free to express your opinion. In MY opinion, Carreras, like Domingo, does not in fact deliver like Pavarotti did.

Whether anyone realizes this or not, no two mouths are physically equal and thus no two mouths can resonate like each other. Thus no one can surpass Pavarotti.

[ShawDAMAN]

@cforcat01 I dont see tension in the jaws of Tucker, Corelli, Del Monaco, etc... when singing this aria? Carreras had a beautiful lyric voice and dramatic repertoire (and as you seem to know, high notes) were not really his forte at all.

[millonety123]

Aqui Carreras esta muy bien de voz e interpretacion. Unos años despues su voz fue quebrandose. Mala practica y uso continuados? Posiblemente, pero en los setenta su voz era preciosa y nitida.

[premiereopera1]

this from my tape of Jose's first USA concert, in Carmel, CA in the fall of 1975, while he was singing Nemorino at San Francisco Opera! He let me put the microphone right in the footlights in front of him!!

[ShawDAMAN]

@premiereopera1 and you can tell as the recording quality is great. thanks for sharing it.

[MrPrimotenore]

This sounds much better than I ever would have suspected, but he had no business ever singing this aria. He was a lyric and a lighter one at that. He blew out his voice trying to sing things like this that were way too heavy for him. I can just see the tension in his jaw and face when singing the high notes. Blecch!

[ChrisMagoo99]

@MrPrimotenore well if he's just singing it at a recital, as he seems to be in this video, he wouldn't have to worry about that. It's just when he's trying to sing over a giant orchestra that he would be ruining his voice

[siouxsie1954]

I think this is a beautiful recording. Thank you so much for posting it. I have listened to this aria many times, sung by many performers -- live and recorded. I think this is really one of the prettiest.

[operabitch77]

jose sang like a pig and his voice fell apart waaay too soon.....but the color of the voice was one of the most beautiful color's...but his technique was amateur at best....he lasted about 5 yrs and left repetoire that suited his instrument about 10 yrs too early...what a waste of a talent...but, the leukemia made him a symbol of survival and then the 3 tenors crap happened and the rest is history....can't deny his career, but, lest us not try to make more of it than it reeeally was....peace

[operafantic]

@operabitch77 Maybe Josep sang roles that were too heavy for his voice, but "sang like a pig" is crude. How many tenors reeeally sound this good, in their primes or out?

[jgraif]

unfortunately, his recorded tribute to mario lanza would have been been better left undone. i would offer that his inability to sing in english without an accent ALONE rendered him unqualified. one of the greatest joys of listening to mario is his perfect english, because he was an american, born and raised. we could have chosen to embrace that.

[witles1000]

woooooooonderfull o moj Boze cudownie

[orlando098]

Nice rendition. Noticed his Spanishness on di speran - tha...

[boxingin]

I love Jose carreras because he sings from his heart and soul. I don't give two fv&ks about who has the best "technique" or who studied with who. To me is all about which singer or performer can make me feel with his tone and feel. That's why I love Blues music because it comes from the heart and soul and not from some text book. Oh, and Franco Corelli is my all time favorite tenor!

[lubidog]

Just sublime.

[MaddieFWall]

I can't believe I met this guy. He came back to my home town of Seattle where he was treated for Leukemia to give a benefit concert for cancer patients. My father, a local tenor, interviewed him. We were both star struck. He is one of the most passionate and sensitive people I have ever met.

[ShawDAMAN]

@MaddieFWall nice :)

[leoniemikele]

@ShawDAMAN Maddie, I live in Leschi, Seattle. And am getting really passionate (read crazy :) ) about opera! I wish I'd had the opportunity to meet him. How lovely.

[aalexmary]

Jose Carreras is my favorite tenor! Such a wonderful voice! God bless him! I love him so much!

[solostan]

I think this aria suits him "just fine" and he sounds magnificent! I love him!

[martindogo]

Muy torpe su interpretacion.... no me gusto.

[CyberBarrister]

@bigus I have heard many recordings of early Carreras in which he clearly pulled back when he reached his limits. I imagine that we all lose a few notes over time, and it may be difficult as time goes on to separate the voice we have from the one we had.

As for Pavarotti, it is widely reputed that he took inordinately long to learn roles, and many have attributed this to his not being terribly bright. Personally, I always found his interpretations a bit chilly, though technically adroit.

[babystinky]

he looks like Marlon Brando in that picture~! I like his rendition and he certainly is one of the "few" really great tenors.

[bodiloto]

"grazie" à questo repertorio Carreras ha perso la sua bellissima voce .

[CyberBarrister]

Carreras was a great tenor who recognized his limitations and played well to his strengths. He practically murders the climax of Nessun Dorma, but his rendition is usually still rich and colorful.

[bigus]

@CyberBarrister carreras never recognized his limitations and continued to sing rep too big for his voice and lost the high lyric sound he was gifted with. he pushed through everything and ruined his voice which is why he has a wobble and cant hit anything above Ab or Bb. he still has the spinning sound here but even in his early recordings you can hear the signs of trouble. he along with di stefano are the 2 main classic examples of what poor carreer choices and lack of technique can do to you

[peacocktravels]

Yeah, well so is your MAMA!! lpvcrcd

[ramqen951]

I have an lp from 1976 of Jose with Benzi conducting and i think the singing is superb. I really do think he was at his best then.

[Huljic]

@ramqen951 Send that please...

[Nater389]

Very nice. A great rendition. His high note is powerful.

[andyroma72]

è incredibile come le registrazioni cambino la riuscita dell'oepra.qui sembra un do,un altre sembra un si ,la stessa opera cantata nello stesso momento

[HernanCortes1521]

Jose has a voice and charisma that has won him millions of admirers

[steakopera]

That is just beautiful voice. I hear a bit of Pavarotti in his voice. His voice has bit of Di stefano as well.

[peacocktravels]

Pavarotti once said that Carreras was the last of a long lineage of great singers. He had a great natural ability to pull off great performances whether or not he was in great voice.

[lpvcrcd]

Pavarotti said a lot of things out of modesty as welll as not wanting to be critical of fellow singers. That is always the case in entertainment. You must remember Luciano was not a mental giant .. he took more time than most to learn a role and he was so lazy as to not learn to speak french and sing a role in that language [as far as I know] What great tenor wouldn't want to sing the flower song in its original language? Carreras wobbles , flats &sharps his way thru music. OVERRATED

[bigus]

@lpvcrcd pavarotti took longer to perfect his roles and as a result knows them better and sings them more musically than anyone else, he was VERY intelligent and perhaps one of the if not THE most musical in his interpretations. as singers go he WAS a mental giant in the sense that he was smart about what he did and his voice benefitted, where others suffered. also pavarotti has plenty of recordings in french but who cares? wunderlich sang everything in german. blame the production not thesinger

[sugarbist]

@lpvcrcd Gigli sang every opera in Italian including the flower song. Even though it's customary to sing the Opera in the composer's language

[peacocktravels]

Pavarotti once said that Carreras was the last of a long lineage of great singers. He had a great natural ability to pull off great performances whether or not he was in great voice.

[ayumiayu01]

好!!!!!!!

[francorelli]

hermosísima voz...José Carreras una referencia de las voces tenoriles mas equilibradas, líricas, puras...

[tukilala]

Un angel bajo del cielo !!!!!!!!

[ubaenvigado]

Excelent audio.

[billyguns2]

By the way, that ROBERTO DEVEREUX scene I raved about is from 1977, proving that had he stayed in the appropriate repertoire he wouldn't have suffered vocal decline; Bel Canto repertoire was ideal for him. He is also my favorite Nemorino in L'ELISIR D'AMORE; his recording with Ricciarelli and gorgeously conducted by Camapnella is a marvel.

[billyguns2]

For me 1970-1974 were the golden years for this most wondrous sounding tenor; his ROBERTO DEVEREUX scene uploaded on YouTube is one of the greatest things I've ever seen or heard.

[ShawDAMAN]

Thanks for your good comments, I think I may have seen that clip but I'll be sure to check it out. He did do some fine singing in the 70's. Yes it's a shame he didn't stick to lighter more appropriate material.

[Tenor5274]

@billyguns2 with all due respect, I would have to say his golden years extended to 1977. He was wonderful in Verdi's Luisa Miller from Parma, sung live with Katia Ricciarelli. He truly had a gorgeous voice!

[Huljic]

Do you have another songs from this concert??

[ShawDAMAN]

i posted some others. :)

[Huljic]

I saw that,any others :)?

[ShawDAMAN]

afraid not. :)

[Huljic]

Great ,i really like voice of this man!!

[TomekkPolska]

I' m really impressed, too bad He has destroyed His voice. One on His best ND availalble here. And in the early 80' s He was already pushing this aria horrible, waving His hands and struggling. pity. and nevermind short B4 at the end, He sang beautifully

[ElPiconeroalCognac]

Perhaps you could help us remember his successes instead of his failures?

[Harriizz]

He himself did not destroy his voice. He fought a battle with Leukemia, and went through intenseive Chemotherapy. The toll that takes on ANY part of your body is immense. It is not that he cannot sing anymore, his body cannot keep up with the strain of the music he sings anymore. Though I may have thought he was an amazing voice but not the best, I believe he is an amazingly strong person.

[TomekkPolska]

You' re wrong, His voice was already destroyed before illness largely because of wrong choise of roles..of course leukemia did what it did but Carreras' s voice problems started about 80,illness was much later

[novice1959]

The argument over when and how Carreras "destroyed" his voice will go on forever, I believe. I have listened to enough recordings of him from his early and mid-career as well as his post-leukemia career and, in my opinion, I think he took his voice down a few notches with his enthusiastic style, but leukemia REALLY did a number on his vocal chords, as I'm sure it would do to any singer. Nevertheless, he is my favorite singer and he is a remarkable human being!!

[Huljic]

Well said,i agree with every wotd!!

[eurydike]

If he hadnť sung the dramatic roles that as some say had destroyed his voice before leukemia he surely wouldn´t have sung them after the illness. if he hadn´t dared to do it before his illness we wouldn´t listen now to his Manrico or Radames and they couldnt criticise him that the roles werent meant for him. I like him not only for his voice but for his courage and great heart too.

[eurydike]

i continue here:Maybe if he hadnt fallen ill with leukemia he would have sung in such a way later (better and better) that nobody would criticise him. i am not sure whether other tenors some pray so muc would have been able to return after such an illness and sing again like Jose, to be again first class tenors. If he was able to do this, he may have kept (or improve the damage with) his best voice if he hadnt had to fight such a grave illness instead. He is for me tenor number 1.

[novice1959]

I totally agree with what you say! Who else could have had the courage to come back and sing after his illness?

Nessun Dorma has never been my favorite of his arias, too demanding and that last high notes kills him, but he still gives it all he's got. I appreciate his courage!

[ShawDAMAN]

I have removed Inquisitive4evers unnecessarily vitriolic response, but I'm afraid he is correct to say that Carreras's vocal decline began well before he was diagnosed with leukemia. I think he is a very strong person, and while I don't particularly admire his post-cancer return to opera in terms of the quality of his singing, I do admire it in terms of guts/bravery. Cancer is no joke.

[steakopera]

ShawDAMAN. Every singer's vocal decine at some point either with or without an illness, in Carreras's case with leukemia. Don't give in to Inquisitive4ever who is such a selfendulging bigot. Your have qualified knowledge and integrity.

[arpeggio1358]

@ShawDAMAN I admire Carreras's guts/bravery too. But I do agree that Carreras's decline began before the leukemia diagnosis. Sadly, he was pushed into roles that were too heavy for him, and that does take a toll n the voice. Carreras's major influence, Giuseppe diStefano did the same thing and sang his voice out at a young age, too. I'm just happy that we have recordings of Carreras early in his career so we can hear how he sounded when the voice was in good shape.

[novice1959]

As you know, I love Carreras, and this version of Nessun Dorma is quite nice, until that last note which just kills him! I have one version of him in my favorites singing this live in the opera in 1983 which he pulls off surprisingly well.

[Mooorhe]

Except that high B in Vienna though, that is a terribly strained sound, it's a real shame of course.

[novice1959]

Are you a singer yourself? Perhaps an operatic tenor? You apparently know quite a bit about music and voices and such, just wondering.

[Mooorhe]

I am singer myself, but unfortunately not a tenor. I'm still training my voice and it is currently a bass-baritone voice.

I still have some problems with breathing, and you have to have them worked out before you start doing anything, otherwise unnecessary pressure will be put on the vocal cords.

[novice1959]

Good luck to you! I admire people that can sing at all, since I can't!

[Mooorhe]

Thank you very much.

Are you sure that you can't sing? Many people who think they can't actually can. It's just a case of breathing properly and singing on key.

You can't sing if your voice is really really unpleasant or if you have no ability to discern pitch.

[novice1959]

Actually, I fit under the latter category!

Once when I was a kid I tape recorded myself singing along with "Michelle" from the Beatles. In my head, I thought I sounded pretty good, but when I played back the recording...wow, was I ever horrified!

[ddzz37]

good, but i have to say i never really cought on to carreras voice or style. least fav of the great tenors.

[Ivanhoe2]

Many thanks for posting this. Given his type of voice I think the tenor did very well with this live rendition. There was obviously no help from the accousics of the venue, and piano accompaniment in this aria always seems woefully inadequate compared to the usual spirited orchestral and choral support. Before offering criticism one should always remember that seldom, if ever, are circumstances ideal for a singer. Such is life.

[tomfroekjaer]

Very nice - but not really for his voice, I think.

[ShawDAMAN]

Yeah I don't think so either. But this is one of his best renditions of it I think.

[pianist527]

I don't think either this difficult aria was suited for his beautiful voice.Contrarily to the first poster I find a bit of a struggle at the top, but that it's me. Nevertheless nice rendition. As you know I like Carreras's voice very much. Thanks for the video

[ShawDAMAN]

Yeah I agree.

[Mooorhe]

His voice was very good, and there is no struggle at the top, he reaches it with ease, just very unhealthily.

I would have liked a more original interpretation, and no throatiness, but this is certainly a better spinto styled rendition than Domingo gave.

[ShawDAMAN]

I agree. I'm curious though, do you have any ideas on how this aria could be made more original without messing with it too much?

[Mooorhe]

Well, I'd like to hear thought and wonder in the the tenor's voice at the start, with soft dynamics used, gradually becoming louder towards the 'sulla tua bocca' and declining from that point. I would then quite like explosion on the 'dilegua notte' until the first 'alalba vincero', when I'd like to hear a definite crescendo, fortissimo on the second 'vincero' and even louder on the high B, volume declining slightly on the A.

Know of any renditions like that? Lol

[ShawDAMAN]

Hmm that all sounded really good! If you knew how to sing properly yourself, you'd make a great coach, Lol... ;-D

Now I'm going to start listening for some of those things when I listen to this aria. Ha ha.

[Mooorhe]

I've got quite a good idea of how to place the sound and avoid throatiness and support correctly... I just can't do the latter, my muscles aren't strong enough and I find it difficult.

I don't think it's possible to teach interpretation very well, you can tell a singer to vary dynamics here and there... but if the passion and feeling isn't actually there, it won't come to life. In my opinion anyway.

[ShawDAMAN]

That's good. I was just joking though as I'm sure you know ;-D I'm sure you don't feel qualified to *teach* vocal technique yet. But your thoughts on interpretation were excellent, very masterclass-sounding. :-P

Yes, I think probably if someone has to tell a singer how to interpret a piece, it's mostly pointless. You have to think about the text and do it for yourself for it to be sincere.

[TheInquisitive4Ever]

This must have been the pinnacle of his career and he's still struggling with his top. Thanks for this upload. It's a good addition to the ND literature.