Life and career José Carreras

1 life , career

1.1 years
1.2 1970s , 1980s
1.3 1990–present
1.4 humanitarian work
1.5 awards , distinctions
1.6 family

life , career
early years

carreras born in sants, working class district in barcelona. youngest of antònia coll saigi , josep carreras soler s 3 children. in 1951, family emigrated argentina in unsuccessful search better life. however, within year had returned sants carreras spend rest of childhood , teenage years.

carreras, age 8, in first public performance. spanish national radio, december 1954.

he showed talent music , particularly singing, intensified @ age of 6 when saw mario lanza in great caruso. story recounted in autobiography , numerous interviews after seeing film, carreras sang arias incessantly family, la donna è mobile , locking himself in family s bathroom when became exasperated impromptu concerts. @ point, parents, encouragement of grandfather salvador coll, amateur baritone, found money music lessons him. @ first studied piano , voice magda prunera, mother of 1 of childhood friends, , @ age of 8, started taking music lessons @ barcelona s municipal conservatory.

at age of 8, gave first public performance, singing la donna è mobile accompanied magda prunera on piano, on spanish national radio. recording of still exists , can heard on video biography, josé carreras – life story. on 3 january 1958, @ age of 11, made debut in barcelona s great opera house, gran teatre del liceu, singing boy soprano role of trujamán in manuel de falla s el retablo de maese pedro. few months later, sang last time boy soprano @ liceu in second act of la bohème.

throughout teenage years, continued study music, moving on conservatori superior de música del liceu , taking private voice lessons, first francisco puig , later juan ruax, whom carreras has described artistic father . following advice of father , brother, felt needed back-up career, entered university of barcelona study chemistry, after 2 years left university concentrate on singing.

1970s , 1980s

juan ruax encouraged carreras audition become first tenor role @ liceu, flavio in norma, opened on 8 january 1970. although minor role, few phrases sang caught attention of production s leading lady, eminent soprano , fellow catalan, montserrat caballé. asked him sing gennaro in donizetti s lucrezia borgia, opened on 19 december 1970. first principal adult role, , 1 considers true debut tenor. in 1971, made international debut in concert performance of maria stuarda in london s royal festival hall, again caballé singing title role. caballé instrumental in promoting , encouraging career many years, appearing in on 15 different operas him, while brother , manager, carlos caballé, carreras s manager until mid-1990s.

during 1970s carreras s career progressed rapidly. in late 1971, won first prize in parma s prestigious voci verdiane competition led italian debut rodolfo in la bohème @ teatro regio di parma on 12 january 1972. later year made american debut pinkerton in madama butterfly new york city opera. other major house debuts followed – san francisco opera in 1973, rodolfo; philadelphia lyric opera company in 1973, alfredo in la traviata; vienna staatsoper in 1974, duke of mantua in rigoletto; london s royal opera house in 1974, alfredo; new york metropolitan opera in 1974, cavaradossi in tosca; , la scala, milan in 1975, riccardo in un ballo in maschera. age of 28, had sung tenor lead in 24 different operas in both europe , north america, , had exclusive recording contract philips, resulted in valuable recordings of several less performed verdi operas, notably il corsaro, due foscari, la battaglia di legnano, un giorno di regno , stiffelio.

carreras portraying julián gayarre in film romanza final (1986)

carreras s leading ladies during 1970s , 1980s included of famous sopranos , mezzo-sopranos of day: montserrat caballé, birgit nilsson, viorica cortez, renata scotto, ileana cotrubaş, sylvia sass, teresa stratas, dame kiri te kanawa, frederica von stade, agnes baltsa, teresa berganza, , katia ricciarelli. artistic partnership ricciarelli began when both sang in 1972 la bohème @ parma , lasted 13 years, both in recording studio , on stage. later made studio recording of la bohème philips classics , can heard on over 12 other commercial recordings of both operas , recitals, predominantly on philips , deutsche grammophon labels.

of many conductors worked during period, 1 whom carreras had closest artistic relationship , had profound influence on career herbert von karajan. first sang under karajan in verdi requiem @ salzburg on 10 april 1976, final collaboration in 1986 production of carmen, again @ salzburg. karajan s encouragement, increasingly moved towards singing heavier lirico-spinto roles, including aïda, don carlos, , carmen, critics have said heavy natural voice , may have shortened vocal prime. (see section on carreras s voice.)

the 1980s saw carreras moving outside strictly operatic repertoire, @ least in recording studio, recitals of songs zarzuela, musicals , operettas. made full-length recordings of 2 musicals – west side story (1985) , south pacific (1986) – both kiri te kanawa co-star. 1987 philips recording of argentine folk mass, misa criolla, conducted composer, ariel ramírez, brought work worldwide audience. although many of carreras s stage performances available on video, ventured film. in 1986, portrayed 19th century spanish tenor julián gayarre in romanza final (the final romance) , in 1987, started working on film version of la bohème directed luigi comencini.

it during filming of la bohème in paris found suffering acute lymphoblastic leukemia , given 1 in 10 chance of survival. however, recovered disease after undergoing gruelling treatment involving chemotherapy, radiation therapy , autologous bone marrow transplant @ fred hutchinson cancer research center in seattle. following recovery, gradually returned both operatic , concert stage, embarking on tour of come-back recitals in 1988 , 1989 , singing montserrat caballé in medea (mérida, spain 1989) , in world premiere of balada s cristóbal colón (barcelona, 1989)

1990–present

carreras backstage @ royal albert hall, december 2001

the 1990s continued see carreras performing on operatic stage in carmen , fedora , making role debuts in samson et dalila (peralada, 1990), verdi s stiffelio (london, 1993), , wolf-ferrari s sly (zurich, 1998). however, opera performances became less frequent increasingly devoted himself concerts , recitals. final operatic performances @ gran teatre del liceu, opera house career began, in samson et dalila (march 2001). reprised title role in sly in tokyo in 2002 , in 2004 performed @ vienna state opera in staged versions of final act of carmen , act 3 of sly. in april 2014, carreras returned opera stage after ten-year absence singing title role of christian kolonovits s opera, el juez (the judge) in premiere @ arriaga theatre in bilbao. reprised role in august 2014 @ festival erl in austria , in january 2015 @ mariinsky theatre in st. petersburg.

in 1990 first 3 tenors concert, took place in baths of caracalla in rome on eve of 1990 fifa world cup finals. conceived raise money carreras s leukemia foundation , way colleagues, plácido domingo , luciano pavarotti, welcome little brother world of opera. however, , subsequent 3 tenors concerts brought carreras fame went far beyond opera house. estimated on billion people around world watched television broadcast of 1994 3 tenors concert in los angeles. 1999, cd first 3 tenors concert in rome had sold estimated 13 million copies, making best-selling classical recording of time. 1990s saw carreras serving musical director opening , closing ceremonies of 1992 barcelona olympic games, , performing in worldwide concert tour in tribute first singing hero, mario lanza.

by 2000s carreras s recording , live concert repertoire had moved largely art song, neapolitan songs, light classical genre, , easy-listening . has increasingly performed , recorded artists outside classical music world, such diana ross, edyta górniak, lluis llach, peter maffay, udo jürgens, klaus meine, charles aznavour, kim styles, sarah brightman, jackie evancho, sissel kyrkjebø, debbie harry, majida el roumi, , giorgia fumanti.

humanitarian work

carreras visiting leukaemia patient on cover of amigos de la fundación, july 2005

following own recovery leukaemia, carreras sought both repay debt owed medical science , improve lives , care of other leukaemia sufferers. on 14 july 1988, established fundació internacional josep carreras per la lluita contra la leucèmia (known in english josé carreras international leukaemia foundation) in barcelona. foundation, publishes tri-monthly magazine on activities, amigos de la fundación, concentrates efforts in 4 main areas:

development of clinical research cure , treatment of leukaemia through scholarships , research grants.
campaigns increase bone marrow , cord blood donation leukaemia patients requiring transplants, along operation of redmo, spanish national registry of bone marrow donors.
strengthening of research , clinical infrastructures in both leading international institutions , hospitals , laboratories in developing world.
provision of social services leukemia patients , families, including free accommodation near transplant centres.

the josé carreras international leukaemia foundation has affiliates in u.s., switzerland, , germany, german affiliate active of three. since 1995, carreras has presented annual live television benefit gala in leipzig raise funds foundation s work in germany. since inception, gala alone has raised on €71 million. carreras performs @ least 20 charity concerts year in aid of foundation , other medical related charities. honorary member of european society medicine , european haematology association, honorary patron of european society medical oncology, , goodwill ambassador unesco.

awards , distinctions

carreras has received numerous awards , distinctions both artistic , humanitarian work. these include: commander of ordre des arts et des lettres , chevalier of légion d honneur (france); knight grand cross , grand officer of order of merit of italian republic (20 may 1996 , 3 april 1991, respectively); grand decoration of honour services republic of austria (1999); cruz de oro del orden civil de la solidaridad social queen sofia of spain, prince of asturias prize art (joint winner, 1991), grand cross of merit federal republic of germany , gold medal of generalitat of catalonia (june 1984)

carreras has received bavarian order of merit, steiger award (2006) , st. george order of semperoper (dresden, 2010)

honorary medal of city of leipzig on occasion of leukemia fundraiser 2009 on 17 december 2009; awarded mayor of leipzig (unanimous decision of town council of leipzig).

on 23 february 2004, austrian post office issued 1€ stamp commemorate 30th anniversary of debut @ vienna staatsoper.

he has honorary doctorates university of barcelona , miguel hernández university (spain); napier, loughborough , sheffield universities (united kingdom); mendeleev russian university of chemistry , technology (russia); university of camerino (italy); rutgers university (united states); university of coimbra (portugal); national university of music bucharest (romania); philipps-universität marburg (germany, 3 may 2006); university of saarland (2012); university of pécs (hungary) , recently, kyunghee university (korea) , university of porto (portugal).

in spain central plaza in sant joan d alacant bears name, 2 theatres – auditori josep carreras in vila-seca (near tarragona) , teatro josep carreras in fuenlabrada.

family

throughout childhood in barcelona, carreras s father, josep carreras soler, worked traffic policeman. had been french teacher. however, had fought on republican side during spanish civil war, , when franco government came power in 1939, no longer allowed teach. mother, antonia coll saigi, ran small hair-dressing salon, where, child, carreras sang customers in return pocket money. close mother, convinced 1 day great singer, , death cancer when 18 affected him greatly. in josé carreras: life story, said now, every time go on stage, always, always, have quick thought her. in 1971 carreras married mercedes pérez. had 2 children: son, albert (born in 1972), , daughter, julia (born in 1978). marriage ended in divorce in 1992. in 2006, carreras married jutta jäger, separated in 2011. carreras s nephew, david giménez carreras, conductor , director of orquestra simfònica del vallès. has conducted many of carreras s concerts since late 1990s opera performances in sly @ gran teatre del liceu in june 2000.