In
July 1987 at the age of 40, José Carreras was diagnosed as
suffering from leukaemia. After months of treatment for this
life-threatening illness Carreras returned to public performing
a year later, raising funds for the Carreras Leukaemia Foundation
at a gala concert before an audience of 13,000 at the arena
in Verona in August 1988. This was followed by the recital
presented on this DVD, a memorable evening at the Vienna
State Opera at which the seating capacity was increased to
2,600 and which thousands more followed on huge video screens,
and further millions through broadcast on radio and television.
Song
repertoire was always something close to Carreras’ heart,
and the programme of 17 songs and five encores is no easy
recital of well-known blockbusters. French ‘mélodies’ open
the programme, represented by Massenet, Hahn and Fauré. Turina
and Nacho are of course composers from the singer's own homeland,
and the first half is concluded with three ‘canzoni’ by Puccini,
whose catalogue of songs number little more than a dozen
or so titles. After the interval, the Petrarch Sonnets of
Liszt form the artistic centrepiece of the recital, and this
was the first occasion at which Carreras sang these works
in concert. Paulo Tosti’s songs give Carreras the opportunity
to tease with some romantic seductiveness, and with the encores
by Cardillo and Falvo this theme is continued, separated
by Agustin Lara’s Granada which Carreras virtually
made his musical calling card. The final operatic showstopper
is Francesco Cilèa’s È la solita storia from L’Arlesiana,
and Carreras bids farewell to his audience – some of whom
have already started leaving – with Grieg’s I love you sung
in Catalan.
While
there is no denying this concert’s significance, it has to
be said that the 1980s picture quality is now showing its
age considerably, with the kind of blurriness which makes
you wonder if you’ve forgotten to put on your glasses. The
sound is marked as stereo, but hardly counts as such, with
Carreras’ voice forward in the balance and the piano struggling
to make a significant contribution at times. Carreras understandably
reserves his energy for the high points, holding much in
restraint, but maintaining subtlety and nuance in the quieter
moments. There are some rather hard and slightly forced sounding
moments in the more lyrical repertoire of the first half,
but, old favourites aside, the drama of the Liszt sees Carreras
at his best on the night, his expressive Italian stamping
its authority on these rhapsodic works.
The song text can be switched on screen, so students can
sing along. Unfortunately this takes the form of a rather
brutal white-out of the picture each
time some text comes up, rather than the karaoke subtitles for which
I’d been hoping.
Taking
all of the circumstances into consideration this is a stunning
recital, showing how the great man can hold an audience enthralled,
even when a significant portion are seated on the stage behind
him. Carreras’ career after his return to performing included
the ‘Three Tenors’ concerts, which were initiated as fundraisers.
Such a return to form after having been given only a 1 in
10 chance of survival only a year earlier has to be an inspiration
to us all, and leaving aside the technically challenged vintage
of this DVD it will always be a worthwhile document, representing
a great artist’s will to survive and carry on creating.
Dominy Clements
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José Carreras
(tenor)
[120:00] 
