Jose Carreras

When Jose Carreras gave his last local recital, at Ambassador in 1985, he was just a good lyric tenor languishing in the shade of the Big Two and trying, from time to time, to force a lovely lightweight instrument through dangerous heavyweight challenges. Now he is an idol. The masses worship at his feet. He works right up there in the rarefied, well-publicized atmosphere of Lucky Luciano and Pleasant Placido.

"The Three Tenors" could join up again to mark the 2006 Football World Cup in Germany, 16 years after they brought opera to the masses with their first concert at the Terme di Caracalla in Rome. Placido Domingo, at a news conference Friday to mark his return to the famous Roman venue, said he, Luciano Pavarotti and Jose Carreras could sing together again. "We have difficulty finding a time when we can all be together....

"How are you, sir?" said Luciano Pavarotti to Jose Carreras. "Como s-ta?" "Too-toe benny," said Carreras. Or maybe he said, "Mule-toe benny." Pavarotti was in New York and Carreras was in Turin and I was in Chicago, and we were all on a conference call, waiting for Placido Domingo, who was in Washington, D.C. The Three Tenors have been the Backstreet Boys of opera ever since their first concert 10 years ago in Rome. At the time, Carreras was returning to his career after a bout of leukemia.

Very few soccer players make it to four World Cups. The Three Tenors did. Continuing the tradition they started in Rome on the eve of the 1990 tournament final, Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras gathered Thursday night for what was billed as "The Three Tenors Last Concert in Japan 2002." Whether this was the last Three Tenors concert ever, or just the final one in Japan, remains unclear; there are no current plans for further concerts.

Imagine Dodger Stadium on a warm July night, packed with people, magic in the air. Now send the baseball players home, build a stage in center field flanked by trees, waterfalls and classic columns, and plop three world-class singing cash machines onstage. What do you have? "Encore! The Three Tenors," a concert-cum-potential-gold-mine set for Saturday, the evening before the World Cup championship soccer match.

Doctors in Madrid treating Spanish tenor Jose Carreras confirmed Wednesday that he is suffering from leukemia and are debating whether he should be sent to the United States for treatment. Carreras, 40, entered a clinic in his native Barcelona on July 20 after becoming ill in Paris during the filming of the Puccini opera "La Boheme" by Italian director Luigi Comencini.

"The Three Tenors" could join up again to mark the 2006 Football World Cup in Germany, 16 years after they brought opera to the masses with their first concert at the Terme di Caracalla in Rome. Placido Domingo, at a news conference Friday to mark his return to the famous Roman venue, said he, Luciano Pavarotti and Jose Carreras could sing together again. "We have difficulty finding a time when we can all be together....

Very few soccer players make it to four World Cups. The Three Tenors did. Continuing the tradition they started in Rome on the eve of the 1990 tournament final, Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras gathered Thursday night for what was billed as "The Three Tenors Last Concert in Japan 2002." Whether this was the last Three Tenors concert ever, or just the final one in Japan, remains unclear; there are no current plans for further concerts.

Insights into the artistry of tenor Jose Carreras remain few despite two new portraits of the man who was nearly killed by leukemia in 1987 when he was 40. On PBS, the documentary "Jose Carreras: A Life Story" will be broadcast at 9 tonight on KCET Channel 28 and at 6 p.m. Sunday on KPBS Channel 15. In bookshops, the autobiography, "Jose Carreras: Singing from the Soul" (YCP Publications: $27.95) awaits the reader.

"How are you, sir?" said Luciano Pavarotti to Jose Carreras. "Como s-ta?" "Too-toe benny," said Carreras. Or maybe he said, "Mule-toe benny." Pavarotti was in New York and Carreras was in Turin and I was in Chicago, and we were all on a conference call, waiting for Placido Domingo, who was in Washington, D.C. The Three Tenors have been the Backstreet Boys of opera ever since their first concert 10 years ago in Rome. At the time, Carreras was returning to his career after a bout of leukemia.

As a growing number of people--in and out of opera circles--knows, the Spanish tenor Jose Carreras is one-third of the box-office, opera-lite smash known as the Three Tenors, which has just released another sure-to-sell recording. Not surprisingly, people showed up in well-dressed droves to the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza on Friday when Carreras performed a recital, more or less reprising the program he brought to Pasadena a year ago.

The celebrated Spanish tenor Jose Carreras has built a solid reputation in the alternate cultural reality of the opera world over the past 25 years. But the general public may now know him best for his pop-cultural appearances as the slender third of the Three Tenors, who have just released another recording, "Live in Paris."

Luciano Pavarotti may not walk as easily as he once did, and he may even get light-headed on stage, as happened this past season at the Metropolitan Opera. Jose Carreras may not have much voice left. Placido Domingo may have a few other things to do, such as singing everywhere all the time, and running an opera company in Washington and a restaurant in New York.

On a bare stage at Pasadena Civic Auditorium--without even a hint of the many flowers that would materialize on that floor two hours later--Jose Carreras began his recital of art songs and arias for an enthusiastic audience of fans and followers Saturday night.

The boys are back--beaming, smirking, sweating, bellowing, selling, blowing kisses, waving hankies, punching the air with victorious fists and the sound system with climactic not-too-high notes. Jose, Placido and Luciano have returned (discreetly introduced, as always, in the alphabetical order dictated by their last names). The erstwhile pirates of the high C's are together again. First, in case you have been off the planet lately, there was the big concert at the Baths of Caracalla in 1990.

The final World Cup game Sunday drew impressive television ratings locally and, while not as strong nationally, seems likely to rank as the most-watched soccer game in U.S. history. Local ratings for the "Three Tenors" concert, meanwhile, weren't as big as the soccer championship but viewers' gratitude was: Both KCET-TV Channel 28 in Los Angeles and KOCE-TV Channel 50 in Huntington Beach earned record donation promises during their telecasts Sunday.

"I like to be in America. OK by me in America. Everything free in America. " Leonard Bernstein's paean from "West Side Story" rang out to a capacity Dodger Stadium crowd Saturday night during the "Encore! The Three Tenors" concert, and an international throng plainly shared the sentiment--and objected not a bit that the evening was anything but free.