Jose Carreras

"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.

"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.

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.

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.

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.