José Carreras Retires From Opera

62-year-old's departure leaves one of Three Tenors
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted May 8, 2009 9:34 AM CDT

Unable to perform at the level he considers acceptable, José Carreras will retire from opera, the least prominent of the Three Tenors tells the Times of London. Unamplified lead roles in opera houses are more than the 62-year-old Spaniard can handle, he said. “If I can do concert recitals, adapting the repertoire to my needs, then no problem, that’s good enough. But with operas, unless the right circumstances come up, my career is done.”

As the Three Tenors, Carreras, Luciano Pavarotti, and Placido Domingo—still active at 68—made their mark in a performance before the 1990 World Cup in Italy, which drew some 800 million TV viewers. The recording became classical music’s all-time bestselling album. “We were, without being presumptuous, the most popular tenors of the day,” Carreras said.
(More Jose Carreras stories.)

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