Biography of José Carreras

José Carreras, one of the legendary "Three Tenors," was born Josep Carreras (Josep is his Catalan name, the equivalent of the Castilian Spanish José) in Barcelona in 1946. He began singing at a very early age; family lore holds that he serenaded passengers on a voyage home from Argentina when he was only five. He was inspired by the film biography The Great Caruso, starring Mario Lanza, and is said to have learned each and every aria contained within. After a mere two years of voice lessons, the young Carreras sang "La donna è mobile" from Verdi's Rigoletto on Spanish National Radio -- a performance that has been preserved and is included in one of his video biographies. He made his professional operatic debut at the age of eleven in Manuel de Falla's El retablo de Maese Pedro. This unique opera, written originally for a puppet theater, has as one of its primary roles an exceptionally difficult part for boy soprano -- a part so challenging that it is rarely sung by a child, usually taken instead by an adult mezzo-soprano. After his voice changed, he took up studies with Francisco Puig, then with Juan Ruax, whom Carreras now regards as his "artistic father." At Ruax's encouragement, he auditioned at the Barcelona Liceo and landed the small role of Flavio in Bellini's Norma. This small break would have enormous consequences, since it brought him into contact with the already-famous Montserrat Caballé, who was very taken with the young tenor and recommended him to her management. The resulting engagement, opposite Caballé in Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia as Gennaro, is now generally considered his real debut as a tenor, and helped to launch his career.Carreras made his American debut in 1972 at the New York City Opera as Pinkerton in Puccini's Madama Butterfly. His Covent Garden debut (1974) was as Alfredo in La Traviata, and his first appearance at the Salzburg Festival was in Verdi's Requiem at the request of maestro Herbert von Karajan. He first appeared at the Vienna State Opera as the Duke in Rigoletto (1974), at the Met the same year as Cavaradossi in Tosca, and as Riccardo in Un Ballo in Maschera in 1975.By the age of 28 he had already sung 24 different roles in the leading opera houses of Europe and the Americas. This busy schedule gave rise to some controversy: critics sometimes found his voice strained and complained that he might be overtaxing himself. It was not immediately recognized that this tiredness masked the onset and development of the blood disease leukemia, not diagnosed until 1987, when it had reached an acute phase. It was during his treatment that the Three Tenors phenomenon was born. Having competed ruthlessly with both Domingo and Pavarotti for ascendancy in the world of opera, he now struck up genuine friendships with both men, who supported him during his illness. Their first concert together was conceived as a fundraiser for the newly created Josep Carreras International Leukemia Foundation. It drew a live audience in the tens of thousands and an international viewership of tens of millions. The resulting records and videos were phenomenal sellers. Carreras is widely represented in operatic and concert recordings, numerous crossover recordings of various styles, and a large number of videos. He has over 50 complete opera recordings. His video biography, A Life Story, which included his battle with leukemia, won an international Emmy award.

Biography of Zubin Mehta

Conductor Zubin Mehta was born in Bombay (now Mumbai), Maharashtra state, India on April 29, 1936. He is an adherent of the Parsi religion. His father was Mehli Mehta, a violinist who was the founder and conductor of the Bombay Symphony Orchestra. At the age of 18, after considering a career in medicine, Zubin entered the Vienna Academy of Music, learned to play the double bass in order to join the Academy's orchestra, and took conducting lessons from Hans Swarowsky. He graduated from the Academy in 1957 and made his professional debut in Vienna, guest conducting the Tonkünstler Orchestra. In a London appearance in 1961, Mehta became the first Indian to conduct a major British orchestra. A victory in the first international conductors' competition organized by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra led to a one-year appointment as their assistant conductor. After completing his year-long tenure, Mehta was engaged to conduct the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, and made another important and successful guest conducting position with the Philadelphia Orchestra.Guest appearances with the Montreal and Los Angeles symphonies both led to permanent positions; in 1960 he became music director in Montreal and associate conductor in Los Angeles. Thus Mehta became one of the first of a new breed of conductors sometimes called the "jet set," who are able to maintain two (or even more) principal conductorships of major orchestras by means of frequently flying between the cities involved. Mehta's accomplishments in Los Angeles, where he became musical director in 1962, were particularly striking. In just a few years he was able to turn the lackluster ensemble into one of the nation's finest orchestras, and, still under 30 years of age when he was appointed, he became the youngest music director of any "major" U.S. orchestra. An exuberant, extroverted performer and person, he possessed a genuine star quality; soon, he conducted the orchestra on a notable series of excellent recordings for London (Decca) Records. Mehta made his operatic debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York on December 29, 1965, and in 1967 he resigned his position in Montreal, and forged a new relationship with the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra, eventually becoming its chief music adviser in 1970. In 1971 he conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic on the soundtrack of Frank Zappa's film 200 Motels.In 1978 he resigned his Los Angeles post to succeed Pierre Boulez as music director of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. After the rather ascetic, ultra-modern Boulez, Mehta's interest in lush Romanticism, and a more traditional repertoire made for a favorable impression, and a long and successful relationship with the orchestra. However, by the time of his resignation in 1991, a little of the bloom had faded from his relationship with the critics, some of whom seemed to be put off by the more "Hollywood" aspects of his style and personality. In 1990 Mehta was asked to conduct the first of the now-legendary Three Tenors concerts. Mehta proved a highly appropriate choice, being one of the few conductors with the charisma to match the well-practiced stagecraft of the three star tenors. The concert was a huge success, with a worldwide television audience, and enormous record sales. When the phenomenon was repeated in 1994 from Los Angeles, Mehta again conducted. Since 1998, Mehta has been music director of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. That year, his path intersected with that of U.S. President Bill Clinton, as former Clinton associate Susan McDougal, who went to jail rather than testify against the president, was accused of embezzling $150,000 from the Mehta family, for whom she had worked for several years. He made several tours with the Bavarian State Opera and kept up a busy schedule of guest conducting appearances into the new century.

Biography of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra

No biography available

Biography of Rome Opera Theater Orchestra

No biography available