"THE MUSIC OF A LIFE: JOSÉ CARRERAS" - BY MAURETTE BRANDT
I am very honoured to share with you this beautiful article written by our long-time dear friend Maurette Brandt right after Josep Carreras' first concert in São Paulo she attended.
Maurette, the author of another text recently published on the Plurale magazine (in Portuguese), José Carreras: uma voz pela arte e pela esperança, is helping our also friend Guida De Finis in her commitment for bone marrow donation in Brazil: they have prepared special REDOME (Registro Nacional de Doadores Voluntários de Medula Óssea) material to hand out on occasion of these concerts in Brazil.
I just would like to thank them for their great task, and especially Maurette for choosing the Blog Josep Carreras as first medium to publish her article.
Even if she had omitted the subject, one would immediately guess who she is talking about from the very first line: she is as talented as to portray the artist and the man with incredible accuracy, exactly as we all have always experienced him.
You will recognise him, you can see him, as soon as you start reading.
Maurette, the author of another text recently published on the Plurale magazine (in Portuguese), José Carreras: uma voz pela arte e pela esperança, is helping our also friend Guida De Finis in her commitment for bone marrow donation in Brazil: they have prepared special REDOME (Registro Nacional de Doadores Voluntários de Medula Óssea) material to hand out on occasion of these concerts in Brazil.
I just would like to thank them for their great task, and especially Maurette for choosing the Blog Josep Carreras as first medium to publish her article.
Even if she had omitted the subject, one would immediately guess who she is talking about from the very first line: she is as talented as to portray the artist and the man with incredible accuracy, exactly as we all have always experienced him.
You will recognise him, you can see him, as soon as you start reading.
The Music of a Life: José Carreras
Maurette Brandt
20 May 2017
His resolute step on stage and the sharp, surveying look towards the audience are almost part of himself. The refined, respectful attitude before the microphone, acknowledging the orchestra’s spalla and the conductor, is also paramount. José Carreras, the artist, is about to expand our senses, our feelings, or any expectation we may have at the first note he emits.
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| Photo: Ítaca / Elaine Jones (Gran Teatre del Liceu, 17 June 2008) |
Small gestures we’ve learned to recognize over the years may bring hints to his state of spirit, like holding lightly his cufflinks, or standing briefly on his tiptoes on climax moments. But Carreras’ completeness on scene not only strikes us but often surprises us too.
His singing comes and flows as powerful and sensitive as ever, full of richness and of the nuances we’ve learned to cherish. Nothing has changed - and yet it seems altogether new, but in a familiar way. Not easy to explain these apparently contradictory sensations, but believe me, they are quite normal. One is taken to a different plateau of consciousness, of perception, whenever that absolutely transcendent voice fills the air. A voice that is beyond any definition, since it is made of a sort of ether, as it colors the sounds with a palette of its own, protects the beauty of every phrase, evokes sensations and organic memories from so deep down that it takes time and thought until we come to understand what is really going on.
José Carreras is on stage with all his power and grace and energy. And we are all immersed in voice, his eyes, his acting, his finesse, his unparalleled phrasing, his personal charisma, his ever unforgettable, almost sacred pianissimo, his sense of humor, the perfect command of every detail… The list of wonders would certainly be long - and yet unnecessary. No other artist in the world of opera would ever involve us in so many subtle and intense feelings. Every expression in his face brings a world in itself. Every inflexion in his tone opens a portal to a few universes. Every unexpected situation brings us closer to the human being behind the artist. In one word: grandeur. A life in music that cannot possibly be synthesized in one single concert, but that can be recalled in the arms of a careful musical selection.
A life in music, the concert, is a powerful and loving experience for those of us who have been arrested through life by José Carreras’ outstanding vocal gifts and human stature. For the newcomers, it will certainly be a revealing surprise. The presence of Argentinean soprano Jaquelina Livieri is particularly interesting for her beautiful voice, charisma, and her mastering of coloratura, a quite rare vocal quality in these times. The exceptional performance of the Orquestra Juvenil Heliópolis, conducted by Maestro David Gimenez, is to be remembered with pride and emotion too. It only shows the unprecedented results of the dedicated work being developed with young musicians in Heliópolis.
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