By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter
Jose Carreras will hold three recitals across South Korea beginning Friday through May 12 ― not as a stopover of an Asian tour but in order to revisit the local audience.
``Korea is, for an artist, a wonderful pleasure. The tradition and knowledge here for classical music and opera are incredible,'' the tenor said in a press meeting in Seoul, Wednesday. He was presiding over the jury at a recent Verdi Competition and 70 percent of the contestants were Korean, he explained, and prominent European and American orchestras have many Korean members.
``Going to Korea is something that any artist has to be proud of, and I am very proud to come to Korea. I came to your country for the first time in 1979, 30 years ago, and since then I had a wonderful, wonderful experience. It's a privilege to come to your country,'' said the Spanish singer, who, along with Luciano Pavarotti and Placido Domingo, is considered one of the three great tenors of modern times.
``Yes, I keep in touch with Placido as often as we can,'' he said, despite their different schedules and frequent travels, and plans on visiting him soon in London. ``Our friendship and our professional relationship are still there and I'm very happy to have it,'' he added. On a more somber note, he said he greatly missed the late Pavarotti. ``We lost one of the most important tenors and singers of the history of opera. Not only that (…) we lost a wonderful friend, a very charismatic person, a very caring friend. It was a tremendous pleasure to not only work with him but to talk to him. He was a sensational guy,'' he said.
While Domingo, who also recently held an Asia recital exclusively in Seoul, is still active on the opera stage, Carreras said he prefers recitals, though he would accept an operatic role if the conditions are favorable. For the tour here, he will sing popular operatic arias and folk songs including ``Lamento di Federico'' from the opera ``L'Arlesiana'' and ``Lejana Tierra Mia,'' joined by sopranos Park Mi-hye and Fiona Campbell. ``I will be singing `New Arirang,' and as soon as I heard it I knew I would like Korea,'' said Campbell about singing the local traditional song on her first visit here.
Meanwhile, Park, who took the stage opposite the tenor several times in Europe, said it was always a great honor to sing with someone who inspires not only with music but also with his personal triumph. In 1987 at the height of his success, Carreras was diagnosed with acute leukemia, but miraculously overcame the disease.
``Of course when someone gets a diagnosis for acute leukemia, this is very hard to swallow… You have possibilities: one is to be passive as a patient and let things go, the other thing is to fight with determination,'' he said. When doctors told him he had ``the possibility of one in a million'' to recover completely, he had to grab that chance and fight. ``I think this is absolutely indispensable,'' he added.
Music itself was inspirational ― ``a wonderful shelter,'' he said. ``Music therapy is something doctors recommend to patients. Music always plays a very important role in our lives, not just for musicians but in the lives of everyone.''
The musician continues to fight against leukemia through his foundation. Founded in 1988 in Barcelona, the foundation now has branches in the United States, Germany and Switzerland. He said he wanted to do something in return for ``all the generosity, solidarity and affection'' he received while fighting the illness. ``Without being presumptuous, we did a very good job but that is never enough, we are still losing too many patients,'' he said. ``Improvements are tremendous if you compare it to 30 years ago. But until it is a curable disease for everyone, for every case, we will fight to arrive at our final target, final destination,'' he said.
While the disease never affected his voice, the 62-year-old said, age has. ``It changed in a natural way. Singers in my age, maybe we lost things from younger years, certain elasticity, certain brilliance. But our approach to the interpretation (of music) is deeper and richer, so it compensates a little bit,'' he said. Indeed, the crystalline bell sound of his younger days has now taken on a deeper color, and Carreras wowed local fans during his 2006 recital at Seoul Arts Center.
The tenor will Friday grace KyungHee University's anniversary celebration in Seoul and perform Sunday at Cheonma Art Center in Daegu, and, May 12, at Goyang Aram Nuri Arts Center for its second anniversary concert in Seoul's satellite city of Goyang, in Gyeonggi Province. Carreras' partner conductor and nephew, David Gimenez, will conduct the Eurasian Philharmonic Orchestra for the Seoul and Daegu concerts while for the Goyang performance he will lead the Korean Symphony Orchestra, which provided the accompaniment for Domingo's recital.
Tickets cost from 80,000 won to 220,000 won for Daegu (call 053-422-4224) and Kyunghee University (call 1588-7890) and from 40,000 won to 220,000 won for Goyang Aram Nuri Art Center (call 1577-7766).