NEW YORK--"It was the most incredible, the most touching moment in my life," says Spanish tenor José Carreras in recalling his "second debut," the comeback concert he made in 1988 before an audience of 150,000 in Barcelona.

"I had to play it very tough with myself," he continues, "otherwise I would have been too emotional." His appearance signaled the successful end of his yearlong battle against leukemia and his return to the international concert and opera scene. "I said to myself, 'OK, let's finish this in a couple of hours and then send these people home.' Otherwise I would not have been able to open my mouth."

Recently in New York to announce his first major U.S. tour since his recovery, Carreras looks as fit as ever and says he is feeling 100%. He also made known his preliminary plans as music director of the 1992 Summer Olympics in his hometown of Barcelona. But perhaps his biggest news of all was that he, Placido Domingo, and Luciano Pavarotti will do another three tenors concert, similar to the one whose recording has been sitting comfortably in the No. 1 slot of Billboard's Top Classical Albusm chart for 18 months and one The Billboard 200 for as long.

"It looks like it's going to happen in Tokyo in early '94," says Carreras. "It will be a new formula, a different concert, but it will be the three of us again onstage, which I believe is what people want. It will be televised and recorded."

In fact, it was Carreras' idea to bring the three men together for their first joint concert, recorded in July 1990 at the World Cup Soccer Mathes in Rome before a live audience of 6,000 and a television viewership of 1.5 billion. Carreras did not disclose the label for the '94 event, but chances are it is London again, since Pavarotti is exclusive to that company.

Carreras' primary affiliation is with Philips Classics, though he is also actively recording for Sony Classical, Atlantic, and Deutsche Grammophon. His discography boasts more than 40 complete operas and a vast array of concert and recital discs. He has also been involved in the crossover market since 1983, when he recorded "Love Is . . .," a collection of pop ballads ("As Times Goes By," "The Way We Were"), for Philips. The following year came the platinum-selling "West Side Story" on DG, with Kiri Te Kanawa and Tatiana Troyanos, Leonard Bernstein conducting, and in '86 CBS released "South Pacific," which also featured Te Kanawa, with Jonathan Tunick leading the London Symphony.

More recent crossover efforts include an Andrew Lloyd Webber collection on WEA, with George Martin conducting his own arrangements, and "Hollywood Golden Classisc," also with Martin, about which one British critic remarked, "The material is scarcely a challenge for a voice that has just been singing Samson at the Royal Opera House."

AT ODDS WITH THE 'PURISTS'

"Some people don't like to see opera singers do anything other than opera," says Carreras to his critics. "I understand and respect this kind of purism thinking, but I don't agree with it. I think through this music you can interest audiences in more serious classical music, which is our main activity."

Whether or not one likes his pop interpretations, Carreras is clearly committeed to the genre. "I believe in this music, as much as I believe in Mozart or Verdi or Puccini. And we have examples of the past, like Enrico Caruso or John McCormack or Beniamino Gigli or, more recently, Giuseppe Di Stefano. They all sang the light music of their time. I haven't discovered anything new. I'm just following the steps of the greats."

Not surprisingly, Martin thinks Carreras is well-suited to pop material: "His voice is lighter than most [operatic tenors'], which is a tremendous advantage for me, because he is able to control the very soft, gentle notes without any wide vibrato . . . He doesn't have to belt everything to get it across."

In March, Carreras begin sessions for a forthcoming Atlantic disc titled "The Most Romantic Songs Of The World," a compilation of international pop favorites arranged by Lalo Schifrin. He will also try his hand at a pop single with an "American superstar--a lady," to be released late in the spring to promote the Summer Olympics. Titled "Frieds For Life," the song carries what Carreras calls "the credo of the Olympics." It was initially announced that Whitney Houston would be the "superstar," but that apparently has fallen through and Carrearas is looking for another partner.

BUSY SCHEDULE

His classical recording schedule continues apace as well, with a Verdi Requiem recorded live in December in Vienna for DG, with Ruggero Raimondi and Cheryl Studer, Claudio Abbado conducting. For Sony, he recorded a duet album with Agnes Baltsa, with Placido Domingo conducting the London Symphony; in the works is a French opera composers disc. On Philips is "Samson et Dalila," issued last year, with Baltsa and Colin Davis conducting; due presently are some Verdi and De Falla songs, orchestrated by Luciano Berio; later this year Carreras will record "La Traviata" with Te Kanawa and Zubin Mehta, and 17th- and 18th century arias with the English Chamber Orchestra. A duet album with Montserrat Caballe is also slated for completion soon.

Carreras says he does not maintain the breakneck schedule he once did, although that is hard to believe given his schedule of recordings and performances. Considered a superstar in Europe--especially among English women--he is known to give outdoor arena concerts before crowds of 10,000 or more. His current season calls for apperances at the major opera houses of Rome, Vienna, London, and Barcelona ("for sentimental reasons"), and he may return to the Met in the '93-'94 season. In April, he will open the Euro Disney complex outside of Paris, with Te Kanawa. And he is active on the charitable front, too: Thus far Carreras has raised more than $10 million for his leukemia foundation.

Although Carreras has made two Carnegie Hall appearances since 1988, the upcoming U.S. dates mark his first actual tour here since his recovery. He starts May 12 in Carnegie Hall and continues on to Los Angeles' Greek Theatre (May 16), Chiles Center in Portland, Ore. (May 20), Woodlands Pavilion in Houston (May 23), and San Francisco's War Memorial House (May 29)--his first apperance in that city since 1978. For a man once given a one-in-10 chance to live, Carreras is, simply, remarkable.