A less-than-capacity crowd stood and cheered at the end of tenor Jose Carreras' brief recital in the Buell Theatre on Friday. You'd expect that, considering his international fame as one of the Three Tenors -- not to mention his dramatic, heroic conquest of leukemia more than a decade ago.

Those are decent reasons to applaud a man who once was considered one of the finest lyric tenors around. But for one observer at the Buell, the standing ovation was misplaced, if it was given in response to a monochromatic program of songs delivered with a lack of artistry and, too often, with underwhelming technique.

Singing for less than an hour, Carreras chose his repertory carefully, emphasizing the middle ground consistently. The unfamiliar collection of songs by Spanish and Italian tunesmiths remained in the middle of a tenor's tessitura, delivered in mostly mezzo-forte. Nothing sung was too high or low, too loud or soft.

And nothing made much of an impression.

Assisted capably by pianist Lorenzo Bavaj, who similarly seemed untaxed by the oom-pah chords he plunked out, Carreras rarely connected with his audience, bending over slightly as he clutched the piano top -- now and then using both arms for gestural emphasis, but more often singing to the stage floor. The tenor displayed a clear fondness for the material, but the sameness of the songs dampened any chance of an emotional response from his audience. A lack of translations in the program didn't help either -- though there was room for a three-page biography of the singer.

If one uses the choice of material as a yardstick for Carreras' current vocal state, it's possible to conclude that the voice is in disrepair -- unable to stretch to tenorial heights, incapable of sustained climaxes (those few emerged noticeably sharp) and, with the absence of a single operatic aria, not strong enough to project a characterization.

Instead, we heard a succession of predictable turn-of-the-century love songs by such lightweights as Costa, D'Anzi, Tosti, Guastavino and Nacho. There was some Puccini, Bellini and Leoncavallo, but nothing memorable.

Let's face it -- with a top price of $150, an hour of humdrum songs delivered with indifferent, unfocused singing is not everyone's idea of a grand night at the theater.