Tenor cheered at Burbank Center

The Burbank Center for the Arts rolled out the red carpet Thursday night for one of the great voices of the century -- opera superstar Jose Carreras -- who proved he could still float those high notes in a rare, U.S. recital and exclusive North Bay engagement.

The Spanish tenor's concert was the hottest ticket of the classical music season, selling out at the speed of light when it went on sale May 28. Carreras fans from all over the Bay Area and as far away as the East Coast snapped up all the $60-$100 tickets in 14 minutes.

Like opening night at the San Francisco Opera on Monday, the glitzy affair was a good excuse to bring out the black evening gowns and tuxedos, wax the Jaguar or hire one of those limousines stretched farther than a soprano's vocal chords hitting a high C.

Jim and Jonn Cuneo of Santa Rosa, who love classical music in general and tenors in particular, said they were kicking off a trip to Europe with the gala concert.

"We're big fans of the Three Tenors,'' said Jim. "I sang in high school myself, and I grew up with classical music.''

For the Burbank Center, booking one of the world famous Three Tenors was a watershed event. Among the local celebrities in the audience were Burbank Center founders Henry Trione and Evert Person, cartoonist Charles Schulz, and West County balladeer Tom Waits.

"That we can bring artists of this caliber to Santa Rosa in a 1,500 -seat theater is a major accomplishment,'' said Claudia Haskel, executive director of the Burbank Center. "This is a big breakthrough... we have established ourselves as a venue that attracts cultural arts patrons from all over the Bay Area.''

Thursday night's program, which was underwritten by Advanced Telecom Group of Santa Rosa, a new local telephone company, featured the famously handsome, 52-year-old tenor in a program of Italian and Spanish songs and arias. On Saturday, Carreras will perform a similar recital in the city of Cerritos, south of Los Angeles.

Dressed in a tuxedo and accompanied by pianist Lorenzo Bajay, Carreras sang as if his life depended on it, his portamento, expression and bel canto phrasing all exhibiting technical mastery. The legendary golden voice still glowed. The audience received him warmly, giving him a standing ovation even before he sang a single note.

A dozen bouquets were given to the tenor at the end of the show, and Carreras rewarded the audience in turn with three encores before bowing out.

After the show, the tenor took a few moments to explain why he chose to perform in Santa Rosa. "I like to sing for an audience,'' he said. "It doesn't matter if its London, Milan or a small town. Here, in this part of California, the audience are very respectful, and I feel the affection of the people.''

Although he is the youngest and least known of the Three Tenors -- which also includes Luciano Pavarotti and Placido Domingo -- Carreras elicits the most intense adoration from his fans, who worship him for his sincerity, sensitivity and pure charisma.

"The way he communicates with people -- there's something about him that touches people's souls,'' said Ella Wong of San Francisco. "He is so expressive of the emotions.''

Carreras fan Susan Scion-Seher came all the way from Milwaukee, Wis., to see the tenor sing in Santa Rosa.

"This is nothing. I go to Spain to see him as much as I can,'' she said. "He is just so genuinely sincere. He is a real person, and he treats everyone like a real person. And he really appreciates his fans.''

As most fans know, Carreras battled acute lymphocytic leukemia in 1987 at age 40, then made a miraculous comeback after undergoing chemotherapy, radiation and a bone marrow transplant at a cancer center in Seattle. Since his illness, he has founded the Jose Carreras International Leukemia Foundation and poured much of his time and energy into raising money to combat the disease.

In 1989, he resumed his career with a concert in his native city of Barcelona, Spain, where he was born to a working-class family in 1946. To celebrate his recovery, he first appeared with the Three Tenors in Rome in 1990, which has become the best-selling classical music act in history, racking up world-wide sales from recording and videos of more than $12 million.

"The Three Tenors have popularized a lot of opera with people,'' said Greg Spanos, classical music buyer with Copperfield's music. "I don't know if a lot of people have really become big opera fans, but they certainly have exposed people to it more.''

The Three Tenors have performed 20 concerts in the past decade and have brought classical music to billions through TV and recordings. During their 1996 tour, the tenors each made $1 million per concert.

This summer, the Three Tenors performed their first Midwest concert in Detroit, where the local critic described Carreras' voice at its peak as "a voice of sensuality and sentiment speckled by natural sweetness, pliancy and ardor.''

However, many critics have noted that Carreras' voice has aged in recent years, perhaps accelerated by his illness.

"He's come back, but I don't think the voice has ever fully recovered,'' said Spanos. "It's still certainly a good voice. In my opinion, Carreras has a better voice than Andrea Bocelli.''

Like the wildly popular blind tenor Bocelli, Carreras has made several crossover and "light music'' discs among his legacy of 60 recordings. His recording of "West Side Story'' went platinum and his "South Pacific'' went gold.

After the concert, a gala reception for Carreras was held at the Fountaingrove Inn, where 300 arts patrons ponied up an extra $150 to sip champagne and bask in the glow of the glamorous Spaniard.

Carreras flew into the Sonoma County Airport on Wednesday evening in a chartered private jet from Barcelona via Las Vegas. On Thursday, he and his entourage had lunch at Cafe Portofino in downtown Santa Rosa, where owner Victorio Belmonte said he ate a casual lunch of angel hair pasta with olive oil.

"He speaks good Italian,'' said Belmonte. "He was nice and spoke to everybody in the restaurant who recognized him.''

Copyright © 1999 The Press Democrat