BUCHAREST - Spanish opera singer Jose Carreras will meet Romanian opera music fans tomorrow in a concert starting at 19:30 at the Bucharest Romanian Athenaeum. He will be accompanied by Romanian soprano, Ana Camelia Stefanescu.

In 1972, a young Spanish tenor made his debut as Pinkerton in "Madame Butterfly" in a performance with the New York City Opera. Critics were quick to point out his "suave, clear and sensual voice" and that was to mark the birth of a new star, Jose Carreras.

Born on December 5, 1946, in Barcelona, Carreras has displayed a strong passion for singing since his childhood. Passengers aboard boats travelling from Spain to Argentina and the customers of his mother's hair salon could hear young Jose sing. His first performances on radio at 8 as well as his first role with the Barcelona Opera at 11 were the beginning of a spectacular career. At 18, the soprano voice of the young Carreras changed into the tenor voice that has made him famous as an adult.

Montserrat Caballe noticed him as Flavio in "Norma" and asked him to be her stage partner in "Lucrezia Borgia," his first important role. To this, were added his performances in "Rigoletto," "Traviata" and "Tosca" all of which won him celebrity in the lyrical scenes as a complex and highly expressive singer. In his early 50s, his voice is more mature and more profound and as powerful as one quarter of a century ago. For many, the first meeting with Jose Carreras occurred as part of the Three Tenors concerts, the delicate Spaniard remaining the least known of them. Nevertheless, Jose Carrera's voice will be remembered as one of the most beautiful in the 20th Century.

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