There once was a moment on Seinfeld where a character was talking of the Three Tenors, and said, "Pavarotti, Domingo, and . . . you know . . . that other one."

Well, if the other one, Jose Carreras, is, perhaps, not quite as famous as Luciano Pavarotti and Placido Domingo, he is, opera fans will tell you, their equal as a tenor.

His voice, beautifully dark-hued in the Spanish tradition, has darkened somewhat over the years, opera fans tell me. But they also say it remains wonderfully textured and balanced, and that Carreras is a vital communicator of meaning. All of which says the man is a singer not to miss when he arrives at the Providence Performing Arts Center on Friday. (Tickets are available, ranging from $57 to $77. Phone 421-2787).

On the phone from Oslo, Norway, about 10 days ago, Carreras says he is particularly glad to be coming to the United States at this time "in light of what has happened. I love to come over there. I care for the United States."

He points out that part of his connection to this country is that he was cured of leukemia through the efforts of a clinic in Seattle.

After a major opera career that began in his native Barcelona, the now 54-year-old Carreras was diagnosed in 1987 and given a 1-in-10 chance of survival. The one became the one, and he resumed a career now given over more to recitals than opera, although he still perform in operas at times.

"My health is now good," he says in fluent English. "I am out of treatment and leading a completely normal life."

Carreras has set up the Jose Carreras International Leukemia Foundation, which coordinates bone-marrow transplants in Spain and is primarily aimed at raising money for research.

"Once you have had a certain experience, you must do something," he says. "To be able to give people encouragement is, for me, a must."

In Providence (he appears at Carnegie Hall in New York a few nights later), Carreras says he will sing music ranging from the 1700s to "almost our day."

He probably will not do opera, because he will be accompanied by one pianist, and opera "is written to be played by an orchestra." But he will do songs by Puccini, Bizet and others.

And for an encore, who knows, "maybe some Lloyd Webber."

I tell him that Rhode Island has a large Italian-background population and Carreras is happy to hear it: "Maybe some Neapolitan songs, for the encore," he says.

Copyright © 2001 Providence Journal