Date: 31 October 2001
Place: A Tokyo Hotel
Participants:
MT (Ms. Miho Tateno, interviewer),
JC (Mr. Jose Carreras),
ST(Mr. Shinji Tanimura, singer)
MT: I heard you had a concert yesterday in Suntory Hall. How did it go?
JC: From the stage, I saw the audience listening to me very
attentively. It was a very impressive concert for me.
MT: You saw the concert, didn't you, Tanimura-san?
ST: I remember there were eight encores. Right? We audience got so
excited that we couldn't stop asking for more. And you kindly came
back every time, making me worried you would get exhaust.
JC: I feel honored when people ask me for many encores.
ST: (To Tateno) I've seen Jose's concert several times. This time he
was with a piano and a string quartet only (no orchestra). I heard his
cool passion which I believe women find sexy. (Everyone laughs.) I was
looking at him thinking like that.
MT: (To JC) I listened to your latest CD "Around the World" and found
the second track, "Paraules d'Amor" particularly charming.
JC: As you already know, that is a song of Catalonia, my small home
country that belongs to Spain. Catalonia is an autonomous state with
half the population of Tokyo's. There was a time when Catalan Prime
Minister Puyol came to Japan and talked with the Chinese
premier. Puyol said, "Catalonia has a population of six
million." Then Chinese Premier asked, "In which hotel are they
staying?" (Laugh) This song was written by a singer-songwriter Juan
Manuel Serrat Teresa. He is famous in Spain and South America, and
this song is the symbol of us Catalans. I'm very happy to be able to
record "Paraules d'Amor" for this album.
MT: In the song there is a phrase "when I was 15." When you were 15,
what kind of dreams and ambitions did you have, Jose?
JC: I belong to the Beatles generation and was an ordinary boy who
loved the Beatles. Just like every boy of that age, I had a big
dream~, and mine was to become an opera singer. While majoring in
chemistry in university, I studied in a music conservatory as well. I
was always thinking of becoming a singer, not a player of an instrument
or an orchestra conductor. Thanks to God and luck, I've come to this
wonderful profession.
ST: You are very fortunate. I, too, was blessed with similar luck,
just like people active in their respective fields, like journalism for
instance.I think everyone has his or her God-given profession. I, too,
am~ very lucky to be able to find it for myself.
MT: In your new album, there is a song titled "Kumbaya My Lord," the
7th track, which was produced by a conductor-arranger Christian
Kolonovits. The introduction has a club-like feeling, which seems like
a new approach to you. What do you think of your collaboration with
him?
JC: He is a very talented arranger. I have worked with him for other
projects before. He took part in the Christmas concert I had with
Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti and Diana Ross in Vienna. He has
worked for my solo concerts as well. He knows classaical music and is
naturally good at adding classical flavors to popular music in his
arrangement. In our discussion, he and I came up with an idea to have
an exotic piece from the African continent for the 7th track.
MT:You also have worked with Christian Kolonovits, Tanimura-san.
ST: When I made an album in Vienna in 1990, he arranged all the songs
for me. We had a recording session together for about six weeks.
Because he did such a great job in the album, I had a Japan tour with
him working as conductor.
JC: Christian is professionally resourceful and is very easy for me to
work with. He is easy to talk to and has a very positive energy. He
is a reliable man.
ST: He thinks of others, senses and energizes the air around theme. He
has a wonderful personality.
JC: I always think of him as a man seeking to go a step farther. Since
we take music as given, creation by somebody else, waht we performers
have to do is to put our emotions in it. By doing it in reasonable
ways, we can best communicate with the audience. He knows how to do it.
MT: You were the music director for Barcelona Olympics in 1992,
Jose. You had a duet with Sarah Brightman there. Was that your first
time performing with her?
JC: That's right. I met her for the first time at the Olympics. We sang
and recorded the official theme song, "Friends for Life" at the opening
ceremony. Since then we've been close friends. We've had many TV
appearances together as well. She helps me in various fund-raising
programs related to leukemia.
MT: "Friends for Life" was composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, famous
musical composer. You will sing other songs of his in this dream
concert. When you sing songs from musicals, is there anything
particular that you do?
JC: When I sing songs, not just Webber's, I always think of how well I
can express my inner emotions. I find it easy with Webber's songs
because his melodies have that innate expressive power.
MT: I've heard that three will be a collaboration by the three of you
(in the coming concert).
ST: What we will sing is supposed to be a secret (his eyes meet Jose's)
JC: Let's save it for later pleasure because it's going to be a special
opportunity.
ST: They will be well-known songs we are sure you'll love.
JC: That's right.
MT: We are looking forward. I know both of you have had stadium
concerts. How are they different from regular concerts in music halls?
JC: Fortunately, in my career, I've sung in different kinds of venues,
from a concert hall with limited number of audience to a gigantic
stadium and Central Park in New York for the audience of 400,000. What
I can always say about concerts, regardless of size, is that it's
important to give my heart to the audience and share the emitional
experience in the concert environment. That's a hard thing to do when
I sing in a big stadium because there is part I cannot directly
communicate in such conditions. Singing in a regular concert hall is
much easier than doing it in a 15,000-seat stadium. In either case,
the power of music helps me. The audience atmosphere usually improves
little by little as I go, and I bet everyone will eventually have an
emotional lift.
ST: I agree with you completely.
MT: Lastly, Toyota Stadium was designed by Kisho Kurokawa, a
worldly-renowned architect. How do you feel about taking part in the
even to celebrate its opening?
JC: I'm always impressed with the magnificence of Japanese concert
facilities. The soccer stadium in Barcelona was also done by a
Japanese architect, and it's wonderful. It's my first time performing
in Toyota Stadium, but I bet it's a very fine stadium.
MT: What do you think, Tanimura-san?
ST: I've heard of the stadium's good reputation. It's a great honor
for me to be able to sing with two wonderful artists for the opening
event. As the host of the concert, I will do my best to make it
wonderful. Because it's a special occasion, I'd like many people to
come see us.
