All lovers of opera have one, maybe two, voices with which they are hopelessly in love. For many it's Maria Callas, for my mother-in-law no one surpasses Jussi Bjorling and my sister couldn't live without a pile of Jon Vickers recordings. As for me, it's the voice of José Carreras.

The first time I heard José Carreras is etched permanently into my brain and heart. Fortunately, it is also etched into history in the form of a pirate recording. The opera was Tosca given by the touring company of the New York City Opera in Los Angeles in 1974. I had gone to hear one of my favorite sopranos Birgitte Nilsson and frankly had never heard of José Carreras. When José first stepped onto the stage, I can remember thinking …hmm, he is gorgeous, but can he sing. Somewhere between the beginning notes of "recondita armonia" and "Tosca sei tu" I fell in love with a voice, a love that has lasted to this day. Some people may think that the pairing of Nilsson and Carreras that night was odd because he was exactly one-half her age at the time; but he sang to her with such abandon and passion that it was all believable. I think that it was Leonie Rysanek who once said that she thought that if Tosca were older than Cavaradossi, her intense jealousy made perfect sense. I know I would have beat off all rivals with a stick, if I had been Nilsson that evening. I personally had to be almost carried from the theater that night from emotional exhaustion.

I’ve continued to follow José’s career since that night and have watched and listened to him develop from a beautiful young man with a beautiful passionate voice to a complete artist. In times of deep pain and extraordinary joy, I have come to turn to his extraordinary voice to express what I cannot myself express.