It is certainly true that the young José Carreras idolized Giuseppe Di Stefano.

He talked of no other singer when I first got to know him in 1973. On his first visit to my house, he only wanted to hear the Di Stefano tapes in my collection. I did, however, manage to sneak in some Tucker, who was still alive and singing at the time. Carreras also loved Tucker, and thought his notes over the passaggio were particularly incredible. He said that from F to high C Tucker was the greatest tenor he had ever heard.

The bass, Paolo Montarsolo, was with José that night, as were Katia Ricciarelli and others. Montarsolo said to Carreras, "It's all right to idolize Di Stefano, but if you must 'copy' somebody, copy Tucker, not Di Stefano."

I don't think Carreras intentionally copied Di Stefano, but his technique, or lack of same, was similar. Very open on top, which can be very damaging to the voice. Another thing to remember is that Di Stefano was in deep vocal trouble when he was a mere 37-38 years old. José was still singing extremely well at that age, and his real problems started a few years later, and they never were as severe as Di Stefano's problems until well after Carreras' illness.

José could, by the way, do a perfect imitation of Di Stefano. I heard him do it many times. He also imitated, at parties, Domingo, and even James MacCracken, both to a tee. He can still do a wonderful early Di Stefano imitation. If any of you have the 3 tenors concert from LA in, I think, 1994 or 1996, listen to his part in the Italian song 'Santa Lucia luntana'. He gives a perfect imitation of Pippo, and looks at Domingo and Pavarotti with a smile - they knew exactly what he was doing.

The two tenors, Di Stefano and Carreras, have been close friends for well over 20 years. At Carreras' La Scala debut, as Riccardo in Ballo, Pippo lent José his costume from the 1957 revival with Callas.

The two tenors remain in touch frequently.