Widely recognised as 'the king of opera', Giacomo Puccini gave the world some of the most beautiful pages in the book of operatic history and the history of music in general. His operas represent the highlight of the Italian 'verismo' and he proved himself a great composer, in many ways. His masterpieces such as 'Manon Lescaut', 'La boheme', 'Tosca', 'Madama Butterfly' and the unfinished 'Turandot', are inevitable in the repertoires of most famous opera houses throughout the world. Many arias from these pieces have been taking the world's breath away ever since they were written. One of them is 'E lucevan le stelle', Cavaradossi's aria from 'Tosca'. Painter Mario Cavaradossi is a beautifully shaped character who, being in love with a passionate and extremely jealous diva, Floria Tosca, endures all her doubts and jealousy and loves her more and more every minute. But he is imprisoned for treason. The verdict says he is to be executed at dawn. Minutes before it, desperate Cavaradossi, who is aware of the situation, bids his farewell to life, singing one of the most beautiful arias in the entire operatic repertoire. Apart from the circumstances in which the aria is sung, what gives it such deep meaning is the clarinet part. Listening to that introduction, one cannot but feel the very essence of the cutting pain of the one who is to die minutes after singing his tune. The things past he can never bring back - there is no time. It terrifies him and that feeling is so realistically depicted by the clarinet. In fact, the clarinet dictates the melody to the singer. Without it, the aria would have a completely different meaning. Then, after such an introduction, comes the voice of Cavaradossi. This vocal part requires a richly coloured lyric tenor with a certain dramatic aspect. If a singer does not have a voice of this kind, it is impossible to transmit the aria's message. But when you have a tenor such as Jose Carreras on stage, then all you can do is listen. The moment he starts singing, he becomes a part of the clarinet tune, though not identical at the beginning. He starts recalling a night spent with Tosca - everything was so beautiful, sublime and almost unreal. But something is wrong with all that. The clarinet and Cavaradossi tell us so. The painter's passionate description of the moments of love with Tosca, that jealous and fiery diva, has a sound of sobbing with sighs. Then - he releases that cry striking right through the listener's heart, the cry in which he grieves over his fate and happiness that is vanished for good. Beautiful words, written by Puccini himself who wanted to make this aria as realistic as possible, reveal all Cavaradossi's anger over the unjust laws of life and death, in the second part of the aria, when he cries in complete despair:

'Svani per sempre
il sogno mio d' amore.
L' ora e fuggita.
E muoio disperato!
E muoio disperato.
E non ho amato mai tanto la vita!'

And that final 'tanto la vita' - when repeated - releases such an amount of pain that the feelings of that desperate man completely overwhelm the listener. Now, when he has so much to live for, when he loves Tosca more than ever and is sure his love is not a one-way road, his life is to end. He is aware of it and just cannot take it. His enemy, Scarpia, wants his blood to flow and he wants to live. He wants to live like never before, but he is in prison, waiting for execution. He is not dying phisically, but in his mind. He says goodbye in such a moving and convincing way - one just cannot overlook it. When a tenor like Jose Carreras bids that farewell, one can never be the same person again. Listening to Carreras' 'E lucevan le stelle', one feels the anguish of the man who can do nothing but wait. And he is waiting to die. If you feel a tear twinkling in your eye and your heart's beating speeds up, then you hear the cry of Mario Cavaradossi, the painter.

That is Puccini. And THAT is CARRERAS.