Wednesday August 25.

Postman rang (only once), had a big package for me. Warner Music. Should it.... could it.... YES! In a shiny red jewel box: José Carreras Pure Passion. And 27 pages of press releases, an interview with José Carreras, and track listings. Nice card with it: "We had him already in the house. Happy to send you a copy already. Kind Regards, Warner Music."
After hearing it several times this is what I think.

It is far more classical than Passion, maybe because there are more songs in Italian - eight. Two songs are in Spanish (one is a tango!) and only two in English. As a Wagner fan, I first listened to what he did to the Tannhäuser Overture. It's overwhelming. José sings with such power! A big choir in the background. Wagner, undoubtedly. Second - of course - the Piano Concerto No. 2 by Rachmaninov. It is indeed the slow part of the second movement. Then I turned to track two on the cd, the song with music from Paul McCartney. This is a surprise! I never knew he wrote such classical music. José makes it a universal declaration of love. Now here's one song he sings in English I really like! The two pieces from Rachmaninov, both pieces from Tchaikovsky, it's all great.

It is obvious José took more time to make this album than he did for Passion. The music is handled with more care, staying as close to the original as possible. The Italian lyrics are all from the same writers, which gives the album more consistency than Passion had. And José is in better form then he was - in my opinion - on Passion. Even in 'Europa' (from Tannhäuser) or 'Notte Slava' (Marche Slave from Tchaikovsky) no sign of strain, although both songs have a heavy orchestration. The long phrases on Chopin's Nocturne in E flat flow fluidly. In the first song, 'Un'ombra', José sings one verse in Polish. 'Sarà così' (Rachmaninov) and 'Quando' (Elgar) are sung with such tenderness! 'Dimmi perchè' (Schubert) sounds familiar. The original text was sung by the Three Tenors in Paris, in the second medley. Now the song has beautiful Italian lyrics.

Over all: this album is the best he has done in a long time. Pure Passion is pure pleasure.
It simply is Pure Carreras!