Oh me - it really happened. I got to hear and see Jose Carreras sing at the Metropolitan Opera and in Carmen. And both he and it were wonderful.

Jose performed Act IV of the Met's Zeffirelli Carmen. That means extravaganza. There were zillions of singers and dancers on stage during the parade scene, matadors and picadors on horses (yes, live ones), beautiful scenery and costumes, etc. When they all left the stage and Jose came to the front to confront Carmen (Lorraine Hunt Lieberson), the audience broke out into applause and cheers. It is most unusual for a Met audience to interrupt the action to do this but they did for Jose. James Levine had the orchestra stop playing till the applause died.

Jose both looked and sounded good. His singing and acting were ardent, his Don Jose certainly ruins the chances that I could ever really enjoy anyone else in this role. His movement was slightly hesitant at times but, over all, he did well. It was clear that he fell 'carefully' each time that he went down, but he did so and he was certainly convincing when he 'killed' Carmen and fell over her. He got the largest ovation of the evening, including bouquets thrown at him.

Lorraine Hunt Lieberson was excellent as Carmen but I must admit that I didn't pay that much attention to her or any other performer. Gee, I wonder why! I was sitting up in the rafters and my binoculars were glued to my face and on Jose the entire time. (This was one time I didn't bother to look at the subtitles, which are on the back of the seat in front of you at the Met.)

The evening started out with Placido Domingo singing Act 2 of Andrea Chenier with Daniela Dessi. They both sang well but it was an uninspired rendition of a less than exciting portion of that opera, with dull scenery and costumes. They received a polite but lukewarm reception from the Met audience.

Luciano Pavarotti in Act 3 of Turandot was last. This too was a Zeffirelli production with gorgeous scenery and costumes as well as wonderful staging. Pavarotti was stationary through most of the act (they even provided him with a prop to lean on) but did sing a good "Nessun Dorma," getting a rousing ovation for it. Patricia Racette, Liu, was wonderful while Jane Eaglen, Turandot, was not. After all the hype she got during the recent Ring, I was expecting a wonderful singer and was very disappointed. I found it hard to hear her and, at times, Pavarotti over the orchestra.

Sound carries beautifully in the Met even though it is a huge house (seats 3800) and, some say it is best in the Family Circle where I was seated. I had no trouble hearing Domingo or Jose. So I was quite surprised that it was difficult to hear Eaglen and Pavarotti. I've heard Pavarotti before and this was never an issue. The entire audience collectively caught their breath when Pavarotti lost his balance and fell onto his back at one point. But he seemed unhurt and got up and continued to sing.

At the end, all the cast members came out for curtain calls and got a number of them. During the first one, James Levine walked over to Jose and hugged him, clearly saying glad you're back at the Met. During a later curtain call, Pavarotti embraced Jose and the audience clearly loved it. All in all, this was a wonderful evening, one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences.