Welcome back to Germany, Mr.Carreras!

The recital took place in the Musikhalle, an historic building and the centre of Hamburg concert life, located in the middle of Hamburg near the Binnenalster (something like a large lake). With its old-fashioned, gorgeous interior and the fine acoustic (I hope I'm right, because it is easy to talk about a fine acoustic, when you are sitting near the stage), it was a suitable venue for such a nice recital.

I soon noticed, that the ladies sitting around me belonged to José Carreras' most devoted fans, travelling from town to town not able to miss any possible concert near or even far from the place where they live. One of the ladies told me, that she worked in the morning, went by train to Hamburg and had to catch a train back at about midnight, because she had to work the next morning, too. I think she was quite happy, because of the upcoming weekend. Some other groups were sitting a bit more far off the stage, for example a Japanese and an Austrian group.

When Mr. Carreras entered the stage, he was welcomed by a long lasting warm applause. It seemed that Germany was happy to have him back. He looked very good, but a bit unshaved. Maybe his schedule didn't leave him enough time for a shave, but I think people call it a 3-days-beard. I always wonder, what a man does on the 4th day with a 3-days-beard.

The program was a mixture of well known songs and some new songs, which I never heard him sing before. Whatever he sang, he did it with great intensity, his voice sounded strong, even the soft notes. The old lady beside me had already attended the recitals in München and Frankfurt and knew exactly the moments when he had to sing a high note. She was concerned, nervous (I think a lot more than he), was breathing with him, and almost gave a sigh of relief when he had finished the high note.

Some of the songs he sang accompanied by a quartet of strings, 2 violins, a viola and a double-bass. I had been a bit skeptical about such a group, because I never loved chamber music by Haydn, Mozart etc. However the accompaniment together with Mr. Bavaj's excellent piano playing didn't disturb, but proved to be a nice change to the usual piano only.

The quartet played some solo numbers with great artistic ability, fortunately no Haydn or Mozart, but 2 Tosti songs, a piece from Albéniz and a Rigoletto-waltz, which was rewarded by the audience with lots of bravi. The viola player had some trouble with his sheets of music. He took that calmly, which brought him an extra applause from the house.

The atmosphere in the sold out house was relaxed and enthusiastic. Mr. Carreras, being relaxed too, got big applause and bravi after each song and between the 5 encores a mixture of thunderous applause, bravi, standing ovations, stomping feet, rhythmic clapping and camera flashes.

Be back soon, Mr. Carreras!