The Teatro Regio production of Sly was also reviewed by smaller papers in Milan, and Genoa. Unlike most of the first night reviews in La Stampa (Turin), but like the Corriere della Sera (Milan) these local papers tended to give more attention to the actual voices.

From Il Secolo XlX (Genoa) October 21, 2000, "Male Sly, Bene Carreras" (Bad Sly, Good Carreras) by Claudio Tempo...

ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

[...] The rehabilitation of Sly travels with some luggage that has a luminous effectiveness - Carreras, to be exact. This highly praised interpreter who has already rehabilitated the opera in Zurich and Barcelona before his 'third encore' in Turin, seems to wish to wear only Sly's clothes at the moment. Now, Carreras is worth a Sly, one should try to make friends with it.

Certainly -my direct impression - Sly is not worthy of this Carreras, who gives to Sly a rounded tenor voice (minimal flaws when [the voice] is stretched), full of nuances, wonderful in the shaping of its timbre, combined with an intelligence of phrasing. It is impossible for him to 'go overboard'.

As for the rest, in this opera, 'going overboard' in the performance, especially for the protagonist, would be a complete mistake. In fact, it would render ridiculous the few emotional tensions that there are.

[...] It is better to limit ourselves to admire, apart from the splendid work of Carreras, the moving dedication of the soprano Elisabete Matos, the robust figures of the baritones, Carmelo Corrado Caruso and Enrico Marrucco, the competence of the cast and chorus, and Renato Palumbo's incisive style of conducting.

ORIGINAL ITALIAN VERSION:

[...] il recupero di Sly vanta un traino di luminescente efficacia. Carreras , appunto. Che osannato interprete recuperatore già a Zurigo e Barcelona prima di fare tris a Torino a quanto si dice attualmente vuole rivestire solo i panni di Sly. Ora : un Carreras val bene uno Sly, verrebbe da ammiccare.

Certi - ad impressione diretta - che Sly non vale questo Carreras, che a Sly sta donando una tenorilità rotonda (minime incrinature nelle figurazioni più dilatata), fervida di nuance, mirabili per linearità nella tornitura timbrica, fibrata di intelligenza fraseologica. E refrattaria allo strafare.

Del resto , in quest'opera, lo "strafare" esibitorio , specie del protagonista, risulterebbe del tutto inopportuno, anzi ridicolizzerebbe le poche tensioni emozionali in gioco.

[...] Conviene limitarsi ad ammirare, oltre alla splendida prova di Carreras, la commossa dedizione del soprano Elisabethe Matos, la cifra robusta dei baritoni. Carmelo Corrado Caruso ed Enrico Marrucco, l'adeguatezza del cast e del coro, la stagliata proprietà direttoriale di Renato Palumbo.

From Il Giorno (Milan) October 22, 2000, "L'acqua non ferma la stagione operistica" (The water doesn't stop the opera season) by Edgardo Pocorobba...

ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

[...] The singers rose perfectly to the arduous task set by Wolf-Ferrari in his score; in a drama like this, constructed in such a way that even one person out of place, in terms of voice, diction, or accent, could have threatened the entire structure. The cast was up their assignment.

Josè Carreras wore Sly's clothes sincerely, more than just convincingly - passionately. He threw himself generously into the fray from his very first entrance. He sustained the first part of the third act, and with the powerful Elisabete Matos the second part as well. The third act ends with his death - the end of the drama. The two excellent baritones should also be singled out [...] The opera will be performed until the 16th of November and truly deserves to be seen.

ORIGINAL ITALIAN VERSION:

[...] Il cast vocale è stato perfettamente all'altezza degli ardui compiti che Wolf-Ferrari ha decretato con la sua scrittura; in un dramma come questo, impostato in modo che anche un solo fuori posto a livello di voce, di dizione, di accenti, avrebbe potuto minare l'intera struttura . Il cast è stato all'altezza dei propri compiti.

Josè Carreras ha rivestito sinceramente i panni di Sly, in modo più che convincente, appassionato, con generosità si è buttato nella mischia fin dal suo ingresso, per sostenere da solo, nella prima parte; ed in duo con la possente Elisabete Matos la seconda parte del terz'atto che suggella con la sua morte, la conclusione del dramma. Vanno segnalati due bravissimi baritoni [...] Si replica fino al 16 novembre e merita davvero di essere visto

In a review from Il Giornale (Milan) October 22, 2000, "A Carreras Sly calza come un guanto" (Sly fits Carreras like a glove) Antonio Cirignano wrote...

[...] Carreras slips into this role, which is more difficult than inaccessible, like a hand into a glove. He dominates the stage, showing his vocal muscles yet also unveiling a series of "mezze voci" with the timbre and rich resonance that one hears only in great singers [...] For Carreras an unqualified success. For Sly much applause.

The Teatro Regio also brought Sly to Nice for two performances, travelling to the nearby French city with cast, orchestra, crew and sets. The Nice performances were a great success, and written up in La Stampa on November 1st. In " Carreras-Sly conquista anche Nizza" (Carreras-Sly also conquers Nice), Emanuela Minucci described the post-performance festivities. Turin's Mayor Castellani had been up for 72 hours without sleep during the flood crisis in his city and was too exhausted to attend the opening night in Turin, but he and his wife went to Nice for the Acropolis performances. As did Ugo Perone, the city councilor for culture, and Walter Vergnano, the superintendent of the Teatro Regio. They gathered backstage after the performance along with Gian Carlo Del Monaco (son of the great tenor, Mario Del Monaco), a distinguished opera director who currently runs the Opera de Nice. And then....

[...] the great Carreras, who usually avoids the tiring post-performance rites, came out of his dressing room still dressed in the tragic clothes of Sly - the poet tramp, tricked unto death - to greet the Piedmontese dignitaries. "Maestro, you were magnificent, I would be honored to invite you to dinner in Turin" said Castellani. The great tenor quipped "Sure, maybe we can watch the Juventus/Barcelona match together." Standing out in the midst of group of people in evening dress, the torture of autographing programs began for Carreras. But it doesn't last very long. José-Sly is truly tired. After 5 minutes he returns to his dressing room and then is off to the Hotel Negresco. He has to catch a plane very early the next morning. Instead, no timetable problems for Gian Carlo Del Monaco who, despite the heavy criticism in the Nice-Matin the previous day for having incurred excessive running expenses at the Opera de Nice (recognizing, however, that he deserves credit for bringing names like Carreras to Nice), took big puffs of his Havana cigar and declared himself ready to form a "stable and long-term collaboration" with the Teatro Regio,

On October 30th , prior to the performance, there was an article and interview in the Nice- Matin, "José Carreras se transforme ce soir en poète ivrogne" by André Peyregne. This translation from the original French is by Marja Kivirikko...

Tonight, José Carreras is Transformed into a Drunken Poet

A man often cited as one of the Tenors of the Century will be at the Acropolis in Nice tonight to introduce this Mediterranean city to Sly, the opera in which he plays the first degenerate character of his career.

From the plush corridors of Hotel Negresco, his slim figure enters Suite 122, the Montserrat Caballé Suite, its walls adorned with pictures of the diva. His beard is a few days old. This indeed is one of the Tenors of the Century, José Carreras.

His first visit to Nice was in 1976 when he sang Verdi's Un Ballo in maschera. And who brought him here? "It was she!" he says, pointing to one of the images of Montserrat Caballé, softly lit by the low falling sun.

The Caballé-Carreras duo had sent the audience of the day into a trance, and those who were present still talk about it.

"Excuse my unshaven appearance" continued José Carreras, "My role calls for it. Tonight and Thursday, playing the part of a poet, a bum and a drunk in Wolf-Ferrari's opera Sly at the Acropolis. It's the first time I'm performing the part of a person in moral decline. Usually, in opera, the tenor plays the winner. But in this case, it's the opposite!"

Wretched, yet Appealing

"It is exactly what appealed to me in the character; wretched, yet appealing. That's why I wanted to bring this forgotten opera back into line with current tastes. I first sang it in Zurich in 1998 ... and last week in Turin. And I'll perform it two years from now in New York and Japan. I suppose that at some time in a singer's career, when he has reached a certain maturity, he no longer needs to play only glorious or arrogant roles."

There is a certain humility in the attitude of this famous tenor who, although he has enjoyed the greatest fame and who, when singing with Pavarotti and Domingo, fills stadiums with... several hundred thousand people (Next Three Tenors Concert: this Christmas in Chicago).

Basically, one can only really understand José Carreras by observing the life of this admirable man who has been jolted about from triumph to suffering. He is not reluctant to talk of the "incurable illness" that plucked him from the height of his art and from which he "miraculously" escaped at the end of the 1980s: leukemia. He discusses it because he knows that his example can give hope to others. Besides, he has furthered the cause by establishing the José Carreras International Leukemia Foundation.

He sees three reasons for his incredible recovery: his own willpower, encouragement from admirers the world over, and God. "Be careful not to seek God's help out of opportunism alone, that is, only when things are going badly!", he says.

He expresses this advice in a clear voice that is surely one of the most beautiful of the century.