José Carreras was born in 1946, son of a policeman
and a hairdresser in Barcelona. He began studying song at
the age of 17 and received vocal training from Jaime Francisco
Puig and was discovered by conductor Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos
and singer Montserrat Caballé. When he won the award
at the Verdi Competition in Parma he put aside his Chemistry
studies and focused on his singing career.
After 1971, Carreras began establishing himself as an opera
singer on an international scale. He soon performed in London,
Tokyo, Buenos Aires, San Francisco, at the Hollywood Bowl
as well as in Covent Garden. In 1974 he staged his successful
performance as Cavaradossi in Puccini’s Tosca at the
Metropolitan Opera in New York.
Carreras quickly made a name for himself internationally and
appeared in the best opera houses around the world. He was
offered some of the biggest roles in French and Italian operas
and also performed as a singer at many concerts. He has been
recorded on many discs, many of them operas by Bellini, Donizetti,
Rossini and Verdi.
At the height of his career in 1987, Carreras was suddenly
diagnosed with leukaemia and was forced to interrupt his musical
activities. Fortunately he resulted victorious in his battle
with the cancer and picked up where he had left off in 1988.
Carreras set up a foundation in his name to raise funds for
children with cancer.
