Singing from the Soul: Carreras By Jose Carreras
Singing from the Soul: Carreras By Jose Carreras
Hardcover
ISBN 0285630350
Publisher: Souvenir Press 1991
Used - Very Good+. This book is in very good condition. The Dust Jacket has some very limited signs of wear and the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. The book is protected with a Cellophane cover.
This book was written in the 1980's and updated for its US edition in the 1990's. So its focus is on the first part of Carreras' life and career. Carreras fans might appreciate yet another update, covering his more recent career emphasis on concerts rather than opera and on further development of his family and personal interests. However do autobiographies ever give us a view of the total person?
Carreras' own story is told is a straight-forward way with an occasional chuckle at himself. The flamboyance and sensory heights of the operatic stage are not traits of Carreras' personal lifestyle, it seems. Early in the book he admonishes a person close to him to not fall into the trap of sentiment. This could be a sign that for Carreras sentiment is reserved for the stage. He is not cold but is reserved of his feelings about what is happening in his life. Included photographs, both the snapshots and the professional, give more information about his range of feeling about what involves him, yet some mystery remains.
He speaks of how every note he sings is sung to fulfill its meaning and its place in the music. He tells of how he found opera at age six and chose it as his life's focus. How can words, even his own, really explain how the music pours out and pours into listeners' hearts? After reading this and hopefully hearing at least some of his recordings, you will have no doubt that his song does come directly from his soul.
I agree with some of what the one-star review said but not with that rating. Non-native speakers would have a translator/ editor/ secretary to smooth out any language problems but such aides are chosen because they are compatible with the writer's own tone and intent.
