Three Tenors: Carreras, Domingo, Pavarotti In Concert [1990]

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2006-04-02 rating:
Beautiful setting for beautiful singing
This 1990 World Cup concert, which launched the Three Tenors phenomenon, has a beautiful open air setting at the Caracalla Baths in Rome. This means however, a loss of acoustics. Orchestral sounds that would be enriched by a little reverberation literally drift away on the evening breeze. But the singing is excellent. They sing 4 solos each, then - after a sinfonia, or orchestral interlude - 3 more as a trio; 16 tracks in all. All three singers are perfectly at ease in the Romance languages, but struggle with German and English, sometimes quite badly. In the worst example, 'Maria' from West Side Story, Pavarotti bellows, "Say it soft and it's almost like praying". Well, we'll have to take his word for it.

Despite these imperfections, the DVD remains a joyous celebration of some very fine singing and is well worth a look and a listen.

If you are yet to experience a Three Tenors concert, you might prefer to start with the 1994 Dodgers Stadium performance, when the World Cup came to the US. That has more songs and is a slicker, more professional affair. It also has a celebrity audience, including Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly, who are honored during the concert.

REMEMBER: Don't buy a Region 1 DVD unless you have a player that can play it.

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review by: date: 2005-06-21 rating:
Impressive
After watching the concert for the first time I'm actually speechless. I have the cd from this concert and I love it, but the dvd is a hundred times better. No wonder it's the world no. 1 classical bestseller. All the tenors are in resplendent voice, but to me José Carreras is the star of this night. Hearing (and seeing) his rendition of "Il lamento di Federico" and "L'improvviso" will leave you gobsmacked. His stage presence is like always both humble and charming. Adding to his charm is the way he behaves in "Lamento di Federico" after having produced some tones of pure delight. He instantly lifts his eyes to heaven, smiling, looking around as if he expects to see someone up there who helped him getting through the difficult parts of the aria. Then he blows a kiss of thank you to heaven, obviously grateful, before he continues singing.

Although I'm not the biggest fan of Pavarotti or Domingo I have to admit that Pav's "Torna a Surriento" and "Rondine al nido" and Domingo's "No puede ser" was absolutely beautiful.
The reason for not being their biggest fan is that they're not able to stir my emotions like Carreras, but when performing together the three voices blend perfectly and it sounds just wonderful.

I loved the way the three of them enjoyed themselves when performing together. It's real fun to watch the encore "O sole mio" where Pavarotti gives his famous trill. He just shakes his head and the high notes pops out. I've been listening to this on the cd for a long time, but never before seen what really happened. Pavarotti starts singing and then Domingo surprises him by cutting in, taking over the singing. When it's Pavarotti's turn to sing again it seems he's thinking (humorously) "I'll teach him not to interfere with my singing again" and then he push his "high-note-button". When he's busy doing this, you can see the two other "conspiring", looking like two young boys who are really "up to something". And when Pavarotti allows them to take over again they leave him flabbergasted by throwing themselves into the song, repeating his trill perfectly, making it sound all the way as impressive as his.
The look on Pavarotti's face is priceless. He's laughing out loud in astonishment. It's obvious he wasn't expecting any competition....

I also have to comment on the conductor, Zubin Mehta. He really impressed me with his conducting, being so attentive to the singers. He's watching them closely all the time and making the orchestra follow them just perfectly. He's giving a hundred percent throughout the concert. And you can also see him being impressed by the tenors performances, acknowledging this by putting down his baton and applauding. At one point he also gets down and hugs Carreras after his wonderful rendition of "Granada". So he's definitely not a stiff and unapproachable conductor.

This dvd is a real treat. If you buy it, my guess is that you can look forward to many hours in the company of the three tenors.

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review by: trappist date: 2004-09-07 rating:
Nobody slept that night at the Caracalla Baths ....
This was the first appearance by the "Three Tenors" - Luciano Pavarotti, José Carreras and Placido Domingo - and was to lead to many more such "gala" nights in the next ten years. Yet it was purely by chance that BBC TV soccer commentator Gerald Sinstadt, looking for suitable music to introduce the BBC's 1990 World Cup coverage in Italy, decided on Puccini's "Nessum Dorma", in the version sung by Pavarotti. This inspired choice led to the concept of the "Three Tenors" concerts.
In his youth, the big man was a soccer player, and played in goal for Modena before choosing a singing career. All three singers are self-confessed soccer fanatics.
However, Carreras was recovering from leukemia and had not been expected to sing again. He had no money and it's an open secret that this concert was to help get him back on his feet. The three tenors came together at the Caracalla Baths, an open-air site just outside Rome, and gave a performance which was as joyful and vibrant as the 1990 World Cup final between Germany and Argentina had been limp and turgid.
Old and new favourites, operatic and musical (including the soccer anthem "You'll Never Walk Alone" from 'Carousel'), Italian and Neopolitan songs under the baton of Zubin Mehta - this concert lit the blue touchpaper and we've been admiring the "Three Tenors" ever since. Sound quality is better on later versions but that is to be expected.


review by: date: 2002-12-01 rating:
The "THREE" shines at Los Angeles
The Three Tenors 1994 is really the most 'shining' of the three 'soccer' concerts they gave. Viewing this dvd, even as a lover of opera recordings, was instantly riveting to me. Why? There was an instantly recognisable American flair for showmanship, not found in the other two (i.e. 1990 and 1998), beginning with the atmoshere inside the Dodger's Stadium, the starting drum-roll leading to a choral burst of the Star Bangled Banner, then the snippets of rich-and-famous American personalities (but you will need a very quick eye, because the camera gives only split second images of them - see how many can you name?). The night's programme naturally was sprinkled with iconic American movie and broadway songs, which all THREE delivered in their delightful operatic way. Very nice too see Gene Kelly acknowledged when THEY sang 'Singing in the Rain'; and Old Blue Eyes similarly applauded in 'My Way'. Heart-warming and very nice indeed.

Other than the operatic fare, which stuck safely, a little too safe I say, to the standard repertoire, I particularly like Lalo Schifrin's arrangement of Schubert's Ave Maria, delivered with just the correct intensity by Pavarotti. Carreras was sparkling in 'E lucevan le stelle' and Domingo was brilliant in 'Granada'.
Even the chorus was a gem to watch and listen to.

This concert was captured so faithfully, in colour and sound on this disc, it made me forget that there was a World Cup soccer tournament on.

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