“When I was a kid, I was listening to opera and studying music. I knew what I wanted and I knew what I liked, and I was dreaming about making it happen.” José Carreras Live from the Vienna State Opera, September 16, 1988 THE VIENNA COMEBACK Featuring works by Jules Massenet, Giacomo Puccini, Franz Liszt, Joaquín Turina, Francesco Paolo Tosti and others This liederabend is without doubt one of the most extraordinary evenings of vocal music in the glittering history of the Vienna State Opera. For it represents not simply a celebratory comeback to the stage after many months of absence: what it amounts to is nothing less than an artistic rebirth. Live from the Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow, September 5, 1989 JOSÉ CARRERAS AND MONTSERRAT CABALLÉ Featuring works by Vincenzo Bellini, Antonio Vivaldi, Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, Francesco Paolo Tosti, Fernando J. Obradors and others A mere three weeks after his much-acclaimed return to operatic and concert performance at the Salzburg Festival in August 1989, José Carreras appeared in another important musical event – a joint concert with his Spanish compatriot, singer Montserrat Caballé, held in Moscow’s famous Bolshoi Theatre. For this concert, the two singers put together a programme that was extremely colourful and varied and at the same time tasteful and well-balanced. Live from the Mission Dolores, San Francisco, June 21, 1990 MISA CRIOLLA by Ariel Ramirez On the 21st June 1990, two years after his sensational and much acclaimed return to the opera stage and concert platform, he once again sang the solo part in the “Misa Criolla” – this time at the Mission Dolores in San Francisco, founded in the 18th century by Spanish priest Pater Serra. On both occasions the composer himself, Ariel Ramirez, played the organ or piano part.