Search - Christmas Traditional, Edvard Grieg, Research Composer :: José Carreras sings Catalan Songs

Singing the Collective Soul

BR Gandy | Salt Lake City, Utah, USA | 01/27/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Carreras' voice prior to nearly succumbing to leukemia in '87 carried his audience on the streamers of fireworks -- bright, climbing, breathtaking. Beating the disease, his voice changed; it changed to encompass the very heavens. This CD attests to Carreras' incredible range both technically and emotionally with the simplicity of EL CANT DELS OCELLS, the gap-toothed boyishness of CANCO DE GRUMET, the heart-wrenching DAMUNT DE TU, NOMES LES FLORS. These poetic songs are from his Catalan homeland; they are poignantly arranged and beautifully performed. Carreras calls it Singing from the Soul. I call it Singing the Collective Soul. Catalan Songs is an unexpected, very personal treasure."

T'estimo, Josep

PhantomOfTheOpera | Norway | 09/25/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I heard José Carreras singing "T'estimo" in his native tongue in a concert with the three tenors and I was fascinated by his rendition of this song as well as the language and when I stumbled upon this recording I couldn't resist buying it. And it surely didn't disappoint me. Hearing him sing these traditional songs from his native homeland is pure delight.



Here you'll find all kinds of songs; lullabies, Christmas carols and love songs in addition to traditional folk songs. Josep's enthusiasm when singing is easily discovered. And he sings with his usual ardour, pouring all of his emotions into each song. This was recorded in 1990 and his voice is as wonderful as ever. The only thing that has changed since his illness is that he sings with even more passion than before. I enjoy listening to all of the songs, but have of course picked quite a few favourites. "D'amunt de tu, només les flors" is beautiful beyond words while "els contrabandistes" is fun listening to and makes you start toe-tapping. "Canticel" is a delightful little song and "Canco de comiat" is an achingly beautiful farewell song to Catalonia. "T'estimo" (I love thee) is a beautiful love song composed by a late fellow citizen of mine; the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg, so the song is not from Catalonia, but the lyrics are translated into Catalan. Not long ago I had the honour of hearing José Carreras singing this song in my hometown. A wonderful experience, I might add. After finishing this song Carreras looked upwards and blew a kiss of thank you to heaven, obviously grateful that his rendition of this particular song was very well received by the audience in the composers' hometown. A gesture that no doubt added to his charm....



The songs in the rest of this album are equally wonderful and I have to say it makes me curious to find out more about Catalonia as well as its music and the people living there. I'm a person who also finds great joy in just listening to the beauty of different languages and having this language expressed in a beautiful and sensual voice like José Carreras' is for me as good as it can possibly get. No one sings Spanish like Carreras; no one sings Catalan like Carreras; no one sings like Carreras. Period!





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Beautiful songs and voice

golden eagle | 10/09/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Jose Carreras does these songs beautifully. I was not familiar with them, but I find them to be soulful and very appealing. You can tell that Carreras has a lot of feeling for the songs of his native Catalonia. If you are a Carreras fan, this CD belongs in your library."