Great Spanish Tenors

When it comes to great opera tenors most people naturally think of Italy first and why shouldn’t they, after all they have provided us with not only great composers of this genre of music such as Verdi, Puccini and Rossini but great voices as well such as Caruso, Di Stefano, Pavarotti and many others. The Spanish however have not provide us with such composers in the field of Opera as their tastes leans toward Zarzuela, which is basically a Spanish form of opera and it is from this music that many a fine voice has come to the world of not only Italian opera but music in general.

Domingo is a fine example of a great Spanish tenor, as his voice combines both the strength required to sing such demanding roles as “Siegfried” in Wagner’s “The Ring” as well as “Othello” in Verdi’s opera by the same name along with the sweetness to interpret the style known as bell canto in earlier works by Verdi and those of Donizetti. Domingo however is much more then a great voice as he perhaps was the first tenor ever to combine being a great singer along with being a great actor; him being able to put real life in to any role, which adds that extra dimension of drama in to any of the many roles he has done through out his long career. As for myself, personally I must say that my favorite Domingo interpretation is the one he does of “Ramades” in the opera “Aida” by Verdi. This being a part which sees him fall in love with the beautiful Aida, who would go on to prefer death over the possibility of living a life without Ramades.

Where Domingo is a great voice, Barcelona’s Jose Carreras is no less of a talent in his own right, and though it can be said that his is not one of the strongest voices in opera it can also be stated that he has one of nicest, which so perfectly lends itself to such roles as “Rodolfo” in Puccini’s “La Boheme”. This due to Carreras being more a melodious singer then anything else. As for my personal opinion; I would say that none can interpret the role of “Don Jose” in Carmen as well as he, for there is something in his tender voice that just seems to be perfect for this role, not to mention his graceful appearance which is truly a sight to behold on any stage.