As the century draws to a close, more and more people are drawing up lists, either for their own benefit or to post on internet opera discussion groups, of the ten (or whatever) best tenors. Of course, they do it for other voice types as well, but I will limit myself to tenors. And, yes, I have been guilty of this type of list making as well.

Of course, everybody's list is different, and, in my case, the list I will make up on a Saturday morning will differ from that on Sunday evening. But one thing is for sure - Carreras will be on every one of them.

Before drawing up such a list, let me list a few candidates, based largely, but not exclusively, on my own taste, and group them by nationality:

Italian Tenors - Giuseppe Anselmi, Enrico Caruso, Giacomo Lauri-Volpi, Beniamino Gigli, Nino Piccaluga, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Mario del Monaco, Franco Corelli, Luciano Pavarotti

Spanish and Latin American Tenors - Antonio Paoli, Hipolito Lazaro, Antonio Cortis, Miguel Fleta, José Carreras

French Tenors - Leon Escalais, Cesar Vezzani, Georges Thill, and José Luccioni

German, Austrian¹ and Scandinavian Tenors - Lauritz Melchior, Helge Roswaenge, Leo Slezak, Karl Burrian, Jussi Bjoerling

Russian Tenors - Dimitri Smirnoff, Herman Jadlowker

British, Irish and American Tenors - John O'Sullivan, Richard Tucker, and John McCormack

I have included several singers that I personally do not care for all that much, based on their own great fame. Some of them will not make the final cut, but neither will several personal favorites, where the majority of opera lovers will not share my own high opinion.

I should also mention the basis for my views, and take into consideration Mike Richter's excellent piece on the three tenors (elsewhere on this website) where he refers to Placido Domingo as the brain, Luciano Pavarotti as the voice, and José Carreras as the heart. I should also explain why Placido Domingo did not even make my list of candidates. The reason is simple - his strongest assets are musicianship and adherence (where he is capable of it) to the printed score. And, while I am far from oblivious to these qualities, they are probably the characteristics in tenors that I value least.

Where tenors are concerned, opera fans can possibly be divided into two major subgroups (This is, of course, an oversimplification, but I think it will do):

1. Those who primarily like voice, high notes, squillo and passion.
2. Those who primarily like style, elegance and musicianship.

To the first group, a cracked high note (whether in the score or not) is a major offense, while to the second, singing a high note that isn't in the score is an abomination. There is often a lack of communication between the two groups, simply because their standards are so different. As an aside, I have a suspicion that folks in group 2 tend to rate Wagner and later German opera much more highly than those in group 1 do. After all, high Cs, squillo and slancio are much more important in Italian (and French) opera than in Wagner.

I first became interested in opera in the late 1940s, and soon became familiar with singers like Caruso, Bjoerling, Pertile, Martinelli and Gigli. I didn't get to hear Lauri-Volpi until maybe 1950 and others such as Di Stefano, Del Monaco, Tucker, Slezak, Roswaenge, Thill, Piccaluga and O'Sullivan until later. Many I heard in person, others only on records. But, since listening to records was much less of a hassle than going to the opera, the tenors I could hear on records made more of an impression on me than those I could hear in the house. My record collecting and opera-going activities were somewhat curtailed when I moved to New Jersey in 1958 and got married in 1961. It was about then that Corelli first appeared in New York. So, I never had the privilege of hearing him in person.

Then, around 1970, a strange thing happened. Three major new voices came on the scene. I was 'introduced' to all of them by means of recommendations from friends.² The word I got on Domingo (from a high note lover) was a rather coarse "he stinks". When I first heard him (either Norma or Don Carlos), I realized that he wasn't all that bad - in fact I rather liked him at first. The word on Pavarotti (from the same friend) was "absolutely fabulous", so I naturally got his Verdi and Donizetti LP. The first selection I played was the 'Deserto in terra', which blew my mind. My introduction to Carreras, from another friend, was just as glowing - and his first record (Pietra del Paragone) had some stunning singing in the tenor aria. I continued to be delighted with all my later Pavarotti and Carreras records, but was quite unhappy with some of Domingo's, and he soon dropped rather quickly in my estimation.

As the years passed, I found myself getting almost everything by the Pav and José - and soon found that when both recorded the same opera, it was the Carreras I would turn to more often than not. I also replaced all the middle and late Verdi operas I had gotten by Domingo with Carreras whenever I could. By the late 1970s and 1980s, Carreras was recording roles that, on the surface, seemed too heavy for him. But I bought them anyway. And, to my surprise, found myself loving his Samson. His passion in the first two acts, and his vulnerability in the third were what overwhelmed me. I stopped playing the Domingo (just as I stopped playing the Vickers when I got the Domingo), and still play the Carreras, even in preference to the Luccioni.

Let me see if I can narrow the list down to ten names, in alphabetical order, based on various considerations, including vocal beauty, high notes, dramatic passion, and an interesting repertory. Other qualities, such as elegance and musicianship didn't hurt, as long as they didn't conflict with what I valued most.

• José Carreras
• Enrico Caruso
• Beniamino Gigli
• Giacomo Lauri-Volpi
• Hipolito Lazaro
• John O'Sullivan
• Antonio Paoli
• Luciano Pavarotti
• Nino Piccaluga
• Leo Slezak
• George Thill
• Cesar Vezzani

Yes, I know that's twelve. But, since I included two names because of their perceived greatness by the general public, I felt justified in adding two names because of my own respect and admiration for them. And, if I made up the list tomorrow, Giuseppe Anselmi, Hermann Jadlowker, and/or Antonio Cortis might well be included. But, I don't know whom I would drop.