Jose Carreras

“I am always living very good moments.”

“It is important to be passionate, but it is also important to combine the heart and the head. I have made mistakes in both my private and professional lives.”

“In recitals, you are naked before the audience - well, naked with your jacket and tails. The audience sees and hears the real person, not some role you are interpreting.”

“I love good food but I follow strict rules the days I perform.”

“I can't see why we can't toss in a Junior Walker or Wilson Pickett number in every once in a while.”

“Your real feelings are inside you.”

“In certain professions, you can love your profession; you can do it in a very professional way and do it wonderfully, but you do not have this possibility to communicate with others - I express myself singing, and I think this is a real luxury.”

“Italians have no sense of the dramatic.”

“I'm a very fortunate man. I have in life everything I could dream of.”

“What originates everything are the emotions, the feelings, what we call soul. Then the brain commands these feelings to the voice. The voice is just the vehicle; it's the very last step in the chain.”

“When you arrive at a certain level it's very easy to say yes: that is the moment to learn to say no.”

“I have thrown chairs, but only during football matches. Generally, I am well-behaved. I do not like to make people angry.”

“Americans, they have an incredible operatic tradition: the Metropolitan Opera House is - if not the most prestigious - one of the most prestigious opera houses in the world for over 100 years.”

“At first we got along real well. Now... it's pretty much just a professional relationship.”

“I have a wonderful shelter, which is my family. I have a wonderful relationship with my brother and sister; this makes me feel that I know always where I belong.”

“I am extraordinarily lucky, I was born in a family of strong moral values, and in my life I was able to do what I liked best: debuts, great theatres, but above all, inner and deep satisfaction.”

“I carry on singing because I love it. The closer you are to the end, the more you understand how important it is.”

“If I can do concert recitals, adapting the repertoire to my needs, then no problem, that's good enough. But with operas, unless the right circumstances come up, my career is done.”