Three Tenors: Carreras, Domingo, Pavarotti In Concert [1990] [DVD] [2000]

Although I'm not the biggest fan of Pavarotti or Domingo I have to admit that Pav's "Torna a Surriento" and "Rondine al nido" and Domingo's "No puede ser" was absolutely beautiful.
The reason for not being their biggest fan is that they're not able to stir my emotions like Carreras, but when performing together the three voices blend perfectly and it sounds just wonderful.

I loved the way the three of them enjoyed themselves when performing together. It's real fun to watch the encore "O sole mio" where Pavarotti gives his famous trill. He just shakes his head and the high notes pops out. I've been listening to this on the cd for a long time, but never before seen what really happened. Pavarotti starts singing and then Domingo surprises him by cutting in, taking over the singing. When it's Pavarotti's turn to sing again it seems he's thinking (humorously) "I'll teach him not to interfere with my singing again" and then he push his "high-note-button". When he's busy doing this, you can see the two other "conspiring", looking like two young boys who are really "up to something". And when Pavarotti allows them to take over again they leave him flabbergasted by throwing themselves into the song, repeating his trill perfectly, making it sound all the way as impressive as his.
The look on Pavarotti's face is priceless. He's laughing out loud in astonishment. It's obvious he wasn't expecting any competition....

I also have to comment on the conductor, Zubin Mehta. He really impressed me with his conducting, being so attentive to the singers. He's watching them closely all the time and making the orchestra follow them just perfectly. He's giving a hundred percent throughout the concert. And you can also see him being impressed by the tenors performances, acknowledging this by putting down his baton and applauding. At one point he also gets down and hugs Carreras after his wonderful rendition of "Granada". So he's definitely not a stiff and unapproachable conductor.

This dvd is a real treat. If you buy it, my guess is that you can look forward to many hours in the company of the three tenors.

Other than the operatic fare, which stuck safely, a little too safe I say, to the standard repertoire, I particularly like Lalo Schifrin's arrangement of Schubert's Ave Maria, delivered with just the correct intensity by Pavarotti. Carreras was sparkling in 'E lucevan le stelle' and Domingo was brilliant in 'Granada'.
Even the chorus was a gem to watch and listen to.

This concert was captured so faithfully, in colour and sound on this disc, it made me forget that there was a World Cup soccer tournament on.