Carreras doesn’t push too hard or wear his heart on his sleeve. In fact, he doesn’t wear it anywhere, except maybe in “I’ll Never Stop Loving You” and “Manha de Carnaval,” which evince some sweet sincerity. He has a strangely uniform delivery, as if he were singing the same lyric set to a variety of tunes. In his hands, “The Way You Look Tonight” (one of the few legitimate Hollywood classics) could just as easily be “The Way We Were,” which is also here. The fault lies less with Carreras than with producer George Martin, the record-company genius who signed up the Beatles in 1962. A press release heralds “an artistic triumph which brings popular melodies to classical music purists.” But purists of any stripe should blanch at the sins Martin commits as conductor-arranger. Some cuts are so heavy on the beat they’re like instructional aids for the rhythm-impaired. There are so many serenading strings and so much glissando that listeners might pine for the rigors of Mantovani. Jose, can you see? You should stick to the opera classics you know - and sing - best.
