The 3 Tenors in Concert 1994

I have seen/heard "The Three Tenors" (Carreras · Domingo · Pavarotti) in other venues such as Rome and they were just as good as in this presentation. Yet that does not distract from this excellent production from Dodger Stadium in 1994.

We start with Zubin Mehta and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Chorus singing "Star-Spangled Banner." As the camera scans the audience, it looks more like a Republican convention. We are also moved.

As each tenor comes out in order of relevance you get the feeling that their opening salvo is their best. That feeling soon gives way as you find they only get better with each appearance. Moreover, it is so carried away that it looks like he would forget his job as a conductor.

Most of the classical presentations on this DVD show titles or subtitles of the individual piece you are about to hear. However, there are a lot of contemporary songs and musicals that they assume we know and do not show the subtitles to what we hear. In some cases, this can be fun as we wait until the popular part of the song and say, "Oh now I remember that one."

I will not go through the whole repertoire. Everyone has his or her favorites and I am sure to miss that in this review. Some of the highlights include: "With a Song in my Heart" (Rogers) "I did it my Way" (look to the audience) "Moon River" "Granada" "Nessun Dorma" Turandot / Act 3 (more than once) "Those Were the Days" "America" (brings tears to my eyes) "Singing in the Rain" (check out the audience again) "Brazil"

When they got around to singing "Dein Ist Mein Ganzes Herz" I had a distinct feeling that they were better at pronouncing German than they were English. This may be because they are more familiar with the songs and practice them. In any event, even though you can compare the tenors' none of them were lacking at any point in this presentation.