[sospiro]

Samuel Ramey with his fabulous bass sound was just perfect and a great entertainer till Mother Nature intervened too early on and delivered an unwanted wobble to his otherwise wonderful sound.

Rolando Villazon -- an exciting, refreshing talent that misused his voice to the detriment of the opera world. A sad story.

Jose Carerras and Giuseppe diStefano both stepped over the line later on with dire consequences.

I don't think it was a case of 'stepping over the line' with Carreras; I think it was because he was ill.

Carreras' recorded speech to the European Union in 2009.