Bravo Cura

Celebrating José Cura--Singer, Conductor, Director, Composer

 

 

About Bravo Cura | Bio Information | Concerts 1 | Concerts 2 | Discography | Opera Works | Opera Work 2 | Press

 

 

 

 

  Great news about what we can look forward to in the next few months:  José will be offering a series of concerts in churches across Hungary, he will be performing as Maurizio in  Adrienne Lecouvreur in Toulouse in June, and he will be back in Tallinn in September to direct Peter Grimes.  

In 2007 Cura returned to Buenos Aires to star in a concert production of Samson et Dalila--and he knocked the performance out of the park!  While he was 'home' he also did a recital featuring his Neruda settings and took part in the monumental celebration to the flag in Rosario.   Lots of activities were packed into a relatively short visit!


 

Tickets are now available

 

https://billetterie.theatreorchestre.toulouse-metropole.fr/selection/event/date?productId=10229193870063

 

 


  


Peter Grimes - Estonia National Opera

 


In 2007, Teatro Colón was closed while it was refurbished;  as a result, the Samson et Dalila performances were held as concert productions at Teatro Coliseo.  While not an optimum singing environment, José Cura lifted the staging to a different level with his remarkable charisma and singing.

 

Samson et Dalila in Concert, Buenos Aires, June 2007: The absence of a full staging leaves the voice as principal, though not the only tool to feel each of the multiple states of mind. And in this sense Cura surpassed the others with his brilliance. Flirting with some overacting but never actually doing it, Cura applied an infinite number of vocal devices to his singing, with overwhelming artistic excellence. Thus, Samson sighs agonizingly in the lamentation of the third act and his singing is perfectly audible and touching, he harangues the Hebrews almost like a Wagnerian tenor or demonstrates all his doubts in front of the lurking Dalila with an inevitable musical conviction. The first delights came when the choir, prepared by Salvatore Caputo, began from an imperceptible, perfectly tuned pianissimo, and advanced in increasing volume and intentions to build a fugue shaped with enough freedom by Saint-Saëns to allow the Hebrew slaves to sing of their despair. And when from the center of the choir, hidden among so many dark clothing, there arose the powerful, overwhelming and magnificent voice of José Cura, there followed astonishment, fascination and wonder.”  La Nacion, 25 June 2007

 

Samson et Dalila in Concert, Buenos Aires, June 2007:  “[T]he most significant aspect in this case didn’t seem to be the general concept but the expressive determination of tenor José Cura, overwhelming even when not “acting.” Cura established the drama from the “get go”, when he appeared in the middle of the choir and began to address his people simply with a look. It was evident that the limitation of the staging reflected even greater significance on the most minor inflection. Cura admirably personifies his role, as much through his acting as through his vocals. His line of singing is luscious, without cracks in the heroic registry in the first, as in the more lyrical of the second or in the whispered and broken of the third.”  Clarin, 25 June 2007

 

Samson et Dalila in Concert, Buenos Aires, June 2007:  “As to José Cura, he convinced me by the end of the performance. After a start in which he offered a very personal interpretation, one that continued until the beginning of the third act, he made a turn and frankly managed to convince me totally as an actor and as well as with his vocal delivery, emphatically projecting the drama to come and the fate of Samson and this is where I point out that without a doubt the first (two) acts are more José Cura than Samson but the third is Samson winning over José Cura and that is the key to his triumph.”  La Opera BuenAyre, August 2007

 

Samson et Dalila in Concert, Buenos Aires, June 2007:  “If a musical event depends on the presence of a great artist on stage, that is what happened with Camille Saint-Saëns’ Samson et Dalila. The tenor José Cura, in the main role of this masterpiece of French opera, was incomparable. His vocal qualities are exceptional, his musicality ideal and the force of his delivery impressive. To this it is necessary to add his charisma. Samson has an ideal interpreter in Cura and this was demonstrated in the concert version in the Teatro Coliseo. It was not a concert in the traditional sense, but a ‘staging within a space,” as it was called, that reflected Cura’s lack of inhibition and his unconventional approach. Cura was the pillar of this Samson and Dalila.”  Ambitoweb, 25 June 2007

 

Samson et Dalila in Concert, Buenos Aires, June 2007:  “In the remarkable opening performance of this concert version programmed by Teatro Colón, José Cura, stunning vocally and also profoundly convincing as an actor, clearly demonstrated the significance of space in heightening the dramatic effect from the start in his manner of interacting with the chorus. With powerful yet subtle voice, Cura took delight in the pianissimos, in lightening the voice, and even in groaning. His character literally took body and his voice became part of that body.”   Pagina/12, 25 June 2007

 

Samson et Dalila in Concert, Buenos Aires, June 2007:  “José Cura as Samson was impressive. From the initial scene, in which he emerges from the rows of the choir, his volume and commitment were captivating. In the first act he favored the use of subtlety, in the second he shaded his expressiveness to show his love, and he reached his best moments in the beginning of the third act with his concentrated painful expression and singing in a highly pleasing mezzo voce. It is possible to agree or not with his way of expressing and with some of the tricks of a singer with such solid experience but it is impossible to stay indifferent to his singing and artistic expression.’  MundoClasico, June 2007

 

Samson et Dalila in Concert, Buenos Aires, June 2007:  “The indisputable star of the night was José Cura. From his initial appearance, almost magical, materializing in the middle of the chorus, singing as he came down the stairs to the edge of the stage, the adrenaline raced through the auditorium. His voice sounded marvelous, with excellent volume, beautiful timber—almost baritonal—the particular emphasis he put on his statements and the incredible array of vocal resources that he used. And his work as an actor carried his unmistakable stamp. Samson seems to fit him like a ring on a finger. The quality of his contribution did not waiver through the performance and he received a well-deserved ovation. Cura really is a Divo, with all this word implies. Everything with him is grandiloquent but without doubt he is one of those singers for whom every phrase, every sound he emits has a special value, a bonus.”  Canto, August 2007

 

Samson et Dalila in Concert, Buenos Aires, June 2007: “The possessor of significant volume, solidly dramatic, the Rosarino tenor arrives in the middle of a career that has taken him to the most distinguished international stages. And this is certainly absolutely justified, based on the qualities he demonstrated in his performance in the concert version of this most beautiful work, so rich and harmoniously creative, Samson et Dalila. Cura (Samson) highlighted a powerful dark tone, full of color, very supple in nuances, completely homogeneous and expressed with astonishing naturalness. And though conceptually he exaggerated somewhat his rage and the vocal contrasts of the characters (he is brave and strong in the first act…blind, weak and reduced to servitude in the last), his work showed without doubt that he is one of the principal singers of the world at the moment.”  La Prensa, 25 June 2007 

 

Samson et Dalila in Concert, Buenos Aires, June 2007: “José Cura, in the role that perfectly suits his histrionics on stage and which he was profusely and brilliantly represented, had to adapt to [the concert platform]. Undoubtedly, he maintains his charisma intact, his voice powerful, and his interpretation of this Judge of Israel converted in a warrior leader looking for his people's freedom is simply magnificent.”  Ópera Actual, September 2007

Samson et Dalila Buenos Aires reviews

José Cura

Para Ti

Julieta Mortati

10 July 2007

 

[Computer-assisted Translation // Excerpts]

“There's classical music that's a bore and popular music that's brilliant."

 The renowned Argentine tenor, based in Madrid, starred in the opera Samson et Dalila at the Teatro Coliseo in Buenos Aires. In a conversation with Para Ti, he explained that he studied music, martial arts, and even took bodybuilding classes to survive. He began singing at age 27 because "I discovered that with my voice I could pay my bills." He is considered one of the best voices around the world for his interpretive quality.

José Cura (44) traveled to Argentina to be present at his parents' golden wedding anniversary (the celebration is on Saturday, 7 July in Rosario, his hometown). He was accompanied by his wife, Silvia, and his three children: José (19), Yazmín (14), and Nicolás (11). His visit, initially secret, soon became known, and the family plan was interrupted by five performances of Samson et Dalila (by Camille Saint-Saëns) in the Teatro Coliseo, with the artistic staff of the Teatro Colón, in Rosario with the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Monument to the Flag and with a chamber concert commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Mozarteum, where he will give the world premiere of the cycle Sonnets (on July 8), composed of seven pieces based on poetry by Pablo Neruda. In his last week in the country, he walked around with dark circles under his eyes and a runny nose. "On stage, it's freezing," Cura says about the Teatro Coliseo, "and it's not just the cold, there's even wind! Yesterday my shirt was flying off, and the choir boys were on stage wearing scarves and shawls. We held on, but in the end, my body said 'enough.'"

What did it mean to sing in Buenos Aires?

“Well, singing for your people and your family isn't the same as singing for people you respect because they're your audience but you don't know them; you don't know who's on the other side of the lights. When you sing in your home country, you know that there are people in the audience who knew you from your childhood.”

During his childhood, Cura learned to play the piano intuitively, watching his father play Beethoven and Chopin at home. He later studied guitar, composition, and piano, and enrolled in the School of Art at the University of Rosario. At the age of 12, he began conducting choirs and orchestras. In between, he specialized in martial arts and played rugby. At 27, he began singing.

“Singing appears quite a bit later in my musical career. I discovered I had a voice and at first, the investment very logical: with this voice, I'd be able to eat and feed my family more easily than with songwriting. As harsh as it may sound, I got into singing for purely economic reasons,” he admits, explaining: “Then, what started as a blind date ended up in a lifelong relationship, but at first, I thought I'd sing for a few years to make ends meet, save some money and pay for my house. Eventually, it became a full-time profession that transformed me into who I am. There's a thing called 'destiny' and things just happened the way they were supposed to happen. I can't complain.”

And when things went wrong, he didn't complain either. In 1983, he wanted to enter the Teatro Colón, and a teacher told him during an audition: “You don't sing, you shout.” He then taught tae kwon do and bodybuilding classes and worked in a hardware store. In 1990, he auditioned again at the Colón University and was finally accepted.  He decided instead to go to Europe. With his wife—whom he met when he was 16—and José, his first son, Cura took a Pan Am flight to Milan.

A stubborn man…

“I was always very stubborn. Like children, who every time they get up in the morning no longer care about anything that happened the day before and just go out to play again. I think that's how it is. I was convinced that I had something to say, that I was ready to say it, and that I would keep going until someone finally listened to what I had to say, and that someone would pass it on to others. It's being eternally a child despite all the mistakes and setbacks. It’s what makes you want to keep going.”

In 1995, he won the Operalia competition, chaired by Plácido Domingo, and gradually became one of the most prestigious tenors in the world, praised by critics for his performance quality. A year later, he debuted as Samson at the Royal Opera House in London, a role he continues to perform to this day and for which he received the Orphée d'Or and Echo Klassik awards.

–How important is it for you to perform Samson et Dalila?

–One of the most touching things about opera is its relevance. Just as 1,500 years before Christ people killed in the name of God, the same thing is happening 3,500 years later. Human beings still lack the courage to take responsibility for their own mistakes or successes. If we need to kill, we blame others, and if we kill in the name of God, all the better, because no one can rant or say anything to him.

–And personally?

–This opera has a particular aura because it's accompanied me practically throughout my entire career. I've worked it out, studied it, thoroughly studied it, and thoroughly sung it. The character is the same in every work; the equation is different. Each performance is like an act of love, a sexual act, and the audience in front of you is your partner in that moment. And they have to ask themselves: "How much did I give to the artist?" The difference between an audience that surrenders to the artist and one that doesn't is enormous. It's like making love to the person you love or doing it with a plastic doll.

- I have a particular affection for this opera because it has accompanied me practically throughout my career. I have it very done, very chewed, very studied and very sung. Each performance is like an act of love, a sexual act, and the audience in front of you is your partner at that moment. And they have to ask themselves: “How much did I give to the artist? The difference between an audience that gives itself to the artist and one that doesn't is enormous. It's like making love with the person you love and doing it with a plastic doll.

-How do you prepare for a performance?

-The voice works like a model's face. When you plan to do a photo session, you try to sleep as much as possible to look as “wrinkle free” as possible. And on the day of the performance, a singer tries to rest as much as possible so that the voice is as fresh as possible.  That’s ideal.

–Why did you stay in Europe?

–I like Madrid. We have a beautiful house where I am able to indulge in all the things I’ve wanted to indulge all my life, all my whims.

– Divo tasts?  Eccentricities?

–I have no eccentricities. But I do indulge myself the way I want. I have my wine cellar at home, a ton of wines I'm collecting. I have my pool, a gym, things I've always wanted to have and in the way we like best.

He confesses that when he's alone at home, he prefers to enjoy the silence and that he never sings in the shower. He likes shopping, cooking, and drinking wine.

–You also like photography.

–Yes, I love it, and now we're negotiating my first photography book with a Swiss publisher. I like photojournalism, not posed photography, going out on the street with my camera to gather stories from all over the world. I like to grab my camera and get lost. I've been in rough neighborhoods and have had to be rescued from difficult situations more than once. I love getting to know the true face of the people.

–Opera is considered elite. Is there anything about that that bothers you?

–There's always been talk of the elite but anywhere in the world, a ticket to hear opera costs less than a ticket to a stadium. For many years there was a trend: people who liked classical music wanted to feel more exclusive.  That's stupid because the music was written by composers for everyone. This tendency to deify them is a fad from the early 20th century, when these divisions were created for the same purposes that all divisions are created for: "Divide and conquer." When in reality, there is good music and there is bad music. There is classical music that is boring and popular music that is brilliant.

 

Samson et Dalila starring José Cura, Buenos Aires 2007

Samson et Dalila starring José Cura, Buenos Aires 2007 Samson et Dalila starring José Cura, Buenos Aires 2007

Samson et Dalila starring José Cura, Buenos Aires 2007

 

Samson et Dalila starring José Cura, Buenos Aires 2007

 

Samson et Dalila starring José Cura, Buenos Aires 2007
Samson et Dalila starring José Cura, Buenos Aires 2007 Samson et Dalila starring José Cura, Buenos Aires 2007
Samson et Dalila starring José Cura, Buenos Aires 2007 Samson et Dalila starring José Cura, Buenos Aires 2007

Samson was a terrorist

Clarin

22 June 2007

Sandra de la Fuente

 

[Computer-assisted Translation // Excerpt]

 The last time he appeared during the Colon season was 1999.  Tomorrow José Cura will perform Samson et Dalila in the Coliseo.  He reflects on the work….

Samson et Dalila starring José Cura, Buenos Aires 2007

After an eight year absence, the Rosarino tenor José Cura returns to Buenos Aires in Camille Saint-Saëns’ opera Samson et Dalila which, in concert version, will be presented in the Coliseo as part of the Colon’s season.  Recognized as one of the great voices on the international stage, José Cura is a rare artist who, besides singing, also conducts orchestras, composes, and has recently taken on the role of director.

 

In spite of his established reputation as a singer in major venues around the world, he has been elusive with the Colón.  Besides his Otello in 1999, he has hardly performed in the theater.  “My absence coincided with a turbulent time in this country.  During this period, the Colón did not have a consistent program, which complicated hiring artists who book their calendars five or six years in advance. The question they always asked me was ‘Can you be here the day after tomorrow?” explains Cura in an exclusive interview with Clarion.  Finally, when Marcelo Lombardero took over, the Colón became more stable, especially in its approach to the outside.  ‘During the great crisis, the Colón was spoken of as a theater to which it was better not to come.  Now European musicians are beginning to say it is worth the trouble of coming to the Colón.’

 

Who wins and who loses in the concert version of Samson?

 

All operas lose in concert version; when drama is lost, the opera can lose impact.  But Samson et Dalila is very much an oratorio, so it is less strange [in concert] than if it were verismo.  But in this production, we will not be stuck like stakes behind lecterns and neither will we be wearing tuxedos. Though there is not much staging, we will enter and leave according to what we are singing, there will be dynamics, gestures, and lighting that will give us a certain atmosphere.

 

What is your idea of Samson?

 

I believe there are two ways to interpret the role.  One is consistent with the prophetic Samson, the good Christian.  This vision seems to me to be in error.  Samson was a judge and in his time, judges were military leaders.  They defended the town and subdued others: in essence, they were violent, revolutionary men.  Samson killed as if he was breaking a piece of bread.  He killed a lion with his own hands and pulled down a temple, sacrificing himself.  With that act, he became the first terrorist in history.  He killed in the name of God—a contradiction—and was sacrificed in the name of God.  His legend is more than 3500 years old and sadly it is still scandalous today.  My vision has been criticized many times because they say it is not spiritual.  Certainly, it lacks the spirituality of today but it represents the spirituality of 1500 years before Christ when an eye for an eye was still the law.

 

It is difficult to accept that such an aggressive personality can be in accord with the music of this opera.

 

There lies the danger.  One must interpret the text, not the music.  The music adorns the text, but that decoration needs be used to extract advantage.  Used well it can be very interesting because the beautiful music contains a text that is tremendously cynical.


The Return of José Cura

 

La Nueva

23 June 2007

 

[Excerpt]

 Tenor José Cura compares his character Samson with Ernesto "Che" Guevara

BUENOS AIRES (Télam) - The tenor José Cura compared his character Samson with Ernesto "Che" Guevara, in reference to Camille Saint-Saëns opera-oratorio Samson et Dalila  which he will perform with singers Cecilia Díaz and Luis Gaeta under the direction of maestro Rodolfo Fischer as part of the 2007 season of the Colón.


In his first visit to Argentina since 1999, the Rosarino tenor showed an excellent humor as he remembered how fans chanted then “To the Colón!  To the Colón” before he had begun to sing. 

"There are two visions of Samson, who is a character of the biblical legend: one presents him as a hippie of the 70 who gets a slap and turns the other cheek.  I disagree with that."

Instead, he said, his vision is that of "a Samson as a guerrilla, like Che, a defender of his people before the Philistines who were able to oppress and dominate the Jewish people because the Jews were not allowed them to conquer the use of metals."

He argued that the history of the Saint-Saëns opera dates back 5 thousand years and that's why the fight was unequal.   "While the Philistines were handling metal weapons, the Jews had to resort to sticks and stones to fight.

"Samson was almost animal, when he ate, when he made love and when he fought.  The creature who interests me was very flat and brutal at the same time, to the point of having the ingenuity to immolate under the columns of the Temple."

According to Cura, the enormous physical strength and will of the warrior, who was not a prophet but had learned from the judges of Israel, "was the one that led him to trust Dalila, without knowing that she was going to betray him".

The tenor said that in view of modern analyzes influenced by Freud and psychoanalysis, Dalila not only cut off Samson’s powerful hair but there was also an evident castration.

Far from the country

On the other hand, the tenor of Rosario ruled out an eventual assumption in the artistic direction of the Teatro Colón, although he considered that "if they offer me to be the principal guest conductor, I say yes," addressing the current artistic manager of the Colón, Marcelo Lombardero.

"You never know because life has many twists," said Cura when asked if he would settle in the country.

"My children are settled in Europe, Argentina is their father's country and not theirs and it would be cruel to tear them away as I had to move away from my roots to flourish." To tear them from theirs when it is not necessary would be useless cruelty, he said.

The tenor plans to premiere the show Sonetos , based on seven of the hundred sonnets of writer Pablo Neruda, in his hometown on 8 July.

The director and composer mentioned that "I have many pending subjects that I do not think they can all be fulfilled" and announced that they include starring Peter Grimes by Benjamin Britten.  “I'm interested in doing it at least once.”
 


José Cura, the Return of the Prodigal Son

La Nacion

Cecilia Scalisi

22 June 2007

 

[Computer-assisted Translation // Excerpt]

One of the highlights of Buenos Aires' current classical programming is, without a doubt, the return to the country, after an eight-year absence, of one of its prodigal sons: the Rosario-born tenor José Cura. Having lived in Europe for 16 years (currently in Spain), his name is synonymous with success for dramatic roles in the operatic repertoire. This naturally makes him one of the most sought-after tenors in the world and one of the most popular figures in his field. And it's no wonder when, in addition to a phenomenal voice, José Cura boasts the appropriate physical presence for these types of roles and an exceptionally complete and multifaceted professional background. The arrival in Buenos Aires of one of the most dazzling stars of international opera will mark the Teatro Colón's season with the stamp of the best in the world of opera, in a role tailor-made for him: the character of Samson, in the romantic opera Samson et Dalila by Camille Saint-Saëns. In a concert version, together with Cecilia Díaz, the cast, choir, and orchestra of the Teatro Colón, the tenor will perform tomorrow at 8:30 p.m. at the Coliseum.

 

The titan of the Opera

 

In his fifteen years of successful international career, José Cura has not only frequented the most prestigious halls and theaters of the classical world (Met, Covent Garden, La Scala, Opera National de Paris, Staatsoper of Vienna, Hamburg and Zurich, Deutsche Oper Berlin, among others), but has also visited countries far from the traditional circuit, conquered exotic audiences for opera and tirelessly took the art of music and theater to unthinkable corners of the world.  The most glamorous divas sing at his side and the most famous conductors have directed for him.  Parallel to this intense activity in the theater (as an orchestra conductor, singer and régisseur), he exploits with surprising ease his broad qualities of communicator and showman, offering recitals and shows—some of them on open air stages for thousands of people—in which he has combined singing with orchestral direction (in an original format that he himself called "half and half"), which has earned him both the criticism of the most conservative sectors of the musical medium and the admiration of his audience—and an unusual popularity for an artist of the classical world.

 

When José Cura began to be mentioned on the covers of the world's musical publications, the figure of the legendary Samson was one of the most immediate and appropriate references associated with the name and image of the Argentine tenor. Not only because of the qualities of the timbre and the character of his voice but also the exuberance of his personality, the charisma and imposing stage presence announced that Cura would be (among other great characters that he embodied with equal empathy, such as Otello, Canio, Don Carlo) the ideal interpreter of the biblical hero for several generations. Since then, years have passed and, unlike what often happens with careers that happen too quickly and with excessive grandiloquence are launched and ended in the media frenzy, all the forecasts that accompanied the spectacular international emergence of José Cura have materialized into a career beyond measure. In the following interview, the tenor refers to various interpretive aspects of Samson's role.

 

CS:  - How is the voice classified for Samson, in reference to the traditional classifications?

 

JC:  - If one wanted to interpret Samson in the spirit of what is strictly understood historically as the stylization of French music, we would have to start with a voice that isn't so much light as a voice with much less attack.  It would require very different to approach singing the role as it was conceived in 1890.  If we want, instead, to interpret a contemporary Samson, in light of the acoustic challenges we now face, the difference in vocal concept is enormous.  Rather than assigning the role to a classification based on the number of decibels produced, I prefer to think of it based on psychological color, which is a determining factor in the character's profile.

 

CS:  - What are those acoustic challenges?

 

JC:  - First, the size of the theaters, which are enormous today. Then, there is the fact that the orchestras sound very heavy because of the harmonic density of modern instruments. A third, more dramatic point is the rise in pitch.  Most of the operas that we interpret today were written between 1800 and 1900.  At that time, the pitch oscillated between 432 and 435 cycles, which means that compared to the pitch we use today, which is almost 445 and even 450 cycles, we have a rise of a third of a tone and even a half tone.  In short, this has caused a significant change in the way we sing compared to the past.  The logic of these conditions means that the vocal quality of certain dramatic characters is assigned to much more robust and harsh voices.

CS: - Regarding the tessitura in which Samson is written, for a dark, baritone tenor who sings almost the entire opera in the mid-low register. How do you resolve the arrival of the high note above the orchestra and chorus?

JC: - With a high note that's very thick, broad, and grand. We're talking about a mythological hero whose entire legend is based on physical power, so it would be ridiculous for the character to sing those notes with the same acoustic presence as, for example, a high note from the tenor in La bohème. No matter how beautiful and accurate the sound, it would lack dramatic intensity. That's the great vocal challenge of Samson, and of dramatic tenor roles in general.

 

 CS: - What is your perception of the character in relation to vocal brilliance?

 

JC:  - Samson has very defined moments in which he can shine for different reasons. In the first act, he is an aggressive character, an Old Testament warrior. In the second act, his aggression transforms into sensuality and extreme insecurity in his relationship with himself, with God, and with the feminine. In the third act, which is spiritually the most interesting, Samson redefines himself. Throughout the first part of that act, Samson should sing in a half-voice. In the second, however, we have another kind of singing. It is the instance of redemption understood within the framework of a culture located 1,500 years before Christ. The possibilities for performance are broad and diverse.

 

CS: - Does this role give you satisfaction?

 

JC: - Very much! Samson is one of the roles to which I owe the most success on stage. It is one of the characters that has given me the greatest satisfaction throughout my career.


José Cura: "They sold me as a sex symbol tenor, but I survived"

Ambitoweb

Marcelo Zapata

3 July 2007

 

[Computer-assisted translation  //  Excepts]

 

There's only one thing clouding Samson's good mood this morning: he woke up with the onset of a cold, something that for a world-famous tenor (for any singer, really), is terrifying. "We'll get it under control," he tries to smile.

 

José Cura, the internationally renowned Rosario native, has been easing into the lineage previously occupied by Domingo, Carreras, and Pavarotti for the last decade and half. After an eight-year absence from Argentina, Cura is performing in one of his favorite operas, Camille Saint-Saëns' Samson et Dalila during the current Colón season, though the performance relocated to the Coliseo [due to the Colón’s on-going refurbishment], a theater to which he rightly attributed his morning malaise. "It's cold on stage, too cold, and I think I caught a cold there. The chorus can at least wrap themselves up in their heavy costumes, but I have to go out in my thin shirt."

 

A resident of Madrid for several years ("I think Spain is the European country with the best quality of life, the best food, and the best climate. I couldn't stand, for example, living in a cold country"), Cura already displays a slight Hispanic accent in his slow manner of speaking. From the 16th floor of the Panamericano Hotel, where he is a guest during his stay in Buenos Aires, we can see both the Obelisk and the Teatro Colón.  At the beginning of our conversation with this newspaper, he recalls his visit in 1999, when he sang the lead in an Otello that divided the critics. He also appreciates the fact that Ambito Financiero was the first national newspaper to publish an extensive article about him in 1993, when few people knew him.

 

"The review that Abel López Iturbe published in Ambito about my Otello was the only intelligent one. The other critics were expecting me to “scream” the role and they were disappointed.   But López Iturbe was the only critic who heard something different and he wrote about it very well.  Eight years have passed since then, and eight years in the life of an artist like me, who does a hundred performances a year—that is, eight hundred performances from that Otello to today—is a long time. My Otello is no longer the same; of course.   Today I sing it with more authority. There's a huge difference between that young man and the mature artist of today. That's why, looking back, I would divide those 1999 reviews into the aggressive, the dubious, and the observant, and Ambito's falls into the latter category.”

 

Journalist: Would you do Otello here again?

 

José Cura: No, not at the Colón. You never bring the same role to the same theater. Fortunately, the reviews for this Samson and Dalila were unanimously positive, because I think my performance gave them the reason for it to be so. The future could be glimpsed in 1999.  Now it’s evident.

 

Q: Do you listen to your records from back then?

 

J.C.: Never. I think the artist who listens to his records is like those idiots who spend all day looking at themselves in the mirror. Besides, I'm very critical.  If I spent all day looking at myself in the mirror, I'd see myself become uglier and uglier.

 

Q: How do you choose your roles now?

 

J.C.: I choose those with which I know I won't get bogged down. The "all-terrain" singer doesn't exist, just as there is no such thing as an all-terrain car, because if they drove one that claims to be around a city they would crash everywhere. And that choice is only possible with experience and self-knowledge, understanding of the international circuit, and so on. There's no choice directly linked to a taste for a given role but rather to the possibility of being able to say something new with it. The only other thing that matters is that they also have dramatic interest.  Otherwise, I'm not interested.

 

Q.: No requirement for vocal showmanship...

 

J.C.: None of that. I have never been interested in going on stage to sing beautiful notes, not before and not now, despite having acquired technical mastery. Beauty for beauty's sake bores me.

 

Q: But doesn’t the 21st-century public also demands that?

 

J.C.: Not always. Beauty for beauty's sake is always attractive, although I'm sure it ends up boring. And that applies to all areas. A very beautiful man or woman standing in a shop window loses interest the second time you pass by. Beauty is one-dimensional. Like ugliness. Today, for example, there's a lot of insistence that there are no new voices but that's not true. What is true is charismatic personalities are not appearing. I believe the infamous globalization, far from uniting borders, dissolves and crushes personalities. Everything tends to unify, to assimilate, to be the same. Merchandise is moving in the same direction, album covers look alike, even music is starting to sound the same.

 

Q: But today we have many technical resources that weren't available before.

 

J.C.: It's true, we've grown enormously in technical capacity. The means available today, in every sense, are amazing, but they seem to have developed at the expense of personality, of the ability to transmit through charisma. In the past you would go to buy a record and the salesperson would advise you, take the time to discuss the music. Today, CDs and DVDs are displayed on shelves, just like sausages. Record labels pay large malls and retail chains to have their products occupy a certain place of privilege on the shelf. That's not illegal, of course; you buy a place like you buy a record. But that, for example, inhibits the ability of the old-fashioned music seller, who displayed the recordings he thought were the best.

 

Q: You also go through the marketplace…

 

J.C.: Of course, but both I and the few other artists of my generation who are still around, are already beyond good and bad.  We have survived all of that. We are who we are.  We have full schedules.  Unfortunately, those who come after us aren't doing as well. There are so few who make it through the line of fire.  They're thrown straight into the supermarket, they sell one or two of packages of sausage but if they don’t sell the third, they're dumped.

 

Q: How was it in your case?

 

J.C.: I was a pioneer in this. When I began my international career, the marketing that was applied to me was one of the first major marketing campaigns that used not only my voice but also my appearance.  There was talk of me as an opera "sex symbol" and nonsense like that that distracted people.

 

Q: But it didn't harm you.

 

J.C.: No, but it caused a lot of confusion ant that bothered me. There was even talk of a "new talent" who emerged "overnight," even though I first went on stage at the age of 12. But, of course, they tried to sell me as if I had won on "Operación Triunfo" or "Cantando por un sueño." Luckily, my background and my previous training allowed me to withstand that enormous pressure and now, free from all this, I continue managing my career well while trying to pull some of the younger singers along.  Unfortunately, the rope sometimes breaks when pulled on, because the new singers are under much greater pressure than we were and have less technical preparation.

 

Q: Do the newcomers want to be instant stars?

 

J.C.: No, it’s not them.  When you talk to them, you realize they're very aware of the work they have ahead of them and the difficulties they must overcome. The problem is the commercial system that wants to throw them out right away to find a new vein of income, and without providing the necessary technical preparation.

 

Q: How did you find your colleagues at the Colón?

 

J.C.: I'd say they were good, although I wasn't there long enough to fully evaluate them. Here, as an old singing teacher used to say, they sweat a lot. That doesn't mean those of us who left don't work sweat as well but of course, the results we get aren't the same.

 

What I have noticed is that there's a degree of optimism with the new management at the theater I never felt before. They know they have to fight but that also know that something can be achieved through fighting. On the other hand, when I came in 1999, it was all about the fight, not the results. Now, the singers and the orchestra members are aware that everything is difficult and their attitude is different. I've never kept quiet about anything, which is why I say that the current management of the Colón is the most positive in the last 25 or 30 years. I don't want to get into politics; I'm speaking only as an observer who has known the Colón Theater intimately since 1983, and it seems to me that if the new head of government makes changes and starts all over again from scratch, the future will become very uncertain.

 

Q: You've already said you won't be coming for the Centennial.

 

J.C.: Unfortunately, it's impossible. As soon as Marcelo Lombardero took over as artistic director, the first thing he did was contact me to offer me the role of Radamés in Aida for the reopening performance. But I have a contract that ends three days before that date, and another that starts four days after. If Argentina were, say, a two-hour flight away, I would gladly make the effort and sing at least the opening performance.

 

Samson et Dalila starring José Cura, Buenos Aires 2007 Samson et Dalila starring José Cura, Buenos Aires 2007 Samson et Dalila starring José Cura, Buenos Aires 2007 Samson et Dalila starring José Cura, Buenos Aires 2007

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Want to know more about José Cura?  Check out his Wikipedia page (click on the photo and find out such neat things as.....

  • Full name:  José Luis Victor Cura Gómez
  • First starring role:  Bibalo's Signorina Julia, Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi, Trieste, Italy, 1993
     
  • First performance in US:  Giordano's Fedora, Chicago Lyric, USA, 1994

 

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Last Updated:  Sunday, April 13, 2025  © Copyright: Kira