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From Kira's Desk

A short update this week because we are getting ready to travel to Vienna for Andrea Ch�nier. We will TRY to update Facebook with some snaps for those who can't join us--and for those who can, feel free to send us your photos and thoughts and we'll share with others.

No Update next week.

Upcoming Performance Dates

May

25

Viennese Ball

Gostiny Dvor Exhibition Hall

Moscow

To order tickets for the 25 May Concert (11th Annual Viennese Ball in Moscow), visit the following URL: http://www.venskibal.ru/ger/ball/about/4 (note: site is in Russian!)

Please note: Maestro Cura will sing only two songs!

May

29

Concert (conductor)

International Performing Arts Center, Svetlanov Hall

Moscow

To order tickets for the 29 May Concert (Symphonic Tango), visit the following URL: http://eng.orchestra.ru/ticket/

June

02

Concert (conductor)

Aspendos Ancient Open Air Theatre

Antalya

To order tickets for the 2 June Concert (20th Anniversary Opera Gala), visit the following URL: http://www.aspendosfestival.gov.tr/index_e.html

Please note: Maestro Cura will be conducting this concert. He is scheduled to sing only once, in a duet!

From 2000 ...

The Jos� Cura Interview

Interview conducted in 2000 by Jane Austin exclusively for the ConneXion

[Excerpts]

Will the Real Jos� Cura Please Stand Up?

Interview with Jane Austin for JC ConneXion, April 2000

Excerpts

JA: I heard through the grapevine that you will be doing Traviata in June.

Jos� Cura: Well, that was a mistake by someone because everyone agreed with the producer that we were not to say a word. When I don�t give you a date it is because a) it is not confirmed or b) I am not allowed to do it. We agreed with the promoter and the producer that we were not going to say a single word until the month of March.

JA: Is it going to be on television live?

Jos� Cura: Yes, exactly like the Tosca in 1992.

JA: Have you been offered an opera film yet, something like a Zeffirelli Samson et Dalila?

Jos� Cura: I have been offered two films which were not straight opera films but about opera. But they were dangerous�let�s say not cheap but not that good and I think that when you take that kind of step you have to be very careful.

JA: Because it can come back on you in your opera career and also looks like cheap publicity.

Jos� Cura: I got the offer of being part of a film where the character that I was supposed to not portray but to give voice to was a Nazi killer so I said I�m sorry but I don�t want to be in that. I don�t identify with that sort of ideology. About the Zeffirelli thing, I guess that is just the fantasy of doing something like the Otello. That great colossal thing. Of course I will be insisting, not only with Franco, but everyone I know to do a Samson but the times are very difficult. You have to find someone to put the money up. To do something colossal like this you cannot do it second rate so you are looking at a huge amount of money.

JA: Certainly when it�s potentially for a limited audience.

Jos� Cura: I think today things are different. We have to do more television films, more internet things. It will take some years to get used to the changed because it is new. AOL and Warner have just merged. Then Warned fused with EMI, etc. etc. So there will be a huge period of positive crisis around show business and we just need to take it easy and try not to sink with the crisis and in two or three years we will see what the path is.

JA: No one actually knows for sure how it will pan out.

Jos� Cura: Exactly. It is no use doing it the old way because no one will take it and we still don�t know what is exactly the new way.

JA: All the new music that is coming out on the internet now. David Bowie deliberately released his last thing on the internet first so people could download it before it was in the shops.

Jos� Cura: It is a very delicate moment but it is going to be fun in two or three years. I think we have to wait a little bit.

JA: Several of the selections on Verismo seem to be little-known gems. How did you choose the selections? Did you listen to a lot of records or ask for suggestions?

Jos� Cura: When you work in such a way as I am working, you have people working on several different points. You have the PR, marketing and artistic people. Each of them brings their own analysis. So when I say okay, we�re going to do Verismo, the PR people went to see how they could promote Verismo, the marketing [people] went to see how the market would take it and the artist people came with a huge selection of verismo things and said, okay, let us choose what we do. So it was a group decision.

JA: Everybody in his or her particular field knows what will work.

Jos� Cura: At the end of the day I am the one who is motivating all these people while we do it, but it is a group thing. You cannot do it all yourself. The day only has 24 hours.

JA: You have already composed several pieces, including a Stabat Mater, a Requiem, and of course two tracks on the Anhelo CD. What does the creative process of composing mean to you? How would you compare the satisfaction you derive from completing such a work to your work in opera?

Jos� Cura: I don�t know how to explain that in ten words. It�s a different thing. When you are doing opera it is like babysitting someone else�s kid and when you are composing it is like giving birth to your own kid. Maybe that will explain it.

JA: Are you composing anything at present?

Jos� Cura: No, I am not composing at present because there isn�t time to do it. Let�s say in general terms I am also living with the times and my actual period is to concentrate my energies in trying to understand how the next three years will develop. Then I will see how I am going to open my possibilities and in that sense I am concentrating to keep time, let�s say from 2003 onward to compose and to conduct and not only to sing.

So as I have said before today everyone around is working to see how and which is going to be the light at the end of the tunnel. I am doing exactly the same. There is no point in my stopping now to compose half of the days of the year because in any case those compositions will end up in a drawer because it is not the moment today to show them. Times are very complicated. So instead of that I am taking notes and ideas and I have piles and piles of things and they are waiting there. So when I see exactly what is going to happen, how we are going to do things, then perhaps I will sit down again and see if I can compose.

JA: Would you ultimately like to record any of your own work?

Jos� Cura: Yes, but all those things will be the result of a personal development of my own things because I don�t think I would like today a record company to put its hands on my music. Again, everything is linked to what will happen with the recording market. So perhaps I will even be producing my own records of my own music.

JA: Is that because you want to do your music your way and you don�t want anyone else telling you how you should do it?

Jos� Cura: No, it�s not about the way of doing it. It is about being sure that I will really be the owner of the kid.

JA: We all know that conducting is very close to you heart but does conducting an orchestral CS figure in your plans?

Jos� Cura: That may be the result of my own productions. Record companies for the moment only bet on my singing.

JA: They have to look at the commercial bottom line.

Jos� Cura: Of course, that�s why I try to be fair. It�s okay with me. I think to achieve the point of recording symphonic music, which is exactly what I want to do, I have to do it myself. If I think about doing it today I can�t tell if anyone else would interested in my conducting. For the moment the problem with me conducting is that unfortunately because of the kind of artists who have preceded my life I am constantly associated with this kind of �the tenor wanting to conduct� label.

JA: It�s a bit of a fact of life. You surely have to accept people are going to say that.

Jos� Cura: It�s okay that someone has done it before but what you have to see at the of the day is how. Because I don�t have to do this for a living, I only do it really when conditions are okay and when I will be sure to achieve with the orchestra the results I want. Not just the fact of being in front of them moving my arms and making a show of the job. That is why I am conducting very few concerts. I am doing concerts in the future but only when they are sure to give me four or five rehearsals and I can work with the orchestra. I don�t give a piece of nothing to be in front of an orchestra only waving my hands. That�s not my style because I am a real conductor. I�m not a tenor who conducts, which is different. There will be a couple of surprises on the Verdi record. Some people think that I cannot be a stylish singer or conductor and that I only go for the emotions and Verdi is going to be a surprise.

JA: You know you�ve heard comments from me about singing and conducting at concerts.

Jos� Cura: I�m not concerned about what people think about me singing and conducting concerts because I am sure that in my case these are not the end of the line. They are just part of an open mind about experiences to see how and what we can do with different things. When you have to create different ways of doing shows, you have first to try and test different systems. The fact of my conducting during a concert is just me trying to find different ways of doing concerts. The Royal Festival Hall concert was a very badly managed situation. Because no one knows the background of the concert everybody thinks that is the only concert of my life. I have being doing concerts conducting and singing all around the world and not only with the Philharmonia and they were well received.

The background of that concert was that I only did one rehearsal with the orchestra and that during that rehearsal we spent half of it correcting the parts. So we went to the concert almost without a rehearsal and I was exhausted because I did the rehearsal three hours before the concert. So I had sung and conducted for about six hours in a row.

With the same orchestra with the same concert in Dallhala we rehearsed and took our time and it was okay and it was a completely different concert.

JA: If everything went smoothly, you�d never learn anything.

Jos� Cura: If you don�t go for things you are always stuck in the place where everyone else has been stuck in the past. So we move a step and if I move back to please people like you only wanting me to stand in front of the orchestra dressed like a black penguin only delivering notes, we get stuck. It�s more or less what you want, don�t you?

JA: If I�m honest I feel standing with your back to the orchestra conducting is an insult to the orchestra.

Jos� Cura: I was in the middle of the orchestra, which is different. When you do new things a lot of people snub their nose at you. I�ve done it because I like it and I will repeat it and whoever doesn�t like it needn�t come.

Maestro Cura!

Symphonic Concert, Sofia, September 2003: The Argentine tenor Jos� Cura prevailed in Sof�a when he conducted the Bulgarian Philharmonia in his first performance in this Balkan country. �. Applause filled the sold-out auditorium in honor of the Latin American maestro as he directed the national orchestra. The program was comprised of works described by Cura as some of his favorites: Pines of Rome, by Ottorino Respighi, a perfect fit for his Latin temperament; the 5^th Symphony by Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky; and selected pieces from Prince Igor by Alexander Borodin. The Bulgarian audience rose to their feet after the final note in an ovation that lasted several minutes. Cr�nica Digital

Concert, Munich, 25 July 2003: Cura conducted with inspiration, with vigor, with knife-edge rhythmic acuity and with a talent for showmanship. Sueddeutsche Zeitung, July 26 2003

Cavalleria Rusticana, Hamburg, 2003: �he inspired the orchestra to give a voluptuous, sensuous performance that at times had an almost Latin flair and spirit. At the same time, he accompanied his excellent colleagues sensitively: the powerfully radiant, somewhat one-dimensional tenor Kristjan Johannsson as Turridu, the Hungarian mezzo-soprano Ildiko Komlosi as the touching Santuzza, and the powerful and refined baritone Ko Seng Hyoun (Alfio). Hamburger Abendblatt, February 2003

Cavalleria Rusticana, Hamburg, 2003: [Jos� Cura�s] musical direction was largely responsible for the success of the highly emotionally charged musical performance: the orchestra hadn't played with such precision and motivation in a long time as in Cavalleria. Cura's approach was very clear: with firm control he had the orchestra create intense, dramatically charged musical lines and was always attentive to the needs of the singers, showing his sure feel for the sound balance between orchestra pit and stage. The extraordinary attention the conductor paid to the choir also deserves special mention and praise, even more so as it reflected in the quality of the rhythmically tricky passages. Opernglas, April 2003

CD: Aurora: Siberia Prelude demonstrates that Cura certainly can conduct. MusicWeb, January 2003

CD: Aurora and Rachmaninov�s Symphony No. 2 in E minor: One obviously need not worry about Jos� Cura�s �old-age pension�: wherever his dramatic tenor�s ambitions will lead him in the future, he has begun in time to build a second career as a conductor, and he doesn�t confine himself to opera. Cura�s two new releases with Sinfonia Varsovia reinforce the impression that singing is his job but conducting is his true passion. And the recordings leave no doubt that he knows what he is doing. The combination of Slavic melancholy and Latin American temperament is definitely fertile. Although the musicians bathe in emotion in Rachmaninov�s Second Symphony, the conductor always remains in control. Fono Forum, June 2003

CD: Rachmaninov�s Symphony No. 2 in E minor: This is a superb Rachmaninov Second Symphony--in fact, it's one of the better versions available. In no small measure, this must be due to the excellence of the Sinfonia Varsovia, and in particular to its first rate strings. Richly resonant yet always transparent, rhythmically spot on (listen to them attack the scherzo or the opening of the finale), they make a powerful impression from the very first note. The woodwind players also fare well, timpani and percussion don't miss a trick (terrific glockenspiel), and although horns and trumpets play with a bit more brightness and boldness than trombones and tuba, it would be foolhardy to insist that the climaxes lack fullness or power on this account. Roomy but finely balanced sonics also keep Rachmaninov's well-upholstered musical textures uncommonly clear and transparent. Now none of this would matter if Cura didn't know exactly what to do with the music, and he leads an expertly shaped, urgently vital performance, as true to the spirit of the music as to the letter of the score. Listen, for example, to the sure way in which he builds the introduction, and to the feeling of a true allegro with which he imbues the first movement (with exposition repeat). His decision to take the second subject in tempo and then relax and slow down only at the cadence theme proves far more emotionally clinching than many a more indulgent treatment (and it also makes the repeat sound inevitable rather than redundant). When the big climax arrives, with crashing cymbals and bass drum, he conveys the feeling of pent-up energy being unleashed without needing to make a massive ritard that checks the music's momentum. It would be a mistake, though, to claim that Cura's performance belongs entirely to the "classical" school of limited tempo variation. In the scherzo, for example, he maximizes the contrast between the quick principal theme and its lyrical episode, which here sounds truly luscious. The central fugato benefits from extraordinary clarity at a moderate basic speed, and its march episode has a wonderful, other-worldly feel thanks to sensitive quiet brass playing. A swift basic tempo for the famous adagio does the movement nothing but good. Note the well-judged ritard at the beginning that relaxes back into tempo primo for the ensuing clarinet solo--evidence that Cura knows what he's doing and how to get his musicians to do it. The finale whizzes by in a flurry of high spirits, again with minimal slowing down for the second subject. At the return of the motto theme at the very end, interpreters basically have two options: slam on the brakes (Svetlanov), or plow on ahead, as Cura does here. It's a decision entirely in keeping with his "excitement first" approach, one that never shortchanges the music's Romantic (even decadent) elements, but that also keeps the work moving forward and unfailingly sustains the listener's interest. And that's no mean achievement. If you love this symphony, you will certainly have to hear this surprising performance from a very unexpected source. ClassicsToday

CD: Rachmaninov�s Symphony No. 2 in E minor: Cura, temporarily abandoning the stage, directs the Warsaw orchestra in a fast and powerful performance. This is brightly recorded by Avie. Cura's engineers have the listener floating freely, weaving and diving from section to section in a way which may not be very natural but which grips the attention. In fact his grasp and focus is impressive, the more so in a work that has its longueurs. If you are averse to Previn's classic version on EMI with its smeared and haloed romantic aura then this is for you. This performance is full of vivacious temperament and fairly flies along. Not quite Golovanov (Boheme) but certainly close. Cura makes many telling points along the way and the fact that his foot is down on the gas pedal matters not a bit. I have heard several recordings of this work recently. Janssons with the St Petersburg sounds more natural but lacks the same rush as Cura. Kurt Sanderling and the Philharmonia are so much broader, are recorded more naturally but are nowhere near so excitingly presented. Svetlanov's battered and cut 1960s recording is perhaps the closest in urgency to Cura's. I really enjoyed this Avie version. It is closest to the full-blooded Russian approach. Some might find it shockingly quick but provided you do not insist on the viscously protracted you may well find yourself wanting more Rachmaninov from Cura.

Cura certainly rediscovers the furies in Rachmaninov's music. I think I have at last found the man and the orchestra to make the perfect Symphonic Dances. The Dances were superbly recorded by Kondrashin with the USSRSO back in the 1960s. The work sounds astounding in that Melodiya recording but has been unerringly and repeatedly fouled up when transferred to CD. Time to let Cura and Varsovians loose on that score coupled with the Third Symphony. There is a precondition. And that is that whatever Cura and the orchestra were on before they made this current recording they are treated to it again. � Great Rachmaninov playing in a furious and tender version of the Second Symphony. A performance you imagined but never dreamed you would experience. Classical Music Editor, February 2003

CD: Rachmaninov�s Symphony No. 2 in E minor: The first movement exposition bowls along compellingly enough to merit its full repeat here; the scherzo . . . is as bright and articulate as the finale; and the now-clich�d lovesong contours of the slow movement retain a certain freshness. BBC Music Magazine

CD: Rachmaninov�s Symphony No. 2 in E minor: A performance you imagined but never dreamed you would experience...fast and powerful...impressive...vivacious. Great Rachmaninov playing. Classical Music Web

CD: Rachmaninov�s Symphony No. 2 in E minor: A fresh and virile Rachmaninov reading from the tenor-turned-conductor ...[who] has definite ideas about how the music should go. It is fresh, virile and genuine. Gramophone

CD: Rachmaninov�s Symphony No. 2 in E minor: Cura, temporarily abandoning the stage, directs the Warsaw orchestra in a fast and powerful performance. This is brightly recorded by Avie. Cura's engineers have the listener floating freely, weaving and diving from section to section in a way which may not be very natural but which grips the attention. In fact his grasp and focus is impressive; the more so in a work that has its longueurs. If you are averse to Previn's classic version on EMI with its smeared and haloed romantic aura then this is for you. This performance is full of vivacious temperament and fairly flies along. Not quite Golovanov (Boheme) but certainly close. Cura makes many telling points along the way and the fact that his foot is down on the gas pedal matters not a bit. I have heard several recordings of this work recently. Janssons with the St Petersburg sounds more natural but lacks the same rush as Cura. Kurt Sanderling and the Philharmonia are so much broader, are recorded more naturally but are nowhere near so excitingly presented. Svetlanov's battered and cut 1960s recording is perhaps the closest in urgency to Cura's. I really enjoyed this Avie version. It is closest to the full-blooded Russian approach. Some might find it shockingly quick but provided you do not insist on the viscously protracted you may well find yourself wanting more Rachmaninov from Cura. Classical Music

CD: Rachmaninov�s Symphony No. 2 in E minor: The production convinces with its passionate, highly emotional expression, its romantic exuberance, its diffuse, elevated idiom, and its directness in the communication of feelings. In the conductor one senses the �breath� of a singer in long musical phrases: ample and rich in sound � like a pleasant ecstasy. Salzburger Nachrichten, 22 March 2003

Concert, Prague October 2003: Jose Cura may very well raise the score of Dvoř�k�s New World symphony over his head and make it clear that the composer is the hero. It makes no difference. Even if Cura wished it a hundred times over--it would be like denying himself. It�s true that there are other conductors who are showy and agile on the dais, who squat down. And sometimes with less impact than that achieved by Cura, who didn�t hesitate to deploy his own speciality: tossing the baton from his right hand to his left. This was an interesting, wild and fiery Dvoř�k, also thanks to the excellent Prague Chamber Philharmonic, but concentrating on it wasn�t easy, because it was simply part of an evening show whose master was the incandescent Cura� IDNES, 25 October 2003

Concert, Prague October 2003: Cura knows how to imbue these seasoned ladies and gentlemen with an emotional openness to which they are not accustomed, but with which they can play nevertheless. This tenderness then runs through the concert hall like a shiver and its fervour sounds like an everyday conversation. �You play like angels,� said Cura in praise of the Prague Chamber Philharmonic during the start of their rehearsal of Dvoř�k�s New World symphony. And in truth, the angels blew him a few false notes, as is wont to happen to the wind section. But the strings and cor anglais made recompense in the Largo. The whole was played at the limit of tempo and feeling, on a wave of emotional effusiveness, against which we are fortunately helpless. Lidov� noviny, 25 October 2003

Concert, Prague October 2003: In his second performance in Prague, Cura once more performed not only as an outstanding soloist, but also as an ever more frequent conductor. In front of an orchestra, in this case the Prague Chamber Philharmonic, as ever immaculately prepared, Cura radiates an irresistible charisma, which served only to highlight his precise and clear hand movements, accompanied by an eloquent expression. Den�ky Bohemia, 25 October 2003

Next Performance: Andrea Ch�nier in Vienna!

FACEBOOK!

Jos� Cura is now on Facebook and providing updates as well as thought-provoking discussion points. Join him at his official site and let him know how much you appreciate him!

What did you miss this week on Maestro Cura's Facebook?

Jos� Cura (official)

10 May 2013

Uf, the joke didn't last to much. So here's another one. Who is the young chap? Not me, the one close to me

And because you will guess very fast, I think, here is the other question: where are we and what are we doing?

There is one clue...

Find out at Jos� Cura's Facebook Page!

Jos� Cura (official)

10 May 2013

As it looks you all enjoy these quizzes more than when I get serious with my COGITO ERGO SUM posts (the proof is in the statistics), then here I go with another question.

Who is the beautiful old guy in the picture with me?

Find out at Jos� Cura's Facebook Page!

Jos� Cura (official)

9 May 2013

Ready for the week-end quiz?

Look at the picture and tell me the year and the opera. There are some clues... (Find the answer on Jos� Cura's Facebook!

This is just a sample of the humor and wisdom found on one of Facebook's most delightful pages. Don't miss any of the Maestro's post or the entertaining conversations from his fans and friends.

Visit Jos� Cura's official Facebook page!

Jos� Cura (official)

Find Cura Media!

on Amazon

Click on the photo above for more information

Find Cura on Wikipedia!

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

Full name: Jos� Luis Victor Cura G�mez

First starring role: Bibola's Signorina Julia, Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi, Trieste, Italy, 1993

First performance in US: Giordano's Fedora, Chicago Lyric, USA, 1994

Debut at La Scala: Ponchielli's La Gioconda, January 1997

JC 2013 Calendar

Last updated in March 2013

Month / 2013

Performance Dates

Title

Theatre

City

January

10

Carmen

Deutsche Oper

Berlin

January

19, 22, 23, 26, 27, 29, 30

Un ballo in maschera conducting

Massimo Bellini

Catania

January

25

Concert in Support of St Agata

Massimo Bellini

Catania

March

1

Carmen

Metropolitan Opera

New York

March

11, 15, 20, 23, 27, 30

Otello

Metropolitan Opera

New York

April

20, 23, 26, 28

Stiffelio

Opera Monte Carlo

Monte Carlo

May

16, 21, 24

Andrea Ch�nier

Staatsoper

Vienna

May

25

Concert

Gostiny Dvor Exhibition Hall

Moscow

May

29

Concert

International Performing Arts Center, Svetlanov Hall

Moscow

June

02

Concert - Conducting

Aspendos Ancient Open Air Theatre

Antalya

July

18, 21, 24, 27, 30

Otello

Staging, Directing, Singing

Col�n

Buenos Aires

September

14, 17, 20, 23

Otello

Staatsoper

Vienna

October

8

Gala Concert

Salle Pleyel

Paris

November

9, 20, 28

Otello

Deutsche Oper

Berlin

November

12

Concert

Philarmony Concert Hall

St Petersburg

November

14

Concert

Nokia Concert Hall

Tallinn

November

17

Concert

Musiikkitalo Hall

Helsinki

November

18

Concert

Crocus City Hall

Moscow

Please help us take care of Planet Earth, especially for those who have no voice. It is the only home any of us have--for all creatures great and small and for all generations to come! - editorial staff of Bravo Cura

This fan page is dedicated to promoting the artistry of Jos� Cura. We are supported and encouraged by Cura fans from around the world: without these wonderful people, we wouldn't be able to keep up with the extraordinary career of this fabulous musical talent.

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Last Updated: Sunday, May 12, 2013
� Copyright: Kira

May	25	*Viennese Ball*	Gostiny Dvor Exhibition Hall	Moscow
To order tickets for the 25 May Concert (11th Annual Viennese Ball in Moscow), visit the following URL: http://www.venskibal.ru/ger/ball/about/4 (note: site is in Russian!) Please note: Maestro Cura will sing only two songs!
May	29	Concert (conductor)	International Performing Arts Center, Svetlanov Hall	Moscow
To order tickets for the 29 May Concert (Symphonic Tango), visit the following URL: http://eng.orchestra.ru/ticket/
June	02	Concert (conductor)	Aspendos Ancient Open Air Theatre	Antalya
To order tickets for the 2 June Concert (20th Anniversary Opera Gala), visit the following URL: http://www.aspendosfestival.gov.tr/index_e.html Please note: Maestro Cura will be conducting this concert. He is scheduled to sing only once, in a duet!

JC 2013 Calendar Last updated in March 2013
Month / 2013	Performance Dates	Title	Theatre	City
January	10	*Carmen*	Deutsche Oper	Berlin
January	19, 22, 23, 26, 27, 29, 30	*Un ballo in maschera conducting*	Massimo Bellini	Catania
January	25	Concert in Support of St Agata	Massimo Bellini	Catania
March	1	*Carmen*	Metropolitan Opera	New York
March	11, 15, 20, 23, 27, 30	*Otello*	Metropolitan Opera	New York
April	20, 23, 26, 28	*Stiffelio*	Opera Monte Carlo	Monte Carlo
May	16, 21, 24	*Andrea Ch�nier*	Staatsoper	Vienna
May	25	Concert	Gostiny Dvor Exhibition Hall	Moscow
May	29	Concert	International Performing Arts Center, Svetlanov Hall	Moscow
June	02	Concert - Conducting	Aspendos Ancient Open Air Theatre	Antalya
July	18, 21, 24, 27, 30	Otello *Staging, Directing, Singing*	Col�n	Buenos Aires
September	14, 17, 20, 23	Otello	Staatsoper	Vienna
October	8	Gala Concert	Salle Pleyel	Paris
November	9, 20, 28	Otello	Deutsche Oper	Berlin
November	12	Concert	Philarmony Concert Hall	St Petersburg
November	14	Concert	Nokia Concert Hall	Tallinn
November	17	Concert	Musiikkitalo Hall	Helsinki
November	18	Concert	Crocus City Hall	Moscow