The Argentine José Cura, guest of honor at the Budapest Opera Ball

EFE

20 January 2010

The Argentine tenor José Cura will be the guest of honor at the 15th edition of the Budapest Opera Ball, to be held on February 13, according to the organizers.

The Budapest Opera Ball follows the tradition of the Vienna Opera Ball, reviving a 19th century custom, and in recent years has had as guests of honor such personalities as actresses Catherine Deneuve, Ornella Muti and Gina Lollobrigida, and German ice skater Katarina Witt.

This year José Cura will not only be the guest of honor, but will also take part in the dance program, together with the Magyar soprano Ildikó Komlósi, with whom he performed on the stage of the Metropolitan in New York.

The Budapest ball, against which in past years have experienced demonstrations because of the display of luxury it represents, will this time distribute food for the city's homeless as well as providing medical examinations.

The Budapest Opera House was inaugurated in 1884 and the first ball was organized in 1886, but after World War II these events were suspended.

The new history of the balls began in 1996, when the first ball was organized after the fall of the "iron curtain".

José Cura Chose the Budapest Opera Ball

Blikk

12 February 2010

The Hungarian capital’s ball is more inviting than Vienna’s – at least according to the famous Argentinean tenor José Cura (48), who will star at tomorrow night’s 15^th Opera Ball. He was invited by the Austrians but ‘I am very attached to this country so there was no doubt I would come,” Cura said during a press conference yesterday.

The popular tenor arrived Wednesday evening and remains with us until Sunday and even though the ball has many activities, Cura doesn’t mind using some of the time to rest. “It is very cold, but because I have so many commitments this month, it is not a problem. I will stay mainly in the hotel and just try to go to the Opera House.

“I came alone since the kids are in school. Of course, I did not neglect the family: we spent New Year’s Eve together in the United States,” said the guest of honor. “It is a complicated world we live in, with some parents wanting their kids to continue in their career, but I tell them they need to do whatever will make them really happy in life. My older son, who is 21, lives in London and studies acting, so he is sure to follow onto the stage.”

What does he think of television shows on which such singers as Susan Boyle and Paul Potts have appeared? “I hope the audience is not confused and believe that these are real opera singers. They may be very talented but when they do not have the preliminary education, they remain in the limelight for only two or three years. They cannot stand the test of time. A real artist needs twenty years.

“When I was 20 years old, I thought I was already a great artist. I am only now realizing that though I had talent I understood only a tenth of what I needed to know,” explained Cura, who said he was excited about tomorrow night. “I returned home from American with an extra four pounds, so I cannot include the frakkomba. Maybe after three or four days of desperate dieting…” He laughed merrily.

"Verdi and Puccini above all" - opera singer and conductor José Cura

Magyar Naranc

28 January 2009

[Computer-assisted translation]

Born in Buenos Aires, he now lives in Madrid, after stints in Rome and Paris. As a tenor, he has his eye on baritone roles, but despite his reputation as an opera hero, he prefers to stand on the conductor's podium. José Cura will be the guest of honor at the Opera Ball in Budapest in early February.

Magyar Narancs: You have accepted the invitation to host the Budapest Opera Ball but you have never been a guest singer at the Budapest Opera before.

José Cura: Years ago, there were several negotiations with the Hungarian State Opera House, but things always got stuck somewhere, maybe during the negotiation, maybe somewhere else. It's definitely not because of me.

MN: You were invited to the Buenos Aires Opera for the first time in many years this year.

JC: I could be sad about it, but what's the point when my calendar is already full for three or four years. You have to take into account the chaotic social and economic situation there, as well as the renovation of the Buenos Aires Opera, the Teatro Colón, which has been years in the making. I feel the same way as when I left Argentina. I saw no vision for the future, no possibility of any longer-term development as a singer or conductor.

MN: Having said that, you are passionate about the musical heritage of your native country.

JC: Of course. My ancestors are Spanish, Italian, Lebanese on my father's side. In a sense, I have ties to many nations, although my musical roots are with my native country. I have never turned my back on this heritage. A large part of my solo concerts, either as a singer or as a conductor, is made up of the Argentine repertoire. In a sense, I consider myself an ambassador, and it is my duty and, in a big way, my mission to transmit the music of my homeland. I sing and conduct compositions by Buchardo and Ginastera, in addition to Piazzolla, who is best known throughout the world.

MN: After a brilliant singing career of fifteen years, what attracted you to the conducting profession?

JC: I originally graduated as a conductor and composer. I used to live in the belief that I would be at the head of the world's most famous orchestras interpreting the works of composers I admired, especially Beethoven, Brahms, Mahler, Rachmaninoff. Voice training, singing, performing and stage expression came relatively late, around the age of thirty. In this way, my path is completely different from that of those who, at a certain stage in their careers, take up the conducting baton out of a sense of renewal.

MN: Such as Plácido Domingo, with whom you were constantly compared, especially at the beginning of your career?

JC: It's not worth mentioning examples, because they are always wrong. I have a tremendous respect for the great personalities of the generation or generations before me, but I don't really claim kinship with anyone.

MN: Why is that?

JC: I don't think there's anyone to follow, it's pointless to set role models, ideals. Behind every artist and musician there is a huge treasure trove of influences to draw from, to pick and choose from. But art does not need followers. It needs free, independent individuals. Be yourself: that is my principle. Make the best of yourself, the most of yourself, build on the gifts you have been given by your creator. Everyone has an individual path to follow, without predecessors or successors.

MN: You communicate with the audience in a rather unusual way: you often include "personal numbers" and spontaneous reactions while conducting.

JC: This can perhaps be explained by the fact that I live in the pull of a double love. I love the meditative state of forgetting mysekf in the score, and on the other hand I am interacting with the audience. When I step on stage, I scan the atmosphere of the room and my senses immediately assess what I can allow myself. The most beautiful moments are born on the double plane of immersion in the music while winking at it. After all, we are working with living, animate material. No two evenings are the same, no two audiences are the same, different energies are brought together. It's all a matter of alchemy and a great deal of spontaneity. Boredom and habit are the death of me. It's not worth starting something if you don't have the desire to surrender to it, to become creative. If you do anything with total faith and dedication, only then is there any real stakes. In neither my profession nor in my everyday life do I tend to run away from challenges.

MN: Do you consider writing-directing as well? You have also written a musical theatre piece called La commedia é finita.

JC: In Cologne I directed Masquerade Ball, and in Croatia I directed a prose, opera, pantomime and ballet version of Pagliacci, a kind of all-arts show. With La commedia é finita I had the opportunity to experiment and bring to life the everyday life of a clown troupe within a symbolic story.

MN: You went from Canio, Cavaradossi, Turridu to Otello and Samson.

JC: You have to mature for every role. I am a passionate interpreter of the verismo repertoire. Verdi and Puccini are above all for me. And Otello is the crowning glory of Verdi roles. Samson is also a big bite. Dramatic roles interest me as much from a psychological point of view as from a musical one.

MN: How do you feel about the fact that you are always identified with Latin masculinity?

JC: I don't care. I understand that newspapers and fans need references, references they like to align themselves with. What is natural to me may be a curiosity to others. Everyone has to be accepted for what they are. For me, my origins are decisive in terms of spirit and passion. I want to keep the fire, the sunshine, the emotions alive in me. I'm the same person when I'm rehearsing, recording, singing, conducting or taking photographs. I instruct musicians and talk to my children with the same physicality, the same spirit, the same persuasiveness. I see no reason to present myself as anything other than what I am.

José Cura, the Black Belt Sexy Tenor

Horizon

February 2010

When he was eight his piano teacher sent him home saying it was clearly audible he was not interested in music, but never mind—he had no talent anyway. When he nevertheless decided to become a musician his father patted him on the back saying, ‘Alright son, be a musician but what job will you do?’ At the age of hardly 30 he sold his apartment in Argentina—for a quarter of his concert fee today—packed up his wife and baby and moved to Europe where he dreamt about music, while living in a garage and collecting firewood at night. Then came the breakthrough, since when the world has known him as the ‘fourth tenor,’ the ‘sexy tenor’ and sometimes the ‘arrogant tenor.’ José Cura was in Budapest as this year’s star guest of the opera ball. He talked to Horizon about roles, writing fiction and responsibility to God—without the slightest trace of arrogance.

When you left Argentina with your family for Europe you encountered extreme hardship. What gave you faith and strength for such a change?

It’s in my genes. My grandparents were immigrants from Lebanon, Italy and Spain. They fled for survival to Argentina at the beginning of the 20^th century. We are usually referred to as ‘remigrants’ because we return to Europe as the second or third generation. It’s like the surge of the sea—it takes people from one corner of the Earth to another.

Will you settle in Madrid for good?

Yes, I’m planning to stay there. When we left Argentina we only had our first child, who was still very little. The other two were born over here. For them, Argentina is only dad’s and mum’s homeland. It wouldn’t be fair on them if we moved back, yet it’s conceivable that I will spend more time there in the future.

Most of your roles are connected to Verdi and Puccini—is it a personal attraction or are they the most appropriate for your voice?

My repertoire is basically French and Italian, and the latter’s two most important composers are Verdi and Puccini. They also composed the most. So it’s rather a question of quantity and specialization. I’m a ‘specialist’ of this repertoire—even if it sounds rather funny.

Are they also your favourite composers?

I don’t have favourites, because a favourite somewhat limits you. I’d rather say I sing their pieces with pleasure, though of course not all of them.

Does it help on stage that you not only have the voice but, as a former body builder and a Hung-Fu Black Belt, you also have a bearing for certain roles?

Very much so. The biggest trouble with opera is that many people think that once they have a good singing voice it’ll make them a good opera singer. But that’s a big mistake. An opera singer is one who can perform and sing in equal measure. If someone auditions for a musical but doesn’t know how to act, jump and sing all at the same time, they can get the boot. However, at an opera audition it’s enough for the singer to pull off the high C and the contract is signed. Isn’t it a joke? It’s constantly discussed how young people could be attracted to the opera, though there’s no secret in it. There’s no need to be modern by having Aida arrive in a flying saucer and Troubadour on a Kawasaki. That’s rubbish. Young people also want real acting and real singing. Many people are irritated because I attribute such significance to acting and I’m often criticized for it. But that is the real revolution, not the many ridiculous ways of staging an opera, which is only about having a big sensation picked up by the media.

You do not seem to agree with the increasingly fashionable director-oriented opera.

I’ve also done crazy things. It’s great if something is crazy, but full of ideas. The trouble is when something is mad and empty, aiming only to stand out. You can undress naked on stage if it’s artistically necessary. But if nudity replaces the message it is stupid and pathetic—just like those who buy tickets for a production because of that. They’d be better off switching on the internet. It’s full of nudity and you don’t even have to pay for it.

You became famous as a tenor when you began conduction, which was received with much incomprehension.

I’ve got to a point in life when I don’t want to set limits for myself. For a long time I didn’t dare do certain thing because I was worried about what people would say. After a long time I started conducting and many people said: “Look at the tenor, now he’s conducting!” Though in fact I originally graduated as a composer and conductor. After a while I said to myself—I do what I feel like and everyone can say what they like. If you always pay attention to others, in the end you do nothing. God has given me a gift and if I don’t do anything with it because I’m afraid of public opinion eventually I will have to explain myself to Go. If I use the gift then people criticize me, so I lose either way. In the end I decided that if I had to fight anyway I’d rather fight with people than with God.

Have you got abilities you haven’t used yet?

I constantly discover something in myself, though of course everything is connected to the stage and arts. In 2007 I wrote a 15 minute monologue for a premier and I discovered I could write. I thought why not? So now I’m writing—a lot. I’ve recently finished my first novel and now I’m working on some short stories. I may never get them published, but then they will be my children’s inheritance. Should I nevertheless see them published then of course people would immediately say: “Who the devil do you think you are?”

What is the novel about?

It’s got something to do with my own experience, since no writer can get away from that. But I can’t tell you what it’s exactly about. Imagine, should I be so lucky that it appears in print my publisher would knock me on the head for betraying the secret too early!

Moscow - March 2010

Tenor with Black Belt

Izvestia

Maria Babalova

16 March 2010

José Luis Albert Victor Cura gave his only concert at Moscow House of Music

[Computer-assisted Translation]

The Argentine tenor, commonly referred to as the sex symbol of modern opera, is not a vocal fanatic. He trained as a bodybuilder in his youth, gained a black belt in kung fu and now flaunts his impressive physique in the roles of Samson, Radames, José and Otello. Our Izvestia columnist met the singer.

Izvestia: It's been six years since you were last in Moscow...

José Cura: I wear glasses now. Maybe the next time I come I'll already have grey hair. Or maybe I won't have any hair at all. Unfortunately I rarely perform in Russia. And I only give concerts, never in an opera. Whenever I'm invited, it's always at the last minute and I have find the time only with difficulty...

I: Is performing in Russia exotic for you?

JC: It’s rather extreme. It’s painful when you go on stage and work hard if somebody tells you: yes, of course, it's good, but it would be better to do it the way it was done a half-century ago... No one takes away the well-deserved admiration of artists of the past. No actor today would think of disrespecting Clark Gable, for example. Nevertheless no one today would dream of acting the way he did. The audience would laugh, not because what he did was bad but because his acting belongs to a different era. The opera audience, especially in Russia, is in no hurry to understand that although we modern singers admire colleagues from the past, we cannot and should not sing the same way as they do.

I: Among your idols was Placido Domingo. He helped you at the beginning of your career....

JC: That's right. Unfortunately, today Placido is having a difficult time in his life - he had a major surgery and just got out of the hospital. But I've already talked to him twice on the phone. He feels relatively well. He's a very strong person and I think he'll manage well.

I: Does your passion for conducting come from Domingo?

JC: No. I just never thought of becoming a singer. My university studies were geared toward becoming a composer and a conductor. I started conducting when I was 14. And I started singing professionally at the age of 27 or 28. Conducting is my future. The voice is a fragile instrument. And if God decides I've done enough singing, I'll do something else. But I'm only forty-seven and hope to be singing for another twenty years.

I: Do you still enjoy singing today as much as before?

JC: It depends on the audience. A concert is about making love. The audience is your partner. If you make love to a partner who gives you all his love, you give yourself to him completely in return. And everything turns into a beautiful night. But if the person doesn't give you anything in return, it's like having sex with a doll. I've never really made love to a doll...

I: Are you Don Juan or Romeo by nature?

JC: It's hard to say. When I'm on tour, Don Giovanni tends to have a home in me, but Romeo holds the line. When I was proposing to my future wife, I told her: "I want to spend the rest of my life with you." It's been almost 30 years since then. But true love needs a daily struggle. Otherwise it's not love, but pure conformism.

I: I remember that your career rise began with a photo on the cover of a glossy magazine. The caption was: "José Cura - a sexy dream"...

JC: That description stuck with me. Everybody remembers that I 'm a sex symbol but no one think about how hard I worked to become who I am today. There's a cliché: If you're good looking and attractive, then you're an idiot. And if you're smart and intelligent, you can't be good looking. That's why I wear glasses and grow a belly. Maybe people will notice my professional virtues after all...

There are a lot of people around today whose success is not justified by anything they’ve done. We live in an era where everything or almost everything is a surrogate. If I need information, I won't go to the library and turn to the mountains of books but I’ll press a computer key and the Internet will give me the finished result of a work someone has done for me. We live in a time when most people have lost their taste for work. It's easier to buy a half-baked food and heat it up in the microwave than to cook something from scratch. The same thing is happening in music. They've already invented a computer program that can turn my dog's bark into a great-sounding song. This is how one-hit wonders are born, created inside recording studios. But they cannot go on stage without a soundtrack and stand one on one with the audience. Because in reality they can't even sing in the shower. In this madness of the modern world, it's very difficult, almost impossible, for opera to survive. The problem is that if art revolved only around great talent, there would be at most three theaters in the world. It is artisans who do a lot to ensure that the art spreads around the world, not stays in a narrow circle of connoisseurs. Even an aboriginal in the forests of the Congo should have the right to enjoy art on an equal footing with Vienna, Paris or London.

I: Are you a pessimist?

JC: I am a damned stubborn non-conformist and rebel. These definitions seem negative, but they are actually positive. I will never accept the position of a "conformist," a man who doesn't fight and simply accepts everything as it is so as not to draw attention to himself. It is the duty of any celebrity to make a commitment to society. I very often take on the problems of others, and therefore frequently take hits. However I would rather live with those hits than be a hypocrite. When I die, they will probably write, "They tried to tame him, but he never gave up and remained wild and unrestrained to the end.” I'm a perfectionist and a nerd, but I'm likeable, aren't I?

I: Are all Argentines so temperamental?

JC: Not at all. I'm only half Argentinian. My mother is from Lebanon.

I: Have you been to Beirut often?

JC: I’ve been there once. I'm a Knight of the Order of the Cedar, awarded to me by the government of Lebanon. But today, alas, the roar of cannons is much louder than human voices. It is a very sad story, nearly four thousand years old. Perhaps the situation is more difficult now than ever before. People don't want war. Wherever there is war, its main cause is money. And that makes it scary.

I: Are there things that make you panic and get angry?

JC: Only fear for my loved ones. Everything else can be controlled.

I: What do you dislike doing most of all?

JC: Paying taxes.

I: What sins are you willing to forgive yourself for?

JC: There are many. It's dangerous to reveal such a secret... I will reveal my weak flank, and they will shoot there. There are so many things in life that you can only talk about with a mirror.

Cura in bad acoustics

The start of the Moscow concert was delayed by twenty minutes. José Cura suddenly emerged from the depths of the stalls when his first note, the Prologue from the opera Pagliacci, was moments away. Instead of a tuxedo or tuxedo and bowtie, he wore a loose black silk shirt. "Good evening!" Cura exhaled in Russian with almost no accent.

Next it turned out that an interpreter was sitting in the front row-as the senor tenor intended not only to sing, but also to communicate with the audience. And also to conduct, giving way to soprano soloist Olga Romanko. These exercises, not included in the program, did not excite the audience. But everything that Cura sang - Canio from Pagliacci, Dick Johnson from Puccini's La Fanciulla del West, Otello and Cavaradossi - was accompanied by an ovation. While allowing occasional vocal sloppiness, Cura rightly complained to the audience about the stuffiness and poor acoustics of the hall. He said that he did not have enough time to rehearse, because he had problems with the selections and the program had to be changed on the fly. And yet he was accompanied by the experienced Russian Philharmonic Orchestra, with which José Carreras, Roberto Alagna and Juan Diego Flores have all performed in Moscow. True, in recent years the ensemble has been deprived of any coherent artistic direction.

Singer José Cura Brings his Family to Český Krumlov for a Holiday

Cura will perform at the opening of the 19th International Music Festival Český Krumlov 2010 on 16 July.

České Noviny

14 July 2010

[Computer-Assisted Translation]

Prague - The biggest star of the International Music Festival Český Krumlov, José Cura, is coming to South Bohemia with his his wife and two [of his three] children. The Argentinian tenor will sing twith Korean soprano Kim In-hye at the opening concert on 16 July in the Brewery Garden. Due to the great interest, a repeat performance has been added, which will take place at the same venue two days later.

"I am very proud that my first concert in seven years in the Czech Republic sold out in one day. That's why I am adding a Sunday performance, which will be identical to the one on Friday," Cura announced.

At today's press conference at the Augustin Hotel in Prague, the 48-year-old singer also told journalists that the festival organizers were lucky to have approached him for dates during the summer holiday months since, for example, his participation in February would have been completely out of the question.

"The most difficult thing was to convince my wife to agree to a holiday in Český Krumlov, where I will also be working, but I showed her photos of the town and the family will spend a week there," said the smiling, slightly greying artist, revealing that he and his wife have been together for 31 years.

Cura gave a very relaxed impression at the press conference. He joked with photographers in the front row and wondered if the handsome translator was married.

"There are still about a hundred tickets left for the second concert. Do any of you want to buy them?" he asked the media representatives.

According to Cura, he will return to Český Krumlov next year to perform an opera in front of the local revolving auditorium. "I hope I won't have to take pills against seasickness," he laughed with those present.

Cura will be accompanied in Český Krumlov by the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Italian conductor Mario de Rosso. Cura himself is also exceptional in his ability to combine singing with conducting. He appeared as a conductor at the Municipal House in Prague in 2003. "Being a conductor is a completely different responsibility than being a musician or a singer. A conductor is especially important in rehearsals," he pointed out. He described the question of whether it is better to be a conductor or a musician as similar to whether it is better to be a player or a coach in football.

The concert in Český Krumlov will feature arias and duets from Italian operas by Verdi, Leoncavallo and Puccini. Cura will perform his famous roles such as Otello, Canio from Pagliaci, Calaf from Turandot and Mario Cavaradossi from Tosca. With soprano In-hje Kim, he will also sing duets from Madama Butterfly.

The character of Otello from Verdi's opera is considered to be very difficult to sing and Cura also pointed out the complexity of the character. "It's not just a play about a handkerchief, but also about racism and disappointment. It is still relevant, nothing has changed in the thousand years since the character was created, we are still killing each other in the name of God," he shared.

Cura is not only a tenor and conductor, but also a composer, opera director, designer and photographer. He has written three novels, he said, but has not yet published them. "I enjoy everything in the world, I have to stick my nose into everything," said the artist, who said being original does not mean being different from others at all costs. In art, he stressed sincerity. "Even Oscar Wilde said: Be yourself, all other roles are already taken apart," said Cura, who first performed in the Czech Republic in 1998 accompanied by the Virtuosi di Praga orchestra.

"Voice is a delicate matter," says José Cura

ČT24

Martin Veselovsky

14 July 2010

[Computer-Assisted Translation / Excerpts]

This year's 19th edition of the International Music Festival Český Krumlov will be opened by the Argentine opera star, the "tenor of the 21st century," José Cura. This will be the third time that the Czech audience will have the opportunity to appreciate Cura's unique voice and interpretive talent, and the interest is considerable; the festival organisers have even had to add another concert. Martin Veselovsky spoke with José Cura, "the fourth of the great tenors," in Události on 13 July.

José Cura didn't start singing professionally until he was 28. Before that he was conducting, composing and playing the piano. In 1991 he left Argentina for Italy, and in 1992 he made his debut at the Arena in Verona in Henze’s Pollicino. Further success came in 1993 in Turin, where he sang Alberto Gregor in Janáček's The Makropulos Affair. But his real breakthrough came when he won the prestigious international competition Operalia in 1994, after which he immediately made his debut in the United States and London's Covent Garden. From then on, he began to receive offers from all over the world. In 2003 he came to Prague, where he presented himself at the Municipal House not only as an opera singer but also as a conductor.

Martin Veselovsky: At concerts, you often include Latin American songs in your repertoire in addition to classical compositions. Can the Czechs also expect this at the festival in Krumlov?

José Cura: Of course. I'm really proud of that because it's not common. I'm Argentinean and I usually sing the Italian repertoire, so I'm looking forward to being able to sing songs from Argentina as a person from Argentina.

MV: As well as singing, you are also a conductor, direct opera, and are involved in photography and design. Normally, one needs to be fully dedicated to only one profession if one wants to get to the top. How is it possible that in your case you are successful in more than one field?

JC: I don't know, you'd have to ask my mother. I believe in a very holistic approach to career work. I'm not saying I'm right or wrong. It's just that some can only focus on one area but my approach to the work is different and so far it's working. I have to follow certain rules, of course. Some people enjoy it, some people don't, but that's normal.

MV: If I started saying to my bosses, gentlemen, I'm going to try my hand at news editing, I don't know what I'd encounter. How do other conductors and other professions that you kind of dabble in in classical music feel about it?

JC: When you're standing in front of someone who is a well-prepared professional, a good conductor, director, the more those people know about the work, the better. Things run smoothly. But when you're faced with someone who's not doing very well, just someone who's bluffing, of course you're nervous. And things get complicated.

MV: It's generally assumed that people who are involved in the arts in the highest levels have to start at a very early age. But you didn't start singing until you were about 28. Are you an exception, or is that just the way it goes?

JC: I started singing at the age of twelve and then there was a long period of time where I was also acting, composing and doing anything related to theatre including menial jobs. That was a really big advantage. I became a professional singer at the age of 28. The voice is a delicate thing. When you start singing at an early age, and my repertoire is very difficult, you suffer a bit. And I was young enough to justify the investment and old enough to be able to control it.

MV: You're sometimes described as the successor to the three great tenors. Luciano Pavarotti tried to move out of classical music towards a more popular approach, for example by collaborating with pop singers. Is that your way too?

JC: Every great artist leaves a mark on history. And those who follow him try to be as good or better, but they have to follow their own path. Then we'll see what happens, because history will have the final say. But it’s not good to follow in someone's footsteps. Because that means you're not respecting the person who worked hard to become someone unique.

If someone tells you they're following someone who won a Pulitzer Prize, maybe that's good because they are working hard to win their own Pulitzer Prize. And I'm happy to make an effort in that regard.

MV: Does that mean you're purposely setting yourself up in your career to have your "Pulitzer Prize"?

JC: I don't want to define myself. You may have someone you really admire, but you're not going to copy them. Copying is a lack of respect. For example, a great composer is distinctive, you don't just copy him. To show respect to somebody means that you will notice their life, their career in a certain way, but you will not copy their art.

MV: How is it with artists of your caliber with the move into the mainstream, into pop music? Is it something that is basically completely inappropriate and something that colleagues turn up their noses at, or is it a legitimate way to reach a wider audience?

JC: That's an old question. Caruso and Mario Lanza started it. They were the first singers to sing pop music alongside classical music.

It's not that we have pop music or classical music. We have good music or bad music. What we call classical music today was popular music 200 years ago. The definition between pop and classical is a matter between profane and ecclesiastical phenomena. And profane music includes what we call classical music today.

Do you know the first piano player in a bar in history? Mozart. The great god of music. He played the piano while the monarch ate and entertained. And he was indeed the great Mozart. We must abandon this phantom. People should be involved in music and enjoy it.

MV: When a famous opera singer stands in a stadium at the closing or opening of the Olympics and sings a Queen song, is that stepping over your line or not yet?

JC: I've done something similar many times. For example, in Australia in 2003 (a few months before I came to Prague) I attended the opening of the Rugby Championship. I was singing in the middle of the stadium in just my shirt, it was about 5 degrees. There were 100,000 people in the stands and I was hot in that shirt. It's a completely different energy than a traditional theatre.

MV: You're from Argentina. When you look at the origins of many of today's opera singers, it's as if that country, and the Latin American region in general, is producing more and more people in your field. Why is that?

JC: The largest number of classical opera singers in Europe came after World War II. It was a reaction to the suffering of the war. It was a kind of cry against the pain - let's start singing, let's start doing music, let's enjoy ourselves. That time has passed.

Today, even with the big crisis we have in Europe, Europe is Disneyland compared to some countries in South America. The reason why people from Latin America are really struggling is because of the difference between eating or not eating, trying to survive. Many young people in Europe have forgotten these types of feelings while we still have to push ourselves against that.

Interview with tenor José Cura

CIA News

15 February 2010

[Computer-Assisted Translation / Excerpts]

The music palette of the 19th year of the festival will be opened on July 16 with a unique opera gala performance featuring the famous Argentinean "tenor of the 21st century," José Cura. The charming voice, brilliant technique, and suggestive stage performance of this first-class star singer promise an unforgettable experience. Partners of this singer will include Korean soprano In Hye Kim and Symphonic Orchestra of the Czech Radio conducted by Mario de Rosa.

Q: In 2003 you debuted successfully in Prague and your concerts became ones of them Prague never forgets. Are you looking forward to your come-back to the Czech Republic?

JC: Unfortunately, after my last concert in Prague, I received no serious offers anymore to come back to your great country. It is a real pity as the Czech musicians are fabulous and the Czech public very warm. Now, after so many years, I will finally be back in the Czech Republic, although not in Prague. I hope one day I will be invited to work in Prague once more.

Q: Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 could be heard several times in your interpretation. You have published a unique recording Antonin Dvořák Centenary Tribute including his beautiful Love songs cycle. How is your relationship to Antonin Dvořák and Czech music?

JC: I do not have a special, dedicated relation with Dvořák apart from my great admiration. One of my dreams would be to conduct his choral symphonic pieces.

Q: Let's start in the beginning. During your studies you were concerned mostly with conducting and composition. In 1988 you began developing proper singing technique and few years later you made triumphant debuts on prominent opera scenes in Europe and USA. What was the key stimulus for you to shift to the opera singing?

JC: Please, do not be disillusioned if I tell you that, in the beginning, the reason was "pure survival". It is very difficult to survive just as a composer, so having discovered my voice, it was logic to use it. Eventually, I started to love the singing "twist" in my life. The rest belongs now to the story everybody knows.

Q: Your repertoire is very broad, nevertheless the critics joins you especially with such roles like Samson, Otello, Andrea Chénier, Canio and others. Do you personally prefer some role(s) or specific part of the opera repertoire?

JC: Of course, being an actor-singer, I prefer those roles were I can develop a stage presence that fulfills my comedian instincts.

Q: Your sophisticated, insightful, emotionally deep interpretation fascinates both audience and critics all over the world. How is your approach to the interpretation? What is crucial to create high quality and heartbreaking performance to attract present-day audience?

JC: TO GO BEYOND THE SURFACE OF THE MELODY AND THE TEXT (yes, like that, in capital letters!), in order to reveal the essence of a masterpiece without hiding behind tones of books of the apparently correct interpretation. Books written by other... It is good to use them as a point of view to enrich yours, but never as the only possible plan. "Be yourself. Everybody else is already taken", one of Wilde's best quote...

Q: You are really a renaissance personality coping with many art crafts - opera singing, conducting, composition, stage direction and design. What are your principal artistic plans and goals for future?

JC: Only God knows the future. As for me, I could be happy if I can continue to earn my living by working in this privileged job: being an artist.

Q: In 2001 one you founded Cuibar Productions. Why and what is your vision of this company?

JC: This company was born as a back up to my work. Eventually, I got enough with all the crap in which my early agents and PR people put in, so to be my own man was the only possible cure. As a result, I am in sight when needed and in "sordine" when not needed. It is not as some think that because I am not torturing everybody all the time with my presence in all media that I am not the same level of artistic being I was. Discretion and respect towards the public is what has been lost in the past years.

Q: The life of an opera star is very demanding and exhausting, especially when combined with conducting and other art activities. How do you relax and care of your splendid voice?

JC: Writing answers for interviews like yours... :-)

"Perfume" of the words important, says star of Český Krumlov International Music Festival

Radio Prague International

Ian Willoughby

16 July 2010

The Argentinean singer Jose Cura is one of the biggest stars of contemporary opera, known for his powerful and distinctive interpretations of characters like Verdi’s Otello. Czech fans will have a rare chance to see him in the flesh this weekend, when he performs two concerts at the International Music Festival in Český Krumlov, one of the country’s most beautiful towns.

I spoke to Jose Cura in Prague earlier this week, just before he set off for south Bohemia. Given his famed skills as an actor, does he give preference to operas with relatively strong narratives?

“Of course, of course. I feel very embarrassed when I have to do operas with a…silly libretto. Even when the music is good. For example, [Verdi’s] Il Trovatore is a great, great piece of music, but the libretto is so, so…funny sometimes that it is very difficult sometimes to feel comfortable on stage.

“I did Trovatore and there is a DVD of my Trovatore, etc, etc. But it’s a role I don’t do any more now, because I really didn’t feel happy on stage with it. But this is only an example.”

Is your interest in acting also a reason you don’t like singing phonetically?

“Of course, yes. When you are an honest actor on stage, you know that the most important thing is not only the words, but the perfume of the words, what is behind, under and around the words, what is not written exactly.

“If you don’t speak the language very, very well, if you don’t master the language, unless you think in the language, pray in the language, you cannot say that language belongs to you.

“That’s why I don’t sing in German for example. I am sure I would probably do a more or less good thing vocally, but I am sure that I would not be very happy with my dramatic interpretation. I don’t want to feel unhappy on stage, because then people will feel it.”

Generally speaking, opera stars are expected to be able to act more today than they would have been in the past. Why has that change come about?

“It’s very simple. In the past – I’m talking about a long time ago – when cinema was in the beginning, when going to the theatre was for a very small group of people, of course we didn’t have internet, we didn’t have TV, we didn’t have any of these things, it was easy to be on stage doing little things, almost nothing, because the people were there to enjoy the music.

“Now, if you only want to enjoy the music you stay home, you put on a CD, and that’s it. If you come to the theatre with the background of…everybody knows a good movie, everybody understands when a movie is good or bad, when an actor is good or bad.

“When you watch TV you know if you are watching garbage or a good show. If you like garbage, that’s another problem, but you understand…many things in the past were not so easy.

“So it’s impossible today to behave like in the past. Not because the past was bad, but because our present has a lot of different information. And the obligation of an artist is to live in the present.”

I guess also you must have to be physically fitter than your predecessors.

Well, it’s expected. The problem with opera is that opera is a paradox. Of course the number one thing is the voice. If you don’t have the voice, even if you look very good, you can go home.

“And the contrary…if you have the voice and you don’t look good, that you can accept sometimes…Of course everybody would like to look like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie – we would love it, but it’s not possible. But to look at least as good as you can, that is not impossible.”

What is your relationship to Czech music?

“As everybody knows I started my career almost with Janáček. I also did a recording of Dvořák’s Love Songs and the Ninth Symphony for the one hundredth anniversary in 2004. So far that’s my real link to Czech music, which is not big.

“Again, if I conduct then it’s OK, but when I sing, because I don’t speak Czech…it was very, very difficult to do the recording of the Love Songs for example. I did it at Czech Radio, by the way, in 2003. It was very, very difficult – it was a nightmare to try to convey the words of a language that is not mine.

“That’s why I wanted to do it in Prague here, because I was surrounded by Czech people…the technicians, everybody was Czech, so I was breathing in Czech.”

Tell us what can fans expect at your two concerts in Český Krumlov this weekend?

“What you can expect for sure is that I will try my best to make people have a good time. Then you have all the unpredictable aspects. You don’t know if it’s going to rain or not, you don’t know if it’s going to be so hot that we will…feel like a piece of nothing, instead of a singer, and you will try even still to sing these difficult things.

“For the musicians to play in 35 degrees it’s no fun. These things you cannot control. But one thing is for sure – everybody’s going to give their best.”

And you’re spending a whole week in the town?

“A whole week in the town, yes. After the first concert the next day is free but I cannot do a lot, because I have the obligation of the second concert. But we will go sightseeing and everything. I’m really looking forward to it: everybody says Český Krumlov is like a postcard.”

José Cura (tenor)

Opera Plus

16 April 2010

[Computer-Assisted Translation / Excerpts]

Opera Plus: You are tenor, conductor, composer, stage director but also designer and photographer. Which of them is the most difficult one and why?

José Cura: All of them are extremely difficult and greatly complementary. I am very lucky to be able to enrich my life and performing career by doing all these artistic activities. Einstein said: if you want different results, don’t do always the same things…

OP: You have been among the world´s prominent tenors for a long time. Is it very difficult? How do you do it?

JC: Work, work, work, study, study, study. Never give it for granted, never cease to investigate.

Be aware that the farther you get the less you know, and so start studying again and working even more.

OP: Your repertoire includes a lot of very difficult roles like Otello, Radames, Samson, Cavaradossi, Calaf, Dick Johnson, Don José and Andrea Chénier to name a few. In your opinion, which one is the most difficult and why?

JC: All of them…

OP: It seems that you receive or reject offers with careful consideration. What are your decisive criteria?

JC: First of all I have to be able to give a good vocal performance. Opera is about singing, after all. But because opera is NOT ONLY about singing, I have to be sure I can create a good character; otherwise, I feel stupid on stage and that is a heavy limit for me.

OP: A lot of your colleagues complain that singers are nowadays rather second-rate because of stage directors. What is your opinion? Do you prefer traditional or modern productions?

JC: Nobody is second rate due to somebody else’s fault. If you are mediocre it is your responsibility. Don’t look around for excuses. I like good, intelligent productions independently of being traditional or modern. I have only one condition: if you are going to direct me or conduct me, you have to be honest and prepared. I cannot stand lack of professionalism and preparation.

OP: Are you preparing new roles now?

JC: I have just done my debut in Bohème. To sing such a lyric role after so many years of dramatic repertoire, is a good confirmation for my career.

OP: You have already sung in the Czech Republic and that is why you have so many fans here. Please, be frank and tell us: Do you sometimes mind that huge interest in your personality?

JC: Don’t worry, I am always frank. When you attract the interest of people, you have to understand that you will awake both admiration and rejection. If your question is if I “mind”, of course yes. It is a big and heavy responsibility. Not only artistic, but mainly human. You can turn to be an example or a shame. Of course, as always, it is a point of view.

José Cura: "The myth of classical and popular music is outdated"

Radio Praga

24 July 2010

[Computer-Assisted Translation]

The myth of classical and popular music is an old-fashioned thing, because there is only good and bad music. So says the Argentine tenor José Cura, who returned to the Czech Republic after seven years to give two concerts at the Český Krumlov festival. Radio Prague spoke with the singer both about his revolutionary style of interpreting classic opera roles, and about his love of rugby and football, among other topics.

Criticized by some and applauded by others at the same time for his unconventional interpretation of classic opera roles, José Cura continues to divide music lovers in terms of his revolutionary style of acting. The Argentine sometimes sacrifices perfect singing to convey a theatrical emotion, regarding credibility as the ultimate goal of an opera singer.

“I am aware that sometimes, to convey my message and arrive at the emotional dimension, the text and the psychology of the message, I willingly sacrifice some sound, color or phrase, and that is part of what many people like and many don’t like," he says.

“Slowly we are winning the war started by Maria Callas”

José Cura insists that the audience, accustomed to cinema, television and the Internet, does not go to the theater just to listen to music but to be moved. He is convinced that this is the way the opera should go.

“So slowly, those like me are making our little revolution, because classical music is not only about showing [vocal] technique, but conveying a message. We are slowly managing to win a war that has been going on for years, one that started in Maria Callas. She was the first to start making this point. And people said: yes, but she doesn't sing all the beautiful notes, and this and that, but her quest was to play the character. Today Maria Callas is god, but when she was alive she was widely criticized for this search of hers”.

The Argentine tenor refuses to divide music into classical and popular. The definition, born centuries ago when music was divided into sacred and secular, is confusing, in his opinion. He affirms that there is only good and bad music, and that, in any case, time will erase the limits between the classical and the popular.

“Many people don't know that the 'profane' part of music includes all the music we call 'classical' today. It was secular music, that is, the popular music of the time. There is a whole confusion with what is popular and classical and this and that, and it does people a lot of harm, because there is good and bad music in everything.”

“Schubert was the John Lennon of his time”

The tenor justifies his words by giving the example of the Austrian composer Franz Schubert, a songwriter in his day, who today is considered a classical musician.

“I am going to say something that will seem blasphemous to many, but it is not: Schubert was the John Lennon of his time and we cannot know if in thirty or a hundred years Lennon's songs will be considered, if they are not already considered, as classics of his style. This applies to pretty much everything,” he notes.

“I am not as I appear in the publicity photos”

In promotional photos, José Cura usually appears as a very serious and thoughtful man. But he says that he likes to develop his comedic talent. Let's see, what is José Cura really like.

“The real me is what you see now, normal, spontaneous and that's it. What happens with the photos, when you send promotional photos, you send serious photos, laughing photos, photos with a bad face and photos with a good face. I don't know why publicists always choose those that I have with a bad face and looking like I'm angry... (laughs) I'm not like that at all, on the contrary."

The tenor describes as false the idea that a performer of classical music is generally serious.

“That is an invention of recent years, from romanticism onwards. When romanticism began and an artist was associated with a languid, white, pale person, if possible with glasses, and what's more, if it was a little scruffy, even better. An image that is a complete distortion of the famous maxim of the inventors of modern art, the Greeks and Romans, to be of a healthy mind in a healthy body. Guys like Pythagoras were musicians, composers, mathematicians, and Olympic champions, and no one cared about image. It was part of what it had to be,” he insists.

A tenor who loves rugby and football

José Cura's trajectory squares well with these terms. The tenor does not focus his attention exclusively on music, in addition, he is dedicated to design and photography and in his time he practiced many sports, as he recalls.

“As I usually say, 25 kilos ago, not years but kilos (laughs), I was a semi-professional athlete. I have done rugby, body building and martial arts and worked for many years in a gym as a trainer. And this came in very handy in my career because later on stage it allowed me to use a physical message, the body that collaborated a lot with my way of acting and singing on stage.”

The singer, born in Argentina, and living in Spain since the 1990s, is also a great football fan who, of course, enthusiastically followed the World Cup matches in South Africa.

“Yes, I was glued to the television for sure! When Argentina played first, because I am Argentine by birth, but I have citizenships in both countries. My grandfather was Spanish and I am Spanish by adoption, so I was lucky to have two countries to be with. I followed Argentina until it was eliminated and then I followed Spain until the end, of course,” he explained.

“Dances and nostalgia give Dvořák a special color”

José Cura returned to the Czech Republic after a seven-year hiatus. He says he arrived with great enthusiasm, since during his career he has collaborated with several Czech orchestras and appreciates the long tradition of classical music in this country.

“I really like this country. As in all the countries in the north of the world they have incredible musicians. The string and wind sections here are great. The Prague orchestras are famous all over the world, so in that sense, it is really very good professionally here. The rooms are beautiful with incredible acoustics and everything and the audience is very warm.”

And which Czech composers would he highlight?

“Well to limit it to one because if not we would be talking here for two hours, the most famous of all is Dvořák. His New World Symphony, his Ninth Symphony, is famous far and wide in the world. He has the characteristic that so many Czechs have had, above all, basing his music on local colors, dances and that nostalgia that the Czech people also have in some things and that gives a special color to his music.”

Before leaving the Czech Republic, José Cura promised his fans not to make them wait so long for his next concert. The tenor announced year he will return to Český Krumlov next year to delight the music lovers of this country.

After Concert Reception

Cura at the Revolving Theater

José Cura enchanted audiences in Krumlov

CT24

Peter Šuleře

17 July 2010

[Computer-assisted translation / Excerpt]

The beginning of the nineteenth year of the International Festival Český Krumlov turned into an extraordinary opera show on Friday evening. The world famous tenor José Cura and the soprano In-Hye Kim presented selected arias from Verdi and Puccini operas. The Argentinean singer was joined by a number of well-known personalities, including President Václav Klaus, at the Brewery Garden in the centre of the town. "Mr President, the musicians here are dying of heat. Can they please take off their tails and jackets?" Cura asked Klaus during the performance.

Cura and In-Hye Kim chose for the program the most famous arias and duets from Italian operas by Giuseppe Verdi, Ruggiero Leoncavallo and Giacomo Puccini, interspersed with instrumental opera overtures and interludes. The audience particularly appreciated excerpts from Cura's famous roles such as Otello, Canio in Pagliacci, Calaf in Turandot and Mario Cavaradossi in Tosca.

With Korean soprano In-Hye Kim, he sang, for example, the duet between Cio-Cio San and Pinkerton from Madama Butterfly Viene la sera. "There's a special open space here, so we chose pieces that sound good, and especially ones that will make a good show," Cura explained.

In Krumlov he also introduced himself as a conductor. During his conducting performances or after his duets with In-Hye Kim, the audience applauded standing up. "José Cura is a personality who can captivate," confirmed the Korean soprano. At the opening gala concert in the Brewery Garden they were accompanied by the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Italian conductor Mario de Rosi.

Cura will be performing in Krumlov on Sunday; the organizers added the performance due to the extraordinary interest. Visitors to the next edition [in 2011] of the festival, the 20th, will probably hear the Argentine tenor as well. "We have signed a contract for next year's performance of Pagliacci on the revolving auditorium," confirmed Radek Hrabě, director of the organizing agency.

Star Tenor José Cura and his Gala Concert

Denik

Zdeněk Vokurka

20 July 2010

[Computer-Assisted Translation / Excerpt]

The 19th International Music Festival in Český Krumlov began with a gala concert by José Cura, the most sought-after tenor of his generation. The brewery garden with almost two thousand seats was filled to the last seat with lovers of fascinating singing; many celebrities of political and cultural life, including President Václav Klaus and his wife Livia, came to listen to the concert.

"It must be said that for many of us, and not only for those of us present here, but for the entire Czech and international public, mid-July means a very high quality international music festival in Krumlov," said President V. Klaus in his President's speech in his opening ceremony of the festival.

José Cura entered the stage in a dark, loose-fitting shirt, his charismatic demeanor never detracting from the seriousness of his performance and so it continued throughout the evening. He joked with the audience in Czech and English and with equal nonchalance, in the summer heat and sultry air, he asked President Václav Klaus if the musicians could take off their jackets. Permission was granted, accompanied by applause.

Forty-seven-year-old Argentine tenor José Cura, who has been one of the top singers since the early 1990s and has appeared on the stages of opera houses and concert halls around the world, gave the evening in Český Krumlov a superb vocal performance with a wealth of fine interpretive details. He offered mostly lyrical arias from Italian operas but he was supreme as a singer in dramatic roles as well. Cura is one of the most musical and stylish tenors since the Domingo era, combining amazing dramatic and artistic panache.

Already a spectacular concert opener and entrance - he walked to the stage past the audience and delivered the Prologue from Leoncavallo's Pagliacci with exquisite musical feeling. His whole performance was enlivened by a pleasant, richly coloured and flexible voice (strength sometimes needs to be saved), possessing unheard-of tenor technique, good taste and acting expression. The highlight of the evening was the role of Otello.

In a personal encounter with the tenor star, I spoke specifically about the part of the jealous Moorish warlord, a role that is rumored to be (especially by the famous Pavarotti ) downright murderous to the voice. Cura smiled and said: "Our generation and Plácido Domingo's generation was influenced by a certain approach based on loudness. However, when I first studied Othello fifteen years ago, I discovered that it contained many nuances. The hardest thing is to empathize with the character - this opera is not about Desdemona's handkerchief, but about racism, hatred and disappointment," he points out.

Cura not only sings, but also conducts and shows off his skills as a director, takes photographs, owns a production company and, in the meantime, writes novels he keeps in a drawer. On what topic, he replies, "I won't tell you but it’s somewhat related to my work." A professional of many faces.

The concert flowed pleasantly except for a not-so-successful performance of the guest Korean soprano Kim In-Hye, a solid singer with forced tone production and intonation flaws. Cura completely overshadowed his guest with his art.

The artist was reliably accompanied by the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra under the experienced baton of the singer's friend and compatriot Mario de Rosa. He played briskly with the necessary dramatic overtones. And since José Cura likes to conduct, he took over the baton from Rosa and conducted orchestral interludes from operas by Verdi and Puccini with considerable creative energy.

Without intermission, José Cura added two Argentine love songs to a concert that lasted more than two hours. The gala concert was crowned with the famous aria Nessun dorma from Puccini's opera Turandot. Long-lasting standing ovations and shouts of bravo for Cura (the orchestral players joined in the cheers) were combined with a spectacular fireworks display.

After the opening concert of the International Music Festival in Český Krumlov, a social was held in the Castle Riding Hall.

And what was the immediate reaction of President Václav Klaus? "I must say that it was certainly not only my wife and I who enjoyed today's concert very much. Maestro Cura was spectacular! Thank you very much."

Second Concert

Tenor José Cura Braved both Tropical Heat and Freezing Cold

Halo Noviny

Tomáš HEJZLAR

3 August 2010

[Computer-Assisted Translation / Excerpt]

The opening concert of this year's 19th edition of the International Music Festival Český Krumlov was again of an exceptional standard, although the media coverage surprisingly did not correspond to it.

The world-famous Argentine tenor José Cura is a sought-after personality abroad yet his presence at this year's Český Krumlov festival was not as well received as his last visit to Prague seven years ago. Perhaps this is due to this year's tiring climatic conditions? Or are the journalists waiting for next summer, when the famous singer should be the star in front of the Český Krumlov turntable in Leoncavallo's opera Pagliacci?

The organizers of the Český Krumlov Summer Festival prepared a program for the performance of the world-renowned tenor José Cura that is artistically valuable and equally acceptable to the broadest audience. The singer's name alone is a great attraction, even for a less musically sophisticated community. As expected, individual arias were always followed by thunderous ovations and yet, although Cura's performances this time were incomparably more artistically worthy than during his two previous performances in Prague at the beginning of the century, there were still some things missing for a truly five-star rating: in particular, a more refined timbre in all registers, for example in the subdued dynamics, but also a more expressive cantilena worthy of the singer's reputation. The artist certainly possesses these qualities, as he demonstrated at times during his Český Krumlov creations, but at times the expressive uniqueness was lacking. The more experienced listener must have been aware of Cura's occasional technical shortcomings, which would probably not have passed muster in large opera houses under the scrutiny of the demanding critics.

[We should note] that the weather were not favorable for these concerts. The first evening in Český Krumlov's Brewery Garden - the official one with the participation of important personalities - took place on an incredibly scorching evening while two days later the temperature had completely changed and the audience sat on the seats and huddled in warm blankets.

Hello, signor journaliste

The gala concert began somewhat unusually: while singing, Cura strolled nonchalantly between the completely filled rows of the audience and "sang into the ears" of those present. Cura is a master at getting in touch with the audience and can artfully improvise imaginatively, especially when the part he is singing allows him to do so. In the case of Leoncavallo's dramatically exposed yet melodically moving music from Pagliacci, this is perfectly true. And so, while singing the prologue to this classic work, which next year - with Cura in the lead role of Canio - will be performed in front of the Český Krumlov revolving stage, the spontaneous Argentine smiled at those present (especially the ladies, but not only the youngest ones...) during his singing, sometimes almost conspiratorially, sometimes making gestures as if he were flirting slightly, and even sometimes shaking hands with them. […] He continued to “wander” through the rows of audience with a smile and nonchalant elegance as the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of guest conductor Mario de Rose, finished the instrumental interlude in Leoncavallo's aria.

Communicating astutely with gestures and facial expressions, it was not only the expected level of his singing but also his spontaneity and wit that won over the audience in Český Krumlov. The evening of melodic and veristic music of Italian opera masters Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Giacomo Puccini and Giuseppe Verdi in an impressive interpretation by the charismatic Argentinean singer, was certainly an extraordinary experience for many.

The highlight was Otello

Direct contact with those present took place during both performances and he reacted spontaneously: during the first performance, which took place in the middle of a steamy hot summer evening, when even the setting sun did not cool down the environment, he asked the president of the republic, who was sitting in the audience, if the musicians could play without jackets in the unbearable heat (he was of course granted...). Two days later it was an incredibly cold environment, with the audience huddled on comfortable armchairs in warm blankets - and the spirited Cura ended up throwing one of the blankets over himself as well. With an apology, an explanation and a smile. However, even with these temperature changes, which are an incredible, even dangerous burden for any singer, the tenor still exuded the proverbial optimism. He commented on the mentioned temperature extremes with his own wit, a truly southern grace.

The vocal highlight of the evening can easily be considered Cura's rendition of Verdi's Otello. In the arias Dio! mi potevi and also Niun mi tema he portrayed a wide range of feeling, which was offered directly in accordance with the score. Aware of this expressive variation, however, the performer does not embrace his protagonist in traditional expressive grandeur but rather tries to understand the psychological instability of this opera character, oscillating from dramatic exaggeration to deep human interiority. After a less intense onset, Cura only slowly expands the sound register to a dramatic impact in a quest to psychologize this musically, ambivalent character. He thus expresses Verdi's Otello with a suggestive persuasiveness that springs from his perception of the role.

Conductor's extempore

José Cura may have made a name for himself as a tenor but he devotes himself to other fields in his quest for the greatest contribution to the Renaissance breadth of human endeavor. He is a photographer and writer, but most often he is a conductor. Unfortunately, in this area his expression is often rather superficial, with a poorly developed sense for the more detailed concept of the scores: the conductor's performance is therefore more indicative of a generous effort to impress the audience with spectacularly conceived movements than of a gradual, ingeniously sensitive unravelling of the musical score.

The audience could see this during the course of the evenings in Český Krumlov not only during the performance of symphonic music in the part La Tregenda from the second act of Puccini's opera Le villi, but also in the conception of the intermezzo from Puccini's opera Manon Lescaut. Compared to guest conductor de Rose, Cura's conducting does appear livelier, which corresponds to his nature, but in terms of the actual interpretation, the sometimes overly excessively sweeping gestures are not very functional, even superfluous. And since the Prague Radio Orchestra was perfectly prepared, obviously mastering everything from the previous rehearsals "to the last note," it seem Cura’s conducting was more about a spectacular visual display.

[…]

Of course, such a gala concert could not have ended any other way than with the famous operatic hit Nessun dorma from Puccini's opera Turandot as the finale. Cura commented on it by saying, "It is as inevitable a conclusion to opera galas as the song New York, New York, without which no Frank Sinatra concert could end. And I am very happy that people in Český Krumlov also took away joyful moments of good music into the late summer night!"

During the final long-sounding Vincero!, everyone, even the most hardened critics, stood up with emotion and enthusiasm. Cura really "pulled it off" here as a true tenor of world renown; he proved that his vocal possibilities are truly outstanding. For his colourful, metallic-sounding bel canto of Pavarottian colouring finally asserted itself here, firm, sure, sonorous and impressive, something that the discerning spectator had found somewhat missing during the evening. So excitement and emotion were ultimately present in spades and the audience could be satisfied, certainly for the melodically rewarding repertoire. There are not many evenings like that.

The 19th year of the International Music Festival Cesky Krumlov

Lipa Musica

Lucie Johanovská

29 August 2010

This year’s opening concert was a really great celebration because one of the biggest stars of the opera world, renowned Argentinean tenor José Cura, accepted an invitation to the festival. The program consisted of the most famous opera arias of Italian opera repertoire spiced with inserted instrumental opera compositions, in most cases directed by José Cura himself. Cura’s singer partner was a leading Korean soprano, In Hye Kim. Both singers were accompanied with the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Argentinean conductor Mario de Rose.

José Cura presented not only a brilliant singing performance but by his informality and openness to the audience, he prepared a great artistic experience for everyone present despite of extreme weather conditions when tropical heat did not get to a tolerable level even in late night hours. With respect to the orchestra, José Cura then even asked President Vaclav Klaus, if members of the orchestra could take their jackets off. The heat however did not undermine the artistic quality of the concert. José Cura returned to the Czech Republic after seven years, his voice has matured like wine and got a darker color without losing the loveable cantilena that managed to charm literally everyone.

The suggestive opening presentation of Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, for which Cura walked informally from a side of the stage, was an example of next year’s cooperation in the framework of which José Cura will return to the Revolving Auditorium in Cesky Krumlov in a new version of Pagliacci. Then the Korean singer In-Hye Kim introduced herself to the festival audience for the first time in aria Pace, pace, mio Dio from the opera Forza del destino.

It was followed by one of touchstones, very difficult pieces of Verdi’s opera Otello. Cura’s interpretation of arias Dio mi potevi and Niun mi tema were certainly among peaks of the entire concert. José Cura pointed out at the press conference that “if you are in hands of a good conductor, if you follow what Verdi wrote, Otello is not dangerous... Otello is a murderer but he is not a murderer of voice... psychology of the character is the most important, though.” Cura however humorously remembered his first performance in Otello: “When I was thirty-four, the main goal was to survive and I changed my nappies between acts.” Otello in Cesky Krumlov was however so persuasive and intensive that it left no room for doubts whether Cura has mastered this role perfectly.

Arias from Tosca then shone through the hot night. Cura excitedly interleaved them with symphonic parts from operas Le Villi and Manon Lescaut. The fact that Cura is also an excellent conductor is not unknown. His expressive, charming but at the same time very precise gestures led the Symphonic Orchestra of the Czech Radio to a very good performance. The night peaked with parts from Madame Butterfly in which Kim at first perfectly presented aria Un bel di verdemo and then both singers said good-bye to the audience and the main part of the program in an excellent duet, Viene la sera from the same opera.

At the end, Cura himself pointed out that like Sinatra said that until New York, New York is played, no really good ovation can be heard and it is similar in the world of opera where everyone expects Calaf’s aria Nessun dorma and thus even this time this beautiful and tough aria could not absent although there was no lack of applause during the entire night – and standing ovations ended the concert. The perfect presentation of this aria was preceded by refreshing examples of Cura’s popular Argentinean song repertoire – songs Somos Novios and Esta Tarde Vi Llover. The entire night was ended with colorful fireworks.

And what were artists’ reactions after the concert?

In-Hye Kim said: “I am extremely happy and honored that I’ve had an opportunity to perform with one of the best tenors in the world, José Cura, and the great Symphonic Orchestra of the Czech Radio, and that it happened here, in beautiful Cesky Krumlov. In addition, we are celebrating 20 years of diplomatic relations of South Korea and the Czech Republic this year and thus I believe that this lovely cooperation will continue.”

José Cura, physically exhausted by the complicated conditions of the performance, pointed out he had lost two kilos of weight and he joked that he had not managed to eat any mosquito – which is one of the greatest risks of open-air concerts, which he had mentioned during the concert.

At the end of the last year, when advance sale was started for the opening gala evening with phenomenal José Cura, it was obvious that it would be sold out soon and therefore it was very pleasing that José Cura was willing to please the demand of Czech audience and added a second performance. What could not have been influenced, though, was the weather that negatively affected even the second performance of José Cura who sang with determination with a blanket over his shoulders.

“It was very, very tough. It might seem funny but it isn’t. If you sing in 40 degrees of Celsius one day and in 12 degrees the next day, it’s no fun. The difference of 28 degrees is lethal and it is not just about you being cold, you can wear warm clothes after all but the problem is that the cold air that you breathe in with your mouth goes directly into your lungs. If you went out now (i.e. at night) and breathed in with your mouth, not your nose, you would start coughing after three breaths. So imagine what it is like to sing in these conditions... it’s very, very hard because ice-cold air gets into your body and your organism is beginning to produce mucus to protect your tissues so you have to cough out all the time. If the audience understands that you are trying to do the maximum for the love of the concert, you cough and people understand it. It is unpleasant, though, if the concert is recorded and people sitting at their radios do not understand what is going on. That was also the reason why I tried to explain that it is cold but in your homes it is cozy and warm,” Cura said after the concert and added:

“Energy here, in this place, is really very nice and people who come here, at least as far as I’ve been able to see, are those who want to enjoy it, not to judge whether they liked it or not but to spend a good time here. You can see people in the audience, how happy they are, excited by the concert and nobody leaves. If a similar concert took place at a different festival in the same weather, for example in more southern countries, I don’t know if the audience would stay until the end of the concert. I remember a concert in Verona, for example, one raindrop was enough for the performance to be ended and everyone left and if it stops raining, the concert continues, if it does not, it is canceled. And here you can see the opposite. It was not so bad today but yesterday my wife went to the Broadway Night and people listened to the music in rain. It proves that people want to enjoy nice moments together and are very devoted and excited listeners and you do the maximum for them so that they could bring home a great experience and they suffer with you. That is really a great thing that is worth mentioning.”

The artistic peak of not only this year’s festival, thousands of excited visitors, atmosphere that is hard to describe with words – these were two performances of José Cura in Cesky Krumlov. We are pleased and excited that next year we will meet José Cura in Cesky Krumlov again – as Canio in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci at the Revolving Auditorium.