Rachmaninov

Artist of the Month: José Cura

RECORDGEIJUTSU

Vol.52 NO.651

Apr 2003

N-Matsuoka

José Cura visited Japan in January this year [2003] to sing the title role in the Teater Wielki (Warsaw, Poland) production of Verdi’s opera ‘Otello,’ and he won vigorous applause. On one hand, Cura is probably one of the best known singer of the post Three-Tenor generation; on the other hand, readers are probably surprised to learn that he is the principle guest conductor of the Sinfonia Varsovia and that the Rachmaninov Symphony No.2 he recorded with his own production company (Cuibar) and released through AVIE was the specially selected disc in our February issue. This interview took place during the interval of the Otello performance on January 14 and focuses primarily on José Cura as a conductor.

NM--Would you tell us about the start of your professional relationship with Sinfonia Varsovia?

José Cura---I visited Warsaw in 2000 for a concert to promote a new CD. I had the opportunity to perform with Sinfonia Varsovia. From the first encounter, it felt very good, very natural. Then the orchestra asked me to become the principle guest conductor and I took the office in 2001.

From the beginning we had a close affinity and performed many concerts in 2002. We also recorded and released two CDs. [Aurora, a recital disc, and Rachmaninov’s Symphony No. 2. (ed.)] Last year, we recorded a live version of BeethovenNo.9 in November and we expect to be able to release it next year.

NM--Are there many young people among the members of orchestra?

JC---It varies. There is a young person and there is a person who is not so (laugh). They are about 45 years old on an average.

NM-- Although Rachmaninov Symphony No.2 is a big, passionate number, why was this number important for you to put on a CD at this time?

JC--- When I was first invited to be the principle guest conductor of this orchestra, I had to decide on the repertory of our concerts. I asked what number the symphony had not yet performed. That is, I thought that it would be wonderful if we started with something strange and new to both of us. Since the orchestra had not previously performed the Rachmaninov Symphony No 2., this was put on our program. Of course, it was not the only piece. We performed the symphonic poem ‘Pini di Rome’ by Respighi, ‘Dances of Galánta’ by Kodaly, and so on.

NM-- Didn't you conduct Rachmaninov Symphony No2 for the first time in the concert in Warsaw?

JC--- That's right. It was also my [symphonic] conducting debut. Of course, there was a purpose in this and I wanted to share this first experience with everyone.

NM-- Although it was very adventurous selection in a certain meaning, do I hear that that fresh performance was produced as the result? Some conductors cut out a repetitive portion the first movement .. but you did not. What do you find is the charm of this work?

JC--- As for the portion which I very like with this number, passion is just something that is felt very strongly from the overture of the first movement. I did not want at all to express the romantic feeling as so many have. Although it seems that many conductors are keeping the elegant approach of the French style in mind, I performed Rachmaninov as the composer, a very passionate Russian, would have.

I have heard comments that hearing our recording is like sitting on the edge of your chair from the beginning to the end, and having the feeling of tension that cannot be relaxed.

NM--I understand perfectly the reason for that comment. Although there is a peculiar feeling of high tension, is that also because of the short recording time?

JC--- Recording was intensively performed in 4 sessions so that the freshest possible feeling could be caught. When there is too much time, recording in studio allows correction after correction, since a perfect performance is expected, and too many repairs make the performance petty. We tried to avoid that.

Since this is the first symphony recording for me, maybe after a number of years it will become a collector’s item. Since ‘the thing’ is a thing only once, the first time. I think it is a record that will be available only to those who buy it now.

It is the same with the opera I first recorded, the opera ‘Le villi’ by Puccini that was released in 1995. After about ten years have passed, it is not easy to get one in hand.

Of course, since I was an obscure performer in those days, did those who considered the performance a good one buy the CD to say it was nice to own?

José Curainterview 2003 Japan.

NM-- When the orchestra increased the number of performances conducted by José Cura, does the performance itself change too?

JC--- Of course it changes. On November 29, we performed Rachmaninov Symphony No.2 together in the Vienna Concert house. As you know, this is a traditional music hall. At the end of the performance –from the back arose applause and the audience gave us a standing ovation. I remember hearing that it is very difficult to obtain such a result in Vienna, although it has since been written "José Cura is a great conductor who sings occasionally" (laugh). Of course, it is usually written, "Cura is a great vocalist who also conducts occasionally." I am very happy that this time it was written in reverse.

NM-- The credit "In Memoriam Maestro Luis Garcia Navarro" was contained in the Rachmaninov disk. Would you tell us about your relationship, since Mr. Navarro was very familiar for Japanese music fan, since he often conducted the Tokyo Philharmonic?

JC--- When I debuted in the opera ‘Tosca’ by Puccini in 1995, Garcia Navarro was conducting. The friendship started from this time, and when I sang ‘Aida’ by Verdi at New National Theater of Tokyo for the first time in 1998, he was conducting. We became good friends and when my family and I moved from Paris to Madrid three years ago, he made all arrangements for the house and so on. I thought of him as one of my best friends and wished to dedicate this CD to him very much. And I would like you to tell the readers that he left the world without knowing I had been asked to be principle guest conductor. Two weeks after his death I was appointed and then planned to perform Rachmaninov. Two weeks before the concert, I visited his house to extend condolences. I was actually sitting in his living room. All the scores he possessed were arranged precisely and located in a row. Only the score for Rachmaninov Symphony No.2 was out of place. Of course, since he did not know that I would conduct the music and his widow did not know, either, I felt he was transmitting some absurd big message to me.

NM-- It is a moving episode in which one feels something of fate.

JC--- Yes. That is right.

NM-- Will the pace of your conducting activities increase from now on?

JC--- I think that this situation is the same as that of the coach of soccer, or the choreographer of ballet. In many cases, the coach is an older man who played the game when young. But with the passing years, the play becomes impossible and so he becomes a coach -- I think that my conducting is like that.

Of course, although I like to conduct, I think singing is my main job now. I will turn my attention to conducting full time when I am old and it becomes impossible to sing—like the coach to soccer when no longer young. But I think that I want to carry on with both for now.

NM--What you just said probably relieved many of your fans. By the way, although we talked of Beethoven No.9 earlier, doesn't the tenor who sings under a great singer's baton like Mr. Cura become tense at all?

JC--- When I conducted it, I told the tenor the exact opposite. "There will be no other performance with this sense of security.” I told him that I could hear all the problems that a tenor would have and that he should feel very much at ease and be able to sing while I breathed with him while I conducted. Of course, he may have felt tense in the first rehearsal. But during the rehearsal, I let it go so it would be no different than with an ordinary conductor who does not sing.

NM-- I see. And this conversation brings up the question as to whether there are conductors who are easy to sing for and those who are hard to sing for?

JC--- It is always good to sing for a conductor who is good, for if you sing for one who is not so good, then surely there is a problem. It is the way of life itself. (laugh).

NM-- This is a wise saying –(laugh). I have heard that ‘Cancion a la Bandera’ recorded on "Aurora" is special.

JC--- For all Argentineans, this is important music and the music next in importance to the national anthem.

NM-- Although the opera ‘Siberia’ Prelude (act 2) of Giordano was an interesting work with the inclusion of the fragment of ‘Song of the Volga Boatman’, do you it have feelings against Giordano?

JC--- This number was the first also for me. I like to always take in the newest possible work in a concert or CD. It seems that almost no one knows ‘Siberia’. I think that it is very forcible and dramatic music.

I dared to include the prelude because I thought that it was what those who are hearing it would tend to hold on to as a whole image, since the theme of aria appears in it.

NM-- Can you tell us about the choral repertory you conducted during your university enrollment?

JC--- It has been over 20 years -- although I don’t remember details there is a memory of conducting ‘Matthaus Passion’ by Bach, and Gesualdo and Palestrina.

NM-- Do you plan to continue to record with Sinfonia Varsovia?

JC--- It depends on the sales of the first two disks. If it seems that the CDs sell enough to cover the capital expended on the cost for their recording, I will go on with the next recording. If they cannot sell enough, then it will be difficult. Since you started the conversation, if you make sure you write to your audience conspicuously to "buy it by all means," I will be happy. (laugh).

NM--This has already been carried out and the Rachmaninov starred as the specially selected disk for our magazine. Many fans will surely purchase it. By the way, whose idea was it to include the big posters with the CDs?

JC---I am the graphic designer for both disks. I am also a photographer. Surely, although it is a very new idea that a poster is contained in a classical music CD, it is nice for the audience to have a good CD in hand and a poster to follow.

I don’t think it is necessary to indicate all of the history of an aria, the performance history of the music, a composer's whole life, etc. in the liner notes. You understand, if the music is mostly known or a book is available or is on the Internet. On the other hand, it is the artist’s portrait that most people do not have. Although this is a technique most often used in the pop market, I thought it would be a good thing to try.

The bonus track in which rehearsal scenes are replayed is included in "Aurora." In classical music, it may be new -- (Cura spoke while opening the liner notes of "Aurora" which the writer brought). Although the graphics work station is in my house [in Spain], Aurora is offered to my country, so the design concept is the national flag of Argentina. This yellow color is the same as the sun of the national flag of Argentina.

NM---- The color coordination is splendid.

JC--- The color here is the same color as the cover, and all are connected. (Cura turns over the page of liner notes carefully) This is a photograph in Teatro alla Scala of Milan. After this comes the only explanatory note of this album. Since people do not know many things about Panizza who is the composer of ‘Cancion a la Bandera,’ it was necessary to add something about him.

NM----- A pleasant talk -- thank you

Editorial note: Due to the difficulties in translating from the original Japanese to English, this is not a literal translation. Every effort has been made to represent the comments by both the writer and the artist correctly.

Rachmaninov 2nd Symphony: 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-clichéd lovesong contours of the slow movement retain a certain freshness. BBC Music Magazine

Rachmaninov 2nd Symphony: A performance you imagined but never dreamed you would experience: fast and powerful, impressive, vivacious. Great Rachmaninov playing. Classical Music Web

Rachmaninov 2nd Symphony: A fresh and virile Rachmaninov reading from the tenor-turned-conductor [who] has definite ideas about how the music should go. Gramophone

Rachmaninov 2nd Symphony: 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

Rachmaninov 2nd Symphony: [Cura knows] 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. If you love this symphony, you will certainly have to hear this surprising performance from a very unexpected source. Classics Today

Rachmaninov 2nd Symphony: One obviously need not worry about José 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

Rachmaninov 2nd Symphony: This is José Cura's recording debut as an orchestra conductor at the head of the Sinfonia Varsovia orchestra, which appointed him as Musical Director in November 2001. This Rachmaninov's CD contains a careful, relatively well-phrased version, without too much intrusion of novel ideas. You hear everything but […] perhaps the atmosphere of the room is a bit clinical, or it is possible that Cura is one of those directors (such as Barenboim for example) who should be heard live. Whatever the case, it is a good first effort and the experience of working together will bear fruit, perhaps in another repertoire. Eduardo Benarroch

TENOR AND MAESTRO IN ONE PERSON

José Cura. The Argentinian tenor and conductor sings Italian and French arias and conducts Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony at the Konzerthaus.

by

Derek Weber

Bühne /November 2002, p. 52)

(translated by Martina)

The Argentinian tenor José Cura is offering a concert of a very special kind at the Konzerthaus in Vienna: in the first half of the evening he will sing arias by Ponchielli, Verdi, Boito, Giordano, and Meyerbeer; after the interval he will conduct Sinfonia Varsovia, whose Principal Guest Conductor he has been for a year now. He will lead the orchestra in Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony, “not for the first time,” he states. “I have also recorded the piece and am going to present the CD in Vienna.”

His own label

The presentation will be all the easier for him, since he is also his own producer and boss of his own record label. He plans to record Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in November. “Come mai?” – one asks oneself and him – how come he has founded his own label? “It has become increasingly difficult to produce and release CDs on the big labels. So I left my old record label and founded my own company.”

Power and emotion

Right now he is not really considering the option of signing other artists, “but who knows what the future holds,” he adds. And he isn’t complaining about the fact that his generation is at a disadvantage compared to the one before. “It is a problem of the system,” he states dryly. “The generation before us recorded everything for release on CD when the LP died. This boom is over. We are now paying for the crisis. I have so far recorded five recitals and one opera only, plus a few live recordings.” But according to Cura, live recordings have their own charm and advantage: power and emotion – qualities a studio version cannot offer. And as his own record label boss he adds, “They are cheaper, too.”

Cura, the conductor, keeps silent. Maybe because he is thinking about a second career? “No,” is his answer, “I am only returning to where I left off in Argentina 20 years ago.” He concentrated on singing only when he moved to Italy in 1991, looking for relatives of his Italian grandmother. “I had already sung in Argentina, but I wasn’t a professional singer,” he relates. “In Italy I realized that I would be able to succeed as a singer rather than a conductor.”

Signature role Otello

Things developed rapidly for the tenor. First performances of Henze’s Pollicino at Verona’s Teatro Filarmonico and of Janacek’s The Makropolos Case in Triest and Turin were followed by parts in the Italian repertoire, culminating in Verdi’s Otello under Abbado in 1994 [sic]. Wasn’t he very young for the role? “I was 34. Of course I knew I was taking a risk, but I said to myself, ‘with Abbado you’re in very good hands, you’ll do the two performances, sing the part very lyrically, and then wait another five years [sic].’ If I hadn’t done that, I would be dead as a singer now.” On January 27, 2001, the 100^th anniversary of Verdi’s death, Cura sang the role very successfully at the Wiener Staatsoper.

Prolongation of career
Cura’s conducting also has rational reasons. “I have sung almost too much in recent years. Now I will sing less and conduct a little more instead. This way I will prolong my career as a singer.” Cura will perform at the Wiener Staatsoper every year until 2007.

José Cura Answers

Why Your Own Label?

Gramophone

Feb 2003

The Rachmaninov Symphony No 2 was the beginning of the label. I recorded it with Sinfonia Varsovia in December 2001. And once you have a recording there’s a problem – you have to exist as a label to release the product. I knew that if I had gone to a multinational trying to sell another recording of the Rachmaninov Second Symphony, nobody would take it. So we set up Cuibar Phono Video. And now we have married with Avie: we produce the records, and Avie market and distribute them.

Then we thought: we have a label, let’s make another record. So we have also released ‘Aurora’ – arias from the Italian repertoire which I hadn’t previously recorded in the studio. The next release will probably be the live recording of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony which I did a week ago in Varsovia with my orchestra and the university chorus. Of course, we don’t claim this is the definitive version of Beethoven’s Ninth, but we are happy, and we are proud of it. I will try to do as many live recordings as possible. First of all because the costs are reduced. And secondly because the intensity and energy in a live recording is so amazing.

As a singer I have recorded recitals of almost all my repertoire, so the next step is a full opera, but then we are talking about awful expense. So unless we can have some sponsorship on board I don’t know how we can do it.

Symphonies are another story. That’s less complicated because I have no recording catalogue.

The repertoire I like most is more or less contemporary with the repertoire I sing, which is late 19^th century, early 20^th century. I love Respighi, Shostakovich, the late Mahler and the late Brahms. Which is the most expensive to record, because it’s where you need more people in the orchestra!

It would be interesting to record more Argentine music, though in terms of symphonic music the panorama is not so big, apart from some Ginastera. One day, I would like to record another disc of Argentine songs, like I did in 1998, with Warner. We also have an awful lot of songs from my country.

The idea of using the label to help launch careers of new musicians is interesting. But for that you need to become financially successful, because you cannot back up the careers of other people if you are still trying to recoup the investments of your first recordings. If we become a productive company who can recoup on costs, then probably the next step will be to find young artists and, for example, give them roles in an opera recording.

Re-Invention

José Cura is best known as one of the world’s leading tenors, but his career as a conductor is progressing from strength to strength and he has recently launched his own record label.

Opera Now (excerpt)

Sept-Oct 2002

Ashutosh Khandekar

It’s not easy being multi-talented in today’s music world.   José Cura admits that his first forays into conducting were something of a trial by fire. He was the victim of some very unkind jibes from critics who felt disorientated by the sight of a singer performing and conducting simultaneously. Cura, however, is determined to resist being pigeonholed in a world that is quick to slap labels on artists: ‘The problem of categorizing people doesn’t come from artists, but from the press,’ he says. ‘I’ve never said I’m the “new Domingo” or I’m “the tenor that talks,” as one critic puts it. It tends to be other people, and journalists in particular, who say, well if he’s a tenor, he can’t be a conductor, too. I don’t take that limited outlook on life.’

Determined to prove his detractors wrong, Cura has accepted the post of Principal Guest Conductor with the Sinfonia Varsovia, based in Warsaw, and is about to release his first CD on his own label, featuring Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony.

Cura has always enjoyed working in eastern Europe – it’s an area of the world which, he says, still has a respect for artistic integrity which has been eroded elsewhere: ‘It gives me a lot of pleasure to work in places like Hungary, Poland, Russia and the Czech Republic. They don’t usually have really high-profile events because of the lack of money, but they do have a genuine love, a genuine energy for music, and an enormous thirst for culture.’

He first encountered Sinfonia Varsovia in 2000, during a concert tour in Poland. ‘I conducted a couple of operatic numbers, and it seems that the orchestra really like my way of making music. Six months later, I was asked to be their conductor. Of course my reaction was to say I couldn’t do it: my opera schedules are just too crazy for that sort of commitment. But I’ve agreed to do 10 to 15 concerts a year, and it’s going well.’

****

By choosing Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony for his debut recording with the Sinfonia Varsovia, Cura is putting his neck on the line: comparisons are bound to be made with the dozens of other recordings available of this work. But he thrives on this kind of risk-taking: “I think it’s important to get even the standard works on to record on a regular basis. If you stop recording a work because it’s already available on disc, then it’s dead. You have to keep reinventing, and new recordings full of new ideas are a way of keeping the repertoire alive.’

Cura’s new record label was born in order to provide a vehicle for this sort of ‘reinvention.’ ‘It would be impossible for me to persuade one of the majors to record another Rachmaninov Second,’ he says. 'It doesn’t make commercial sense. But I really wanted to leave a trace of my encounter with my new orchestra, and the only way is to do the recording under our own steam. I wanted to do a Slavic version of Rachmaninov, rather than taking what I call a “French” approach. Yes, Rachmaninov is a Romantic composer, but he’s not sentimental. The melodies should just flow, and you shouldn’t over-indulge yourself or the phrases become cloying. I do in my conducting what I try to do in my singing: I try to be as modern as I can.   Now you can accept it or not, but that’s the point I’m trying to make. Sometimes in trying to be so modern, I’m on the verge of being dry. That’s a risk I take. I like pushing things as far as things they can go in one direction, then step back to find a balance. How do you know what your limits are otherwise?'

Cura’s second recording, a recital of opera arias, is due for release before the end of the year. It focuses on 19^th-century opera, mainly Italian, but its title ‘Aurora’, is taken from a work by Hector Panizza, a composer fro his native Argentina, who also features on the disc.

Beyond that, he hopes in future to perform and record a mixture of symphonic and vocal music with the Sinfonia Varsovia, drawing mainly on the late-Romantic and early 20^th-century repertoire. ‘I’m a fan of Shostakovich, Rachmaninov, Respighi, Kodaly, the late Mahler—those are the symphonies I would love to do. Of course, they are the most expensive to perform because of the scale of things!’

Cura is under no illusions that the recordings will be definitive versions of these works but, he says, the spirit in which they are made will be unique: ‘There’s a long way to go before Sinfonia Varsovia becomes a spotless orchestra—they’ve only just expanded from chamber size to symphonic. But when they play, there is an energy in the room which comes from people making music together in an atmosphere of love and mutual respect. They work together through good and bad. It’s not just another transaction: “You play for me, I sing for you, take the cheque and go home” – which is fair enough, it’s part of the business of being a musician in today’s world. But when you can take the time to build relationships and to work intensely, it changes the whole picture of a recording. And I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved.’

Two paths – one goal:

Tenor José Cura as Conductor

Klassik Heute

January 2003

Tenor José Cura was among the artists present at the international music fair, MIDEM, in Cannes. The reason for this was certainly also the release of the first CD which features him as a conductor. On the rostrum of Sinfonia Varsovia José Cura interprets Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony in e-minor, op. 27, released on his own label Cuibar Phono Video. During his visit at the stand of Klassik Heute we had the chance to talk to the tenor about the new direction his career has been taking. In the conversation Cura proved to be a very consciously creative artist, who understands how to combine his two professions as singer and conductor in a fertile synthesis.

KH: Mr. Cura, you are known as a singer, as a tenor. Now it at least appears that you are starting a new career as a conductor. Is this a natural development for you?

JC: I am actually a conductor, both as to my training and professional goals. I gave my first concert as a conductor at the age of 15. I also conducted many more concerts after that. I only stopped conducting when I came to Europe to start a career as a singer. I wanted to concentrate fully on singing to become successful. But it’s not like I decided to conduct out of the blue. On the contrary, I decided one day to sing, even though I was a conductor, and didn’t decide as a singer to conduct. I studied conducting and composition. I started to sing professionally only 10 years ago.

KH: Which musical direction do your compositions take?

JC: I don’t compose now. I simply don’t have the time, it’s impossible. Composing is something I’m saving for the future when I’m old and people don’t pay any attention to me anymore, when someone else is in my place, then I’ll have time to compose.

I would describe my compositional style as neo-romantic. It is marked by the type of sound you can find in Penderecki’s second period, the Penderecki of today. It is the kind of sound which is favored by many composers nowadays. They are trying to find a kind of compromise between individual contemporary techniques and expression.

KH: You are a singer and conductor. How does the one influence the other? Does the fact that you are a singer change the way in which you approach a work?

JC: I think the interaction is very strong. People who know me say that I sing with the precision of a conductor. I do everything the way it’s written in the score. It is very interesting, but it’s an approach not everybody likes, because some people love singers who make use of clichés and do things that aren’t written in the score. I hate that! I will usually sing what’s written in the score. It’s crazy: I’ve had reviews as a singer that claimed that I was absolutely unmusical. I’ve often thought about this and have come to the conclusion that many critics are not musicians. They are people who know the music because they have heard many interpretations of a given work in their lives, but they don’t really know what happens. They compare what they hear with what they know from experience, and if it doesn’t correspond they say, he must be wrong, instead of taking the score and looking up what’s really written.

The greatest influence of José Cura the singer on José Cura the conductor is the fact that I pay extremely close attention to phrasing, that the music is played ‘horizontally’, not ‘vertically’, not bar after bar, but in phrases which create another kind of energy within the music. And as I have to stick very much to phrases as a singer – because without phrasing you cannot sing – the influence of the ‘singer’ on the ‘conductor’ is very big.

KH: For your debut as a conductor you have chosen Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony. Why this particular work?

JC: It was a simply decision. When I was appointed principal guest conductor of Sinfonia Varsovia, I asked the orchestra which of the great symphonies they had never done. In our first concert I wanted to present a piece that was totally new, both to the orchestra and to myself. I wanted to start afresh and not with a work from the old repertoire of the orchestra, which the musicians had already played many times before. Among the symphonies to choose from was Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony, which we all love very much and which we finally chose. We recorded the work only ten days after the first concert, in order not to lose any of the spontaneity of the ‘live’ performance.

KH: Which recordings are planned for release in the near future?

JC: I don’t know yet. Everything’s possible. If you have a big label you can realize a lot of recordings. You can balance the expenses: there are productions that sell well, and there are those that don’t, but you can balance the costs. If, like me, you have a small new label, you cannot get involved in big new productions without having recouped at least part of the costs of previous productions. We released the first CD’s only last month, and when we’ve covered the costs we’ll start thinking about new projects. If not, we’ll probably wait until next year. Last November we celebrated our first ‘anniversary’ with the orchestra and we performed Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in a concert in Warsaw. We taped the live concert, and the recording is actually very good. Sure, there’s some noise from the audience and off and on there’s a tiny little mistake – after all it’s live – but it is a very interesting and powerful recording. Maybe this production will be released in the future. The costs of a live recording are low and that’s how we can manage.

KH: What work would be on top of your ‘want’ list to record?

JC: Many, of course, because the repertoire is so incredibly rich in good works. But there are two things I would really love to do. One project I have in mind I’m not sure will ever be realized: I would like to record the five most famous Fifth’s, that is, the fifth symphonies of Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Schostakovitch, Bruckner, and Mahler.

And the second thing I’m dreaming of is to record Bach’s Matthäus-Passion. I conducted the work in my youth before coming to Europe. It is one of my favorite pieces, the music simply expresses everything.

Artist of the Month: José Cura

RECORDGEIJUTSU

Vol.52   NO.651

Apr 2003

N-Matsuoka

José Cura visited Japan in January this year [2003] to sing the title role in the Teater Wielki (Warsaw, Poland) production of Verdi’s opera ‘Otello,’ and he won vigorous applause. On one hand, Cura is probably one of the best known singer of the post Three-Tenor generation; on the other hand, readers are probably surprised to learn that he is the principle guest conductor of the Sinfonia Varsovia and that the Rachmaninov Symphony No.2 he recorded with his own production company (Cuibar) and released through AVIE was the specially selected disc in our February issue. This interview took place during the interval of the Otello performance on January 14 and focuses primarily on José Cura as a conductor.

NM--Would you tell us about the start of your professional relationship with Sinfonia Varsovia?

José Cura---I visited Warsaw in 2000 for a concert to promote a new CD. I had the opportunity to perform with Sinfonia Varsovia. From the first encounter, it felt very good, very natural. Then the orchestra asked me to become the principle guest conductor and I took the office in 2001.

From the beginning we had a close affinity and performed many concerts in 2002. We also recorded and released two CDs. [Aurora, a recital disc, and Rachmaninov’s Symphony No. 2. (ed.)] Last year, we recorded a live version of BeethovenNo.9 in November and we expect to be able to release it next year.

NM--Are there many young people among the members of orchestra?

JC---It varies. There is a young person and there is a person who is not so (laugh). They are about 45 years old on an average.

NM-- Although Rachmaninov Symphony No.2 is a big, passionate number, why was this number important for you to put on a CD at this time?

JC--- When I was first invited to be the principle guest conductor of this orchestra, I had to decide on the repertory of our concerts. I asked what number the symphony had not yet performed. That is, I thought that it would be wonderful if we started with something strange and new to both of us. Since the orchestra had not previously performed the Rachmaninov Symphony No 2., this was put on our program. Of course, it was not the only piece. We performed the symphonic poem ‘Pini di Rome’ by Respighi, ‘Dances of Galánta’ by Kodaly, and so on.

NM-- Didn't you conduct Rachmaninov Symphony No2 for the first time in the concert in Warsaw?

JC--- That's right. It was also my [symphonic] conducting debut. Of course, there was a purpose in this and I wanted to share this first experience with everyone.

NM-- Although it was very adventurous selection in a certain meaning, do I hear that that fresh performance was produced as the result? Some conductors cut out a repetitive portion the first movement .. but you did not. What do you find is the charm of this work?

JC--- As for the portion which I very like with this number, passion is just something that is felt very strongly from the overture of the first movement. I did not want at all to express the romantic feeling as so many have. Although it seems that many conductors are keeping the elegant approach of the French style in mind, I performed Rachmaninov as the composer, a very passionate Russian, would have.

I have heard comments that hearing our recording is like sitting on the edge of your chair from the beginning to the end, and having the feeling of tension that cannot be relaxed.

NM--I understand perfectly the reason for that comment. Although there is a peculiar feeling of high tension, is that also because of the short recording time?

JC--- Recording was intensively performed in 4 sessions so that the freshest possible feeling could be caught. When there is too much time, recording in studio allows correction after correction, since a perfect performance is expected, and too many repairs make the performance petty. We tried to avoid that.

Since this is the first symphony recording for me, maybe after a number of years it will become a collector’s item. Since ‘the thing’ is a thing only once, the first time. I think it is a record that will be available only to those who buy it now.

It is the same with the opera I first recorded, the opera ‘Le villi’ by Puccini that was released in 1995. After about ten years have passed, it is not easy to get one in hand.
Of course, since I was an obscure performer in those days, did those who considered the performance a good one buy the CD to say it was nice to own?

NM-- When the orchestra increased the number of performances conducted by José Cura, does the performance itself change too?

JC--- Of course it changes. On November 29, we performed Rachmaninov Symphony No.2 together in the Vienna Concert house. As you know, this is a traditional music hall. At the end of the performance –from the back arose applause and the audience gave us a standing ovation. I remember hearing that it is very difficult to obtain such a result in Vienna, although it has since been written "José Cura is a great conductor who sings occasionally" (laugh). Of course, it is usually written, "Cura is a great vocalist who also conducts occasionally." I am very happy that this time it was written in reverse.

NM-- The credit "In Memoriam Maestro Luis Garcia Navarro" was contained in the Rachmaninov disk. Would you tell us about your relationship, since Mr. Navarro was very familiar for Japanese music fan, since he often conducted the Tokyo Philharmonic?

JC--- When I debuted in the opera ‘Tosca’ by Puccini in 1995, Garcia Navarro was conducting. The friendship started from this time, and when I sang ‘Aida’ by Verdi at New National Theater of Tokyo for the first time in 1998, he was conducting. We became good friends and when my family and I moved from Paris to Madrid three years ago, he made all arrangements for the house and so on. I thought of him as one of my best friends and wished to dedicate this CD to him very much. And I would like you to tell the readers that he left the world without knowing I had been asked to be principle guest conductor. Two weeks after his death I was appointed and then planned to perform Rachmaninov. Two weeks before the concert, I visited his house to extend condolences. I was actually sitting in his living room. All the scores he possessed were arranged precisely and located in a row. Only the score for Rachmaninov Symphony No.2 was out of place. Of course, since he did not know that I would conduct the music and his widow did not know, either, I felt he was transmitting some absurd big message to me.

NM-- It is a moving episode in which one feels something of fate.

JC--- Yes. That is right.

NM-- Will the pace of your conducting activities increase from now on?

JC--- I think that this situation is the same as that of the coach of soccer, or the choreographer of ballet. In many cases, the coach is an older man who played the game when young. But with the passing years, the play becomes impossible and so he becomes a coach -- I think that my conducting is like that.

Of course, although I like to conduct, I think singing is my main job now. I will turn my attention to conducting full time when I am old and it becomes impossible to sing—like the coach to soccer when no longer young. But I think that I want to carry on with both for now.

NM--What you just said probably relieved many of your fans. By the way, although we talked of Beethoven No.9 earlier, doesn't the tenor who sings under a great singer's baton like Mr. Cura become tense at all?

JC--- When I conducted it, I told the tenor the exact opposite. "There will be no other performance with this sense of security.” I told him that I could hear all the problems that a tenor would have and that he should feel very much at ease and be able to sing while I breathed with him while I conducted. Of course, he may have felt tense in the first rehearsal. But during the rehearsal, I let it go so it would be no different than with an ordinary conductor who does not sing.

NM-- I see. And this conversation brings up the question as to whether there are conductors who are easy to sing for and those who are hard to sing for?

JC--- It is always good to sing for a conductor who is good, for if you sing for one who is not so good, then surely there is a problem. It is the way of life itself. (laugh).

NM-- This is a wise saying –(laugh). I have heard that ‘Cancion a la Bandera’ recorded on "Aurora" is special.

JC--- For all Argentineans, this is important music and the music next in importance to the national anthem.

NM-- Although the opera ‘Siberia’ Prelude (act 2) of Giordano was an interesting work with the inclusion of the fragment of ‘Song of the Volga Boatman’, do you it have feelings against Giordano?

JC--- This number was the first also for me. I like to always take in the newest possible work in a concert or CD. It seems that almost no one knows ‘Siberia’. I think that it is very forcible and dramatic music.

I dared to include the prelude because I thought that it was what those who are hearing it would tend to hold on to as a whole image, since the theme of aria appears in it.

NM-- Can you tell us about the choral repertory you conducted during your university enrollment?

JC--- It has been over 20 years -- although I don’t remember details there is a memory of conducting ‘Matthaus Passion’ by Bach, and Gesualdo and Palestrina.

NM-- Do you plan to continue to record with Sinfonia Varsovia?

JC--- It depends on the sales of the first two disks. If it seems that the CDs sell enough to cover the capital expended on the cost for their recording, I will go on with the next recording. If they cannot sell enough, then it will be difficult. Since you started the conversation, if you make sure you write to your audience conspicuously to "buy it by all means," I will be happy. (laugh).

NM--This has already been carried out and the Rachmaninov starred as the specially selected disk for our magazine. Many fans will surely purchase it. By the way, whose idea was it to include the big posters with the CDs?

JC---I am the graphic designer for both disks. I am also a photographer. Surely, although it is a very new idea that a poster is contained in a classical music CD, it is nice for the audience to have a good CD in hand and a poster to follow.

I don’t think it is necessary to indicate all of the history of an aria, the performance history of the music, a composer's whole life, etc. in the liner notes. You understand, if the music is mostly known or a book is available or is on the Internet. On the other hand, it is the artist’s portrait that most people do not have. Although this is a technique most often used in the pop market, I thought it would be a good thing to try.

The bonus track in which rehearsal scenes are replayed is included in "Aurora." In classical music, it may be new -- (Cura spoke while opening the liner notes of "Aurora" which the writer brought). Although the graphics work station is in my house [in Spain], Aurora is offered to my country, so the design concept is the national flag of Argentina. This yellow color is the same as the sun of the national flag of Argentina.

NM---- The color coordination is splendid.

JC--- The color here is the same color as the cover, and all are connected. (Cura turns over the page of liner notes carefully) This is a photograph in Teatro alla Scala of Milan. After this comes the only explanatory note of this album. Since people do not know many things about Panizza who is the composer of ‘Cancion a la Bandera,’ it was necessary to add something about him.

NM----- A pleasant talk -- thank you

Editorial note: Due to the difficulties in translating from the original Japanese to English, this is not a literal translation. Every effort has been made to represent the comments by both the writer and the artist correctly.