José Cura, Instinctive and Ardent Argentinean Tenor

Le Républicain Lorrain

MR

2 September 2007

[Computer-Assisted Translation]

A hot master class yesterday at l’Opéra de Nancy with José Cura.  The Argentine tenor demands the young artists make the maximum emotional risks.  Today, the singer will offer an exceptional recital.

After an absence from France of six year, the Argentine tenor José Cura selected l’Opéra de Nancy to offer a recital of some of the most beautiful arias in the repertoire.  He will be accompanied by some of the most promising young international singing talents.

Yesterday, a handful of privileged people attended the rehearsals of the artist, thanks to the initiative of the Nancy Opéra Passion— a master class that was both disorienting and overwhelming.

In jeans, a black T-shirt, with small glasses perched on the tip of his nose, Latin and even a little bit chauvinistic, José Cura conducts the orchestra but concentrates on one frail 23-year-old girl.  Alexia Ercolani is a magnificent mezzo-soprano.  She must sing Mon coeur, the sublime duet from Camille Saint-Saëns’ Samson et Dalila, with him.  It is not [vocal] technique that interests José Cura; it is the expression of emotion.  He will not stop until he reaches his goal.  The singing lesson . . . passion!

First he reassures the singer, relaxes her, whispers a few words in her ear.  The orchestra of the Nancy opera is attentive.  José Cura makes her understand the music must be fluid, flowing through one group of instruments to another like warm air.  Then, suddenly, he looks at Alexia, urging her to absorb herself in his look.  This is a love duet. It must be ardent, it must be deeply moving.  Everything is in the breath.  The singer is still shy.  He stops, breaking the charm.

The lack of perversion

The next moment, he takes her by the shoulder.  He is massive, powerful, she is very small.  Little by little she relaxes; her voice fills all the space of the hall.  We feel her becoming confident, taking some pleasure while he hums and looks in her eyes.  “Hotter, hotter, it comes, believe!”  Again, he stops.  “Listen, understand.  This is not a woman speaking about a man, no.  This is not a woman, this is a female…do you get the nuance?  It is not easy being Dalila.  I know.  You have the voice, the look….”  He puts his hand in front of Alexia.  “You just lack the perversion.”  The girl understands, she surrenders herself, exposes herself with abandon.  José Cura applauded.

A little later, with his large teeth biting into a very juicy fig, he explains his approach.  “I do not have the time to go into the musical detail of an academic course.  I have only one day to awaken their curiosity, to activate that sixth sense which the performer has inside him.” 

The sensuality of the art

In search of passion, of the emotion of the stage, he gives himself without reserve.  Endowed with an animal magnetism that he does not attempt to curb, he even claims, “Sensuality of the art.  The art is only that.  It is necessary to put technique at the service of the senses.  What happens too often is the opposite.  I say that the artist must expose himself.”  

His – extremely – Latino temperament, allows him the vocal ease to find maximum exposure of expressivity that turns a room upside down – and women in particular.  “Just now, with Alexia, I wanted to bring out of her all this sensuality, to go into the sexuality of the character.  Sometimes people have difficulty doing this in public.  It is a question of upbringing. But when we are on the stage, we are in the service of our character.  Entirely, body and soul.  Otherwise, nothing happens.”   

Final Concert of José Cura’s Master Class

Forum Opéra

Yonel Buldrini

September 2007

[Computer-Assisted Translation / Excerpt]

The operatic tradition of the City of Dukes de Lorraine has been well established for years and many natives of Nancy remember - and have carefully preserve the programs - the fabulous lyric seasons of the [19]50s, when a new spectacle would be presented every week!  It was not rare to attend, to list only two titles, Postillon de Longjumeau by Adolphe Adams or La Poupée by Edmond Audran.  Over the years the city has not been able to preserve such recurrences of opera magic but has continued to treat the audiences with high quality entertainment presented by artists of national and international fame.

It was in the late 60s that the first association promoting lectures and information about the works being presented during the opera’s season, as well as hosting open receptions with the artists, was born. Today, the city has four (!) [of these associations] and one of them, Nancy Opéra Passion, had a surprise for us that reflected the splendours of the not-so-distant past. …..They brought an artist of the calibre of José Cura, who returns to France after an absence of six years, and allowed us a fabulous once-in-a-lifetime chance, to “draw near this immense artist,” according to the President [of the association, Jacques Delfosse].

[...]

Now it is time to exclaim, much as Tonio from Pagliacci comes in front of the curtain to explain in Leoncavallo's brilliantly conceived Prologue: "Andiam, incominciate!” (Let us go, begin!).

It is precisely the Prelude from Pagliacci that the orchestra, widely spread out across the stage attacks.  Curiously, it is not José Cura who conducts…but Mario De Rose (Cura’s assistant) who drives the tormented music of Leoncavallo with energy and heat, but what will happen when the prelude breaks off so the baritone can appear in front of the curtain?   We get a surprising answer:  it is no other than José Cura, the great tenor, who sings the part of the baritone, thus reviving the practice of outstanding tenors of the past, such as the incomparable Mario Del Monaco, whose span of vocal registers allows them this feat.

We discover just like that the measure of this Artist:  the exceptional cream and quality of the timbre, combined with perfect control of vocal emission and a warmly Latin vibration and an interpreter who obviously ‘lives’ what he sings.  One does not need more to conquer this curious audience and the evening surprises did not end here…

With an impressive casualness, José Cura addresses the audience, jokes with them and then introduces the first artist, Stéphanie Vernerin, who has come from France to sing Musetta's waltz from La Bohème (G. Puccini) with her beautiful, fruity tone. We have hardly recovered from the quality of the tone and singing of this young soprano when José Cura highlights the distinctiveness of the bass he introduces. Jan Šťáva, only nineteen years old and from the Czech Republic, has already been performing for several years and yet his voice is cavernous, enhanced by a luminous midrange, and brings to life the sad Vecchia zimarra (Farewell, O old coat), the famous but intense aria of the philosopher Colline from La Bohème.

[…]

Until now, we have been able to appreciate the art of José Cura's conducting, not subservient to the singers as with some conductors but balancing the needs of the singer with the intent of the composer. With this masterful overture [I Vespri Siciliani], we had the measure of the opera conductor.  José Cura lets the orchestra "breathe" (and God knows how much Verdi needs to breathe). Of course, the poignant motif of the father-son duet played here by the cellos is already lyrical par excellence, but one must know how to let it sing. As for the martial crescendo, often square or thunderous, we heard it surprisingly calm, in the manner of a Franco Capuana, supple and warm in the style of Gianandrea Gavazzeni. In short, like Fernando Previtali, José Cura made the whole overture vibrate, with a theatrical sense of which Francesco Molinari Pradelli had the secret.

At the end of the burst of amply deserved applause, it was touching to hear José Cura, as if speaking to himself, as a dreamer still under the spell, murmur, ‘What an orchestra, my God!”  and then still pensive and in a hushed voice, to the first rows, “This belongs to you!  It must be preserved!”

The captivating Verdi was always honored for the following piece, the dazzling Finale to the first Act of La Traviata.  Aude Priya Engel (France) surmounted the difficulties of the final cabaletta Sempre libera, played with a quietly mischievous tempo.  We know that in this piece Alfred intervenes, off-stage under Violetta’s window; this time it starts straightforwardly and especially since Alfredo is present on stage, a brilliant Alfredo, high notes blazing, José Cura putting into practice as well the words which he sings:  “Amore è palpito…” while by his side his Violetta, all the more stimulated, vocally ignites.

Finally, Julija Samsonova came from Lithuania to sing the last piece of the participants of the master classes. Here she interpreted the aria of Desdemona in Verdi's Otello, the curious Willow Song.  Samsonova deploys a velvet timbre with shimmering colors, with beautiful low tones but always melodious, superb piani of mastery of the tonality. An exemplary legato makes the "passages" imperceptible and leaves the listener breathless. It must also be said that the orchestra was as one with this exceptional interpretation, José Cura marvelously chiseling the subtleties of the "old" Verdi, such as the violin lines in their highest notes concluding the Ave Maria.

José Cura, so invested and so touched by what he heard that tears come to his eyes, wonders how he is going to sing now that it is his turn at the conclusion of the concert!

He concentrates and forgets fatigue and heat as Maestro De Rose enters for nothing less than the Finale of Otello, in which the hero contemplates his Desdemona whom he has just strangled by unjustified jealousy, before killing himself. Cura’s Otello roars at first, with a warm but still prodigiously harmonious strength, filling the entire hall, which remains silent and continues to hold its breath... almost as much as the great tenor, whose astonishing emission in mezza-voce captivates the audience. He continues the aria, always balanced between beautiful delicacy and painful intensity lived to the tips of his nails... Then when Verdi greets his audience with a great flight of the orchestra, Cura as Otello proclaims again: “Un bacio… un bacio ancora… ah!… un altro bacio… (another kiss, another kiss)”, then he slowly dies, and the orchestra with him.

Under his spell, the audience at the Opera of Nancy lets the impalpable magic of the opera plunge for a moment before bursting into applause and the into an ovation during which José Cura invites all the Artists to rejoin him on the stage. Shortly after, the "Maestro" stops the ovations with his raised arms and the audience expects the announcement of an encore, perhaps the famous Brindisi from La Traviata, often chosen as the conclusion of a concert or at least some words of greetings or congratulations but no, José Cura simply declares with the blunt informality that characterizes him: "Now we're all going to eat! Then they all leave the stage, surprising the audience once again, denying them of the opportunity to fully celebrate the evening but nevertheless delighted.

The José Cura Show at the Opera

L'est Republicain

Didier Hemardinquer

3 September 2007

The teacher and his students gave a concert late yesterday afternoon. 

José Cura served as singing teacher, conductor, and Mr. Loyal late yesterday afternoon at the l'Opéra de Nancy at the invitation of the association of Nancy Opéra Passion. The great Argentine tenor, who has not performed in France for several years, began his return to France with a master class with thirteen young singers.  Yesterday's concert was the result of a day of work the day before

Talking with the audience, the tenor called out to a child to ask his name, then asked his students to state their identity, address and telephone number, no doubt to put them at ease.  The first part of the concert, which started about thirty minutes late because of the crowds at the ticket counters, included the Prologue from Pagliacci from the Maestro, the performance of the young 19-year-old Czech who offered an aria from La Bohéme in a powerful, clear, and well positioned bass voice, and the aria of Hérode from Massenet’s Hérodiade, sung by Korean baritone Changham Lim with great presence and excellent diction—a lesson for the Frenchwoman who preceded him on the stage and whose words were difficult to understand in the duet of Samson et Dalila by Saint-Saëns. The maestro then welcomed with a booming "Hello, colleague" the French tenor Avi Klemberg, who valiantly managed the Pinkerton aria from Puccini’s Madam Butterfly.  It is regrettable that the Argentine Maria Bisso chose Lucia de Lammermoor since the timbre of her voice did not correspond well with hallucinatory nature of the character.  The baritone fBenjamin Colin from Nancy, an alumnus of the Arcadi Volodos’s academy in Nancy, sang a duet from Pagliacci with little power but with a well-placed voice.

The second half of the concert was infinitely more interesting, with the overture from Verdi’s Vêpres siciliennes, played superbly by the l'Orchestre de Nancy under the baton of José Cura:  atmosphere, changes in color, breath—all was there. Although ill, the Serb Gabriela Ubavic managed a convincing Traviata, and the Belgian Thomas Blondelle a very honest Alfredo.  Real emotion came, however, with Lithuanian Julija Samsonova who splendidly carried off the role of Desdemona.

As for the maestro, he made the entire hall vibrate with an Otello whose death he experienced with all his being.  As a singer but also as a man of the theater he is a great artist.  What started as a ‘Sunday afternoon’ finished as an evening of depth and dramatic intensity.

2009

The Muscular Singing Class of José Cura

Le Républicain Lorrain

Julien Beneteau.

05 September 2009

[Computer-assisted Translation]

The tenor held public rehearsals yesterday morning, sometimes with caustic criticism of the young singers participating in his class.  A concert of arias will be held tomorrow at the opera in Nancy.

Florent Mbia completed Renato’s aria from Verdi’s Masked Ball.  A few people in the audience, swept away, applauded.  José Cura, willingly theatrical, interrupted with a grand movement of his hand.  “You are not there,” he said.  The audience persisted.  “If you continue, it will lead to a kind of competition between the singers.  We, we work.  You watch.”

The tenor is like that, massive, direct.  When he gives instructions to Florent Mbia, the arch of his back makes him look like a bull ready to charge.  “When you are angry, it happens on the inside, not outside!”  He bullies the young man, an enthusiastic volunteer, as are his fifteen comrades, for this class by the ‘maestro.’

Marie-Adeline Henry calls him that also, with an “r” that rolls effortlessly.  “I cannot call him anything else, since I studied in Italy,” the young woman acknowledges.  “It is very nice to have an outside look,” says the soprano, who also was delighted to sing accompanied by an orchestra, a rarity for “students.”  She will attend all the rounds of her friends.  Everyone learns from the different performances.

Jacque Delfosse, president of the Association Nancy Opéra and organizer of the course, said that 150 applications from around the world were received.  The selections were made by ear.  “It is rare to have a world class tenor and orchestra,” he was obviously pleased.  “After three years of organizing, this begins to take shape.”  José Cura will also direct a performance of Puccini’s La Rondine in 2011/2012.  The cast?  The young people who have made it through the class. 

Florent Mbia came down delighted with his stage experience.  “I discovered another way of singing, completely different today.”  On the stage, one hand on the orchestra, the other on the singer, José Cura continued his Latin number.  The audience applauded and he glared at them, irritated and delighted at the same time.  

Master José Cura, Very Elegant

Le Républicain Lorrain

16 August 2009

[Computer-Assisted Translation]

Understanding the innermost workings of the operatic art and showing how to get the best out of an artist, these are some of the small pleasures of José Cura's master classes at the Opéra de Nancy.

In September 2007, under the impetus of Nancy Opéra Passion, tenor José Cura came to Nancy for the first time to lead a series of master classes at the Opéra that left an unforgettable impression on the audience. It was as if the spectators had seen behind the curtains, approached the reality of the opera art, all of its demands. José Cura and 14 young singers from all over Europe, selected from 100 candidates, gave themselves up without glamour or glitter. The following year, delighted by the reception in Nancy, the maestro returned for a closing concert with the young singers. It must be said that in 2007, the audience had been slightly frustrated to hear Cura humming at the same time as he conducted the orchestra and pushed to the limits of their stage and vocal abilities.

Exposing of the singer

Beyond vocal technique, which is a given for these singers who dream of performing on the great opera stages, Cura's goal was to obtain from them an expressiveness, a sense of danger that transcends the score. And sometimes, the audience had the chance to witness this progression and understood that a well-sung, well-played aria suddenly becomes overwhelming when the singer agrees to deliver a part of himself.

This year, Jose Cura offers master classes including public with free admission to Friday, September 4 at 9 am and 30 am to 20, and a special concert with the Symphony Orchestra and Lyric of Nancy, directed by Mario de Rose, Sunday, September 6 to 17 h.

This year, José Cura is offering free master classes open to the public for free on Friday, September 4 at 9:30 a.m. and 8:00 p.m., and a special concert with the Nancy Symphony and Lyric Orchestra, conducted by Mario de Rose, on Sunday, September 6 at 5:00 p.m.

On Friday, José Cura will be on stage with 16 young singers selected from 150 applicants. From this promising cast, the artists will be recruited to participate in a Youth production, scheduled for 2012 at the Opéra de Nancy, conducted by José Cura.

The good reputation enjoyed by José Cura's master classes in Nancy has earned the association, chaired by Jacques Delfosse, a high demand from young singers. The audience is now rushing to attend. It is worth noting now dates.

José Cura at the Dukes of Lorraine: The Art of Communicating Art

Forum Opera

Yonel Buldrini

Oct 2009

[Computer-Assisted Translation / Excerpt]

The love of art and the deep desire to help deserving young artists has once again led the Nancy Opéra Passion association to organize "master classes" around the great operatic personality José Cura.

By titling the article The Art of Communicating Art we have tried to reflect the enthusiasm of the young singers who had the chance to work with Maestro Cura and it is their unanimous opinion, not dictated by deference or recognition, but by their artistic satisfaction and their human emotion. We will come back later to the particularity of Maestro Cura's approach but we can already say [the participants] found in the great Argentine tenor an amazing capacity for analysis: musical for the pieces and literary in regards to the character's feelings as he sings his aria. Maestro Cura's deep human sensibility is known to those who have been able to approach him but by working with him, we discover another sensibility, that of the Artist approaching a role, and doing it under the double technicality, so to speak, of the singer and the accompanist, because let us remember Maestro Cura was a conductor before becoming an opera singer.  His conducting therefore "breathes" with the singer, not enslaved to him, but taking into account the "breathing machine" that he is, and respecting the melody. These are useful qualities to remember today when one can "hear" conductors conducting from their rigid conception, in themselves for themselves, while the singers struggle to follow and therefore "botch" the notes, brushed aside because of the necessarily rapid breathing!

We understand the chance thus offered to young singers who can benefit from such artistic sharing, thanks to the one by whom everything is possible, the doctor-patron Jacques Delfosse, president of the association Nancy Opéra Passion which organized everything, including the "loan" of the rococo hall of the Opéra de Nancy, headquarters of the Opéra national de Lorraine, the "use" of the Orchester Symphonique et Lyrique de Nancy, and even the organization of the young singers' food and lodging!

[…]

José Cura began, with the casualness for which he is known, by explaining that he was going to reduce his personal [singing] performance due to a cold that was caused, he explained with a smile, that he had flown from Barcelona with a temperature of under forty degrees to land in Luxembourg where it was only eight degrees.  He still attempted the great aria from Pagliacci, Vesti la giubba …he sang as if he wanted to put an end to his double suffering: that of the deep and devouring character he played and the other of his own.  The audience thus rediscovered the charm of his powerful, warm voice.

[…]

Jean-Vincent Blot [bass] explained after the concert how a characteristic of Maestro Cura's teaching had struck him. The great tenor/conductor approaches singing as a "carnal relationship" in the sense that singing is a "commitment of the body," a "physical" investment. Adding that Maestro Cura "analyzes the score extremely well" making the interpreters "seek" the intimate relationship between "the text and the music," the young bass thus completes the beautiful conception of the Maestro tenor, giving all to the expression embodied in a character.