Aida

Aida, Palermo, April 1998: “Cura’s Radames stood out with ease on the busy stage. His voice continues to grow bigger and darker in tone, and more confident: he sang Celeste Aida crouching against a pillar, capturing its inward emotions as few tenors do, and he had animal power in reserve for the heroic outbursts.” Opera, August 1998

Aida, Palermo, April 1998: “José Cura is endowed with a certain charisma but his Radames was disappointing overall because he was generic in identifying the character and technically not at the height of his considerable possibilities.” Corriere della Sera

Aida, Palermo, April 1998: “José Cura…for his role follows a non-traditional route, reserving for himself a presence without the attack, with the uncertainty of a debut...” Giornale di Sicilia

Aida, Palermo, April 1998: “This Aida has been plagued with problems, first with the (very predictable) forfeit of Pavarotti…but [he was] replaced very well: José Cura held up very well to the responsibility of the evening. Cura sings with an attention to phrasing and to the musical line and with a voice so beautiful that certainly no one could regret the replacement. Some understandable hesitation at the beginning was soon forgotten by a truly ascending level of the performances which picked up very quickly to climax in the Act 3.” La Repubblica, 24 April 1998

Aida, Palermo, April 1998: “The stylistic and technical limits demonstrated by José Cura: unlike other great tenor superstars, he has plenty of voice, not beautiful, but seductive in thickness and texture: The recipe for a Cura superstar is a conductor who corrects him when he becomes overindulgent, one that makes it easy for him to catch his breath, and does not slow down the tempos. With such remedies Cura may become a first class tenor; otherwise he will remain a handsome fellow, a sensible actor, but a singer who is incapable of smorzandos, abuses appoggio, and blends poorly.” La Stampa, 24 April 1998

Aida, Palermo, April 1998: “On the night of Palermo’s musical resurrection the true hero of Aida, monumental but restrained, was José Cura.” Corriere della Sera, April 1998

Aida, Palermo, April 1998: “There was little to enjoy in José Cura's Radames. The timbre is attractive, but his voice production and diction sound like an amateurish imitation of Mario Del Monaco. His legato lacked flow, his soft singing was unsupported and nasal, his high notes were voluminous rather than ringing, and his musical conception was far from refined. Celeste Aida, though much applauded, was crudely provincial in style.” Opera News, August 1998

Italian Interview 1998

Tenor José Cura: I Am Proud To Sing In Palermo

Interview with José Cura by Antonella Filippi

Besides being a jealous Otello, José Cura is above all a very good and gentle father. And like Radamès, the protagonist in Aida, whom he will portray in Palermo, he, too, loves a woman passionately; she is certainly not a slave- but his wife. He speaks Italian extremely well and with a pleasant Spanish cadence. In conversation, he gives the impression that at 35 he is already at an age where he is not playing himself; he is himself. As far as his life is concerned, naturally. In his job, on the other hand, performances follow each other in theaters around the globe.

You had already come to Palermo, to the Politeama, in ’95 for Francesca da Rimini. What do you remember about the city and the public?

I want to smile if I think that, sitting in a bar in front of the Massimo, I was wondering how it was possible to keep one of the most beautiful theaters in Europe closed for so many years. It’s incredible: the moment is here; and with it the task of reopening it.

How do you judge a city that has permitted its theater to remain closed for such a long time without a hint of rebellion? Behavior unthinkable in Milan or Vienna……

That’s true. In the face of these events, certain stereotypes about Sicily and Sicilians come back to mind, which I, frankly, do not want to believe. It is difficult to judge since I live so far away. I can only say that as far as I’m concerned, it will be a unique emotional experience for me.

What does Aida mean to a performer?

A big test. For years, I have sought to avoid the character of Radamès; it used to overwhelm me to deal with him. It was Zeffirelli who convinced me, telling me that he would have accepted the directing of Aida only if I was going also. Now, I am pleased with the result.

Without Zeffirelli, the Radamès of the Massimo will be different from the Japanese one?

The setting up of the character will stay forever like that, perhaps evolving over time and improving from the vocal point of view. At Palermo, I will have to fit into a different group: I am not so foolish as to say upon arrival: “Either things are done just as I say, or I’m leaving.” This kind of behavior isn’t a part of me, and it is of no help, not even when it’s from artists of great depth.

Your debut…..

My career is a bit complicated to tell about. I’m going to attempt it. I had a leading role for the first time in Trieste in ’93, singing in a contemporary opera. The following year, I interpreted La forza del destino without cuts, which constituted the actual international launch. Since the beginning, my relationship with music has been one of love-hate: at 12 years of age, I started to play the guitar and to sing; at 15, I conducted choral performances; at 17, I began to study composition and conducting; around 19, I devoted myself to singing. Unfortunately, I had the wrong teachers, as often happens, and ended up around 22 with a damaged voice and improper, false technique. I was suffering more than was good for me. I told myself: If singing is like this, it would be better to stop. And that’s what I did, until I was 26. Then I resumed my studies, and this time, I landed with the correct technique. Whether it can be enjoyed or not--but that’s another subject.

What does it mean to sing? When does it make you forget everything…….

To the contrary, I remember everything. When I’m on stage, it is as if the past and the present were coming together at that very moment: none of my performances is the result of an accident, but rather the result of a lot of experience bundled together. To stand on stage is the happiest time of my life, like when I’m at home among my family. I feel safe, far away from people who can or want to cause me harm.

So, you aren’t afraid then? In what frame of mind do you go on stage?

I look forward to having people in front of me; I am a kind of caged animal, a shark vis-à-vis blood. When I see the set, when I smell the dust of the stage, I am compelled to enter.

When did fame start for you?

A clarification: fame is something different from greatness. The secret is to have both, the one and the other, run on parallel tracks. Today more than ever, one can be famous without being great. Thanks to the power of the mass media, the Spice Girls are famous but not great. Every artist ought to be very clear about this difference. The big preoccupation of my life is to really try to make fame and greatness coexist well, that is to say: to deserve the first because it results from the second, which is the real goal and which ought not to be overshadowed by popularity.

How do you feel at the end of an opera?

Physically exhausted, like a marathon runner after the race, and yet full of energy. It’s like when you make love to the woman you love; you give your utmost, and when you finish, you are exhausted but full of joy.

Is it easier to emerge, to be up-and-coming, or to persist, to hold on?

I suggest to you a change in wording: is it less difficult to be up-and-coming or to hold on? The answer is: to be up-and-coming, to rise. A plant that has the right soil and sufficient water grows. But, to keep its head up against the wind once it’s big, that’s altogether a different story.

What do you see when you close your eyes?

It depends on the day. Normally, when I close my eyes, I see my family; I feel this separation to which my job forces me. My wife and my three kids, age 10, 5 and 2, live in Paris. I do manage to see them every week; today I am in a position that allows me to propose certain clauses to the theatres. But it’s dreadful to hear them every day on the telephone and to find out about their progress only across the telephone line. The littlest one is now beginning to talk and that very moment in time, that of his first word, has been lost to me. Just like I will never forgive myself that I wasn’t present at the First Communion of my oldest. It was the day of the dress rehearsal for Otello in Turin. He did understand, however…. I close my eyes, and I see moments that are beautiful and those that are unpleasant, ugly. I clearly see the people who wish me well and those who do not, and I don’t understand why. I am someone who does not do harm to his fellow man. I do my job well and some can’t handle it.

The first commandment of a tenor is….

As a tenor, I don’t have rules; as a man, I do, but they are my own. I try to live my life in the most normal way possible. If it gives me pleasure to go out barefoot in the snow, I do it. Just think, my wife is keeping a video she shot, in which I work with a hoe in our garden seven days from the debut of Otello. In the rain. She said: “Look what that crazy guy is doing….No one will believe us.”

Which tenor has been revolutionary?

Undeniably Ramon Vinay because with a less than beautiful voice he combined the pathos and suffering of pure theater, of the word, of opera made into theater, a far cry from this vain pursuit that is based on the beauty of sound for its own sake and without message. That’s a superficial, empty thing which I detest. It’s like a woman beautifully made up for effect only. If you throw a bucket of water in her face, nothing more remains.

Luciano Pavarotti decided not to do the Aida in Palermo. What are your thoughts about what the Maestro from Modena is going through?

It’s the same circumstance I will be going through 30 years down the road; the same that the predecessors of Luciano went through 60 years ago. After a long career, Pavarotti finds himself with a voice that’s still youthful, of polished sound thanks to a marvelous larynx; inside a body suffering from leg and knee pain and no longer able to stand intense work. It must be hard to be in his position with a body that is not up to par with the freshness of the voice.

Your contribution to Argentina, your homeland…..

I adore it, but for me the Latin saying “No one is a prophet in his own country” is also valid. Many of my countrymen have not been proud of my success. Nevertheless, something is changing, and I’m happy to open the next season of the Teatro Colón with Otello.

What has Placido Domingo been for you?

A great friend; a musician with whom I have worked. There is a false belief going around that he is my “godfather”; that I sing thanks to him. But that is not true. I met him in ’94, when I won the Domingo competition. At that time, I already had two years of an international career under my belt. I saw him again in ’96, on the occasion of an opera which he conducted and I sang in; then we made a CD together. Stop. We might both be speaking Spanish, might both be facing a similar repertoire, but journalists at times construct distorted images: I have also worked well with Muti and with Abbado. Are all these my “godfathers”? You know what a disaster…..

If I told you that your voice is vaguely reminiscent of Mario del Monaco, how would you respond to that?

One does not question the great Mario, but I can say with all due respect that I have this wild way of “biting into the sound” that he had and that had not been heard any more for about 30 years. Some appreciate this quality of mine; others say that I am old-fashioned; still others maintain that finally someone has come out who sings the way they used to once upon a time.

What do critics mean to you?

A stimulus, if they are constructive. I do not like to put up with those that aim only to destroy. And I would have something to tell about them……

Which operas do you prefer? How do you select your characters?

From the libretto. I like dramatic coherence in characters. The roles which I perform represent human beings who suffer, who laugh and cry: for this reason, I love Otello, Samson or Tosca, where the words are not put there solely in service to the music. Then there are operas like La forza del destino or Trovatore, which don’t fit these characteristics, but they are such marvelous music that they are going to be sung just the same.

Your next professional challenge, what is it going to be?

Palermo is not a challenge from the point of view of Radamès, the character I am going to portray, because I have done this role in Tokyo recently. At the Massimo, the challenge consists above all in replacing Pavarotti. I understand that, because of his worth as an artist and because of national pride, you guys would have liked to have Luciano. Well, I want to be worthy of the trust, confidence and affection which the authorities and the public have shown me. To me it’s a big responsibility and an honor—a personal rather than professional honor--to participate at the most important fin de siecle reopening of an Italian theater. This is the message I am sending to the people of Palermo. In a few months, Manon is going to await me at LaScala. Another difficult engagement, no doubt about it.

Which theater puts the most chills on you, makes you shudder the most?

Not a one. For me, theaters are places of joy and delight where my ‘joie de vivre’ comes out. It is the performing of the masterpieces that gives me the chills. God has given me the opportunity to be on stage, enjoying what I’m doing and even earning a living. There I forget the unpleasant things that are around us when the curtain falls.

Do you believe that you are at the peak of your career?

Absolutely not.

Where do you want to get to?

If I were already at my best, I would be dead. There is an Argentinean saying with respect to a famous tango singer that goes: he sings better every day. And yet, he’s been dead, gone to a better life, for nearly seventy years.

Palermo, you won’t miss Pavarotti

José Cura is ready for the challenge of Aida at the Massimo

Originally published in Republic

1998

“I hope to satisfy the expectation of the citizens of Palermo: I know the wait is long and I also know that some are disappointed by Pavarotti’s absence. But perhaps these people will be glad I came to Palermo.”

José Cura, the Argentine tenor called to substitute for Pavarotti in Aida at the reopening of the theatre, has clear ideas: he knows he is one of the few singers in the current market able to bear the vocal marathon of Radamès and prevent people from regretting the absence of Pavarotti. The thought of substituting for Pavarotti doesn’t worry him.

“The changing generations is something we have to tackle sooner or later," Cura, the 35-year-old Argentine with Piedmont grandmother and rising star of the international opera scene, said. "I am proud to be the one chosen to substitute for such a great artist. The reopening of the Massimo is one the most important cultural events at the end of the century in Italy, and perhaps in the entire world. That the honour of reopening the opera house should belong to an Italian tenor is natural. But we know that Pavarotti, even if his voice is in wonderful condition, has the physical problems associated with a man nearly 65 years old. Radamès requires a big physical effort and so here is a moment when the generations change. To come to Palermo meant I had to change my calendar completely. It’s a miracle that I managed it.”

Anyway, you are used to excellent “substitutions”...

José Cura: Yes, the Pavarotti one is the third I've done. This year I’ve already substituted for Placido Domingo in Otello and José Carreras in Carmen. Now I’m substituting Pavarotti. I leave the conclusions to other people.

Once upon a time there were three tenors. Is there only José Cura now?

J. C.: There are very great colleagues on the market, but I’m the only one, or almost the only one, suited to sing the heroic repertory, at least in the new generation.

Let’s talk about Radamès now that you have already performed in Tokyo with Zeffirelli as director: What are the vocal difficulties of this role?

J. C.: When I performed Otello everyone told me: be careful, it’s a massacre. And I answered that they had no idea of how hard Radamès was, that it is vocally much more difficult. The “keeping” of this character in the four acts of the opera is one of the hardest one of the Verdi’s repertoire. Immediately, as the curtain rises, the tenor must perform “Celeste Aida” and that's a big test. I think I’ve found a personal way of performing this aria and I hope I’ll do well with it in Palermo.

What do you like most in Aida?

J. C.: The great music of Aida begins in the third act. It’s the more modern part, the more theatrical one while the first two acts are cliché. Aida has become the opera that can satisfy the masses who want to see the great spectacle but also appeal to those who want to listen to the revolutionary Verdi found in the third and fourth acts.

How important has been the experience of the Otello conducted by Abbado?

J. C.: It has been a turning point of my career. I demonstrated that Otello could be done in a different way. Many people appreciated my modern reading, while other people criticized me. But that’s normal. It’s a risk I had to take to grow as an artist.

You are arriving to Palermo on April 14, a few more than a week before the debut. Isn’t the time too short for the rehearsal?

J. C.: It's a miracle [with my calendar] that I am able to come at all.

José Cura, the Opera Wrestler

La Stampa

Sergio Trombetta

10 April 1998

Parlemo. "I just didn’t want to do it.” Afraid of Celeste Aida? “ Me? Afraid? No way! Nowadays no one does it that B flat pianissimo. Corelli use to do it, but that’s now something of a fairy tale; Alagna does it, on record, but on record I do it, too.” What then is the reason why José Cura, 35 years old, an Argentine, one of the most acclaimed tenors on the opera stage, first ran away from Aida and now has accepted the Teatro Massimo di Palermo's invitation to replace Luciano Pavarotti for the inauguration of the Sicilian theater on April 22?

“It’s a very, very demanding role and you can count on the fingers of one hand the tenors willing to undergo such a slaughter. Quite frankly, my only perplexities regarded my acting for this specific role; I did not feel comfortable standing in the middle of the stage with my legs wide open planted there like an impaled potato” – an expression Cura has learned by living in the Venetian region for over four years. “And in such a pose, having to shoot out “un trono vicino al sol” but then talking to Zeffirelli I understood the role, the duplicity of the man who loves Aida but is fascinated by power, by the machinations of Amneris and Ramfis. All in all, a story that is not much different from what goes on in our day and age, take for example the White House and whatever else the dailies dish out.”

Cura has the physique of a wrestler, quite perfect for a warrior role like Radames, but he is also the introspective type. Only a year ago he confided, “I am 34. I am going to sing Otello with Abbado and Berliner Philarmoniker, and then? Can you tell me what else I can do for the rest of my career?” This question, delivered with a bit of anguish but also with veiled vanity, was put by José Cura, in jeans, T-shirt and tennis shoes, which are his usual uniform, to Carlo Majer, then artistic director of the Regio di Torino, during the Otello rehearsals.

In a year since he has not missed important occasions. After Otello (in which he took on the role of Placido Domingo who was the protagonist in the same staging in Salzburg) he was called to replace Carreras in Carmen in Verona in the Arena. Now Pavarotti. Three very different tenors. But what tenor will Cura be? Lirico, then drammatico, and now what else?

“The roles are dramatic or lyrical, not the voices. The great tenors of the past, Gigli, Corelli, del Monaco, Bergonzi, sang all kinds of roles without too much difference. I am not interested in trumpeting some powerful notes and nothing else. I am more concerned about expressing my feelings, for example by whispering certain lines instead of belching them out.”

And how does Cura explain Pavarotti’s latest forfeit? “His voice is still intact, as splendid as ever. The problem is to stand up for four hours on the planks of the stage. And Radames is a heavy role. Luciano is like Pele. He has bailed out not because he wasn’t the master of football any longer, but because he couldn’t face 90 minutes standing in the ballfield.”

He, however, does not have these problems. In fact, in addition to exercising the vocal cords, he has always kept his body moving: he has done every sport, including rugby, and in order not to lose shape, he continues to train even now: "In addition to voice, physical and indispensable fitness. Besides keeping my voice fit it is indispensable to keep physically fit. I have always been a sports fellow but since I got into this profession I practice swimming and martial arts regularly.”

Why martial arts? “Because I love those wrestlers like Turridu, Don José, Cavaradossi, Otello and the like. They are active people, adventurous. They swing swords and knives and face death fighting. To make them more credible one needs adequate athletic preparation.”

But exercise has been a survival tool for Cura. During the crucial moments of his young and adventurous life Cura managed to make a living as an athlete and a coach; as a budding artist in Buenos Aires he sang with the choristers of the Teatro Colón; in 1991 he moved to Italy with wife and children and settle at Cerro Veronese in the Venetian region, waiting for his chance.

After an audition in Torino, Carlo Majer told him to keep studying and in three years there will be some possibility. And yes, in 1994 in Torino Cura starred at the Regio, not in one but three operas—The Makropoulos Case, Forza del destino and La rondine. After that came Nabucco in Paris, Samson, Corsaro and Stiffelio at Covent Garden, Cavalleria in Ravenna with Muti, and Gioconda at La Scala.

A career supported not only by his voice, but by his modern acting talent. “To keep up with television and movies competition, opera can no longer rely on great voices only. Once can no longer stand in the center of the stage and raise one hand and then the other, those gestures would bore the audience to death. Theater has changed, the stage is state-of-the-art technology and singers must keep up with the times and watch what’s going on in other forms of art besides opera.”

Now that he has settled in Paris his chances of watching what’s going on have increased. Not that the Venetian countryside didn’t suit him, just the boring bureaucracy of having to go through all the redtape of Italian immigration authorities who issued residency permits as if they were distilling them. And the schooling system for the children in Italy was a pain in the neck….

Note: This is a machine-based translation. We offer it only a a general guide but it should not be considered definitive.

Tenor José Cura’s Ruthless Radamès

La Repubblica

Leonetta Bentivoglio

21 April 1998

He is the quintessential young tenor, the voice of the moment, the most contested of his generation. They called him "the new Domingo," and don’t leave it there: inserting him without hesitation into the golden clan of Pavarotti, Domingo and Carreras, the Sunday Times renamed him "the fourth tenor."

José Cura, born in Rosario, Argentina, in '62, will be the protagonist in Palermo's Aida. Athletic physique, ready intelligence, high musical training (in addition to singing he studied composition and orchestral conducting), subtle and modern in theatrical interpretation, he revealed himself after a long apprenticeship and about thirty important roles around the world. The most triumphant confirmation came last year, with the Otello directed by Abbado on the podium: an unprecedented launch and "a historic achievement," he comments in perfect Italian (before moving to Paris, he lived for a long time near Verona with his wife Silvia and his three children). "For years the ‘official’ Otello has been Domingo: it was a bit like taking over. So much so that bets were placed on my "hold" as if at a boxing match. But I didn't take any cues. I found my own key and I won. "

Let's talk about his Radamès in Palermo. "Aida is a work I have always been afraid of. They had offered it to me many times in the past and I have never accepted it. Besides the (terrible) vocal commitment, I was worried about the lack of a convincing reading key to the character. Radamès is the typical tenor who sings on the stage impaled, at the top of his voice ... It was Zeffirelli who made me understand: with him I did my first Aida, in Tokyo last January. He motivated my acting, made me capture the role: not a failed pseudo-romantic but an intriguing social climber, capable of ruthless power games. And in this very modern sense."

What are your favorite roles? "Those who allow me to be credible, who have recognizable human sides: Otello, Samson, Canio in Pagliacci, Turiddu in Cavalleria rusticana, Don José in Carmen, Cavaradossi in Tosca, who goes to death to defend his ideals, like a political prisoner today."

In your opinion, can a great tenor perform in stadiums, gathering a rock concert audience? "The problem is not the size of the cake but the skill of the cook. The culinary comparison seems to me the most appropriate: the success of a recipe becomes much more difficult if the dish is cooked for many diners. In Australia I sang for 60,000 people in covered stadiums and it went very well. In such spaces it is almost impossible to find the right balance of sound and make artistically appropriate choices. But it is a challenge that can be won."

Future commitments? "One, first of all: in June I will be Des Grieux in Manon Lescaut conducted by Riccardo Muti at La Scala. A wonderful and very hard role, even more exhausting than Otello."

Note: This is a machine-based translation. We offer it only a a general guide but it should not be considered definitive.

Away From Tradition, Here Is an Intimate Blockbuster

Corriere della Sera

Francesco M Colombo

Angelo Campori ... created an original Aida, one even disdainful of the melodramatic tradition. Calligraphic lyricism, the renunciation of blatant effects in favor of an intimate, nervous, expressive vein, responsive to the slightest emotional stimulus; and the very sensitive care in identifying the most secretly refined resources in Verdi's writing, define the first features of an aristocratic vision of the work ...

The cast is animated by the presences of Norma Fantini, an Aida of throbbing and fervent sweetness, really at the pinnacle of such a prestigious and difficult role. José Cura is endowed with a certain charisma but his Radames was disappointing overall because he was generic in identifying the character and technically not at the height of his considerable possibilities; Barbara Dever’s Amneris was firm, effective, regal; Giorgio Zancanaro’s Amonasro was very stentorian; Andrea Silvestrelli and Andrea Papi were both not very agile and authoritative as King and as Ramfis.

The grandeur of the show signed by the set designer Enzio Frigerio (and unfortunately unnecessarily crowded with conventional gestures, by the director Nicolas Joel) was veiled by soft lights of warm gold or blue and nocturnal mystery, in a very suggestive way. Franca Squarciapino's costumes were an authentic masterpiece of chromatic virtuosity and exquisite taste.

Note: This is a machine-based translation. We offer it only a a general guide but it should not be considered definitive.

An Egypt without Triumphs to Tell a Love Story

Giornale di Sicilia

Sara Patera

After a prelude conducted by Angelo Campori with adequate dynamic characteristics, the impression, musically, for the first two acts was of a punctual performance but without expressive tensions, indeed marked by an overall slowness, which was not properly Verdian, and with some overall discrepancies between the orchestra and the stage…

Norma Fantini… focused on her stage character with meticulous details but no artifice…The intelligent awareness of the singer who knew how to give her vocal qualities skillful emphasis together with the psychological profile of the character for consistent consequentiality. José Cura…for his role follows a non-traditional route, reserving for himself a presence without the attack, with the uncertainty of a debut...

[...]

Note: This is a machine-based translation. We offer it only a a general guide but it should not be considered definitive.

Blue Lights in Egypt

Der Standard

28 June 1999

[ Excerpt ] Computer translation

Despite promising names, Aida was in scenic distress with blue lights in Egypt.

In Verona, a mediocre premiere like that of Aida for this year’s opening is a reason for local press to cheer. The Veronese daily paper L’Arena even supplemented its edition from last Saturday with a special section, with the title page, in big letters, reading “Aida brings the World to Verona.”

[…]

About 15,000 spectators were on hand for opening night to experience the blue miracle. Pier Luigi Pizzi, who was responsible for the staging, stage design and costumes, apparently has the best relationship with the paint industry, where a large excess of ultramarine blue is believed to have accumulated. The producer was responsible for ridding them of the surplus. A huge pyramid was emblazoned on the stage of the arena. Not only was it blue but so were the gates and status grouped around it, as were the costumes of the actors, as was even the light. After all, blue light is considered an international emergency signal - and it was not difficult to locate the distress that this evening had gotten into: it consisted of the fact that it had no other depth than this blue color.

And this despite the promising name on the cast: José Cura as Radames and Leo Nucci as Amonasro are definitely striking – and largely remained so. Like many of his colleagues, Cura only reached his full form during the strange death scene, which took place in a strange box. Leo Nucci lacked overall creative power. The two women - Sylvia Valayre in the title role and Larissa Diadkova as a vocal and personally very present Amneris - did not have to try hard to overshadow their prominent colleagues. Daniel Oren conducted an Aida that was quite uninteresting in terms of dynamic and rhythmic sensitivity.

At the Arena, a Televised Aida

La Stampa

Sando Cappelletto

27 June 1999

[Excerpt / Machine translated]

The opera, directed by Oren,with Cura and Valayre, is not convincing

Where are you going, Arena? What identity are you losing, this oldest Italian opera festival, in inaugurating a spectacular Aida decidedly designed for the television transmission? On Rai 2s screen, the blue chosen almost as the only tint by Pier Luigi Pizze, the fluorescent fabrics, the idols, the towers, the hundreds of extras lost in the immensity of the stage of the Roman amphitheater, the close-up of the foreground, details, perspectives, a more direct visual efficacy. Those who prefer to consider opera as a profession of voices, may instead have chosen the purity of listening only by tuning in to Radio 3.

But the mouth-watering bite was the novelty of the live Internet, produced by IBM - and available on the net for two months - and accompanied by music of an acceptable quantity, but still far from that allowed by a normal compact disc. The pleasure of clicking here in the long run distracts…The computer screen also penalizes José Cura's biceps, pectorals, and statuesque thigh; the most macho tenor of the moment does not have an equally domineering voice. Compared to the mediocre performance in Palermo (1998), this Radames is more mature and motivated, but instead of going "close to the sun," the throne falls to the ground: both because Pizzi's direction forces him to lie down with his shoulders on the ground, and because the voice abruptly closes the air, rather than disappearing in the B flat "morendos." Verdi wanted it so not out of sadism towards tenors, but, with an overwhelming dramaturgical invention, to make us understand immediately that Radames' project - to win the war and have Aida, the daughter of the enemy king - is both political and personal suicide.

In Palermo, the Massimo reopens after twenty five years with Aida

La Stampa

23 April 1998

The official re-inauguration was yesterday evening of the Teatro Massimo in Palermo with Giuseppe Verdi's Aida, after 25 years of inexplicable closure. If the general rehearsal had raised many doubts, even for 'work in progress', Aida's "premiere" was welcomed by the audience that filled the theater. The protagonists of the Verdi opera were tenor José Cura…Warm applause at the end of Celeste Aida for Cura…

Aida 2001 - Japan Tour

Pro Japonce je připravena Aida

Státní opera Praha odlétá 24. 10. na měsíční turné do Japonska. Na svých předchozích třech turné po Japonsku uvedla Mozartovu Kouzelnou flétnu a Straussova Netopýra, tentokrát nabídne poprvé verdiovský titul, a to Aidu. Proto také tato opera chyběla letos na Verdi festivalu v srpnu a září, protože dekorace byla v té době již na cestě do Japonska.

Během měsíce uvede soubor Státní opery Aidu celkem 22x v řadě japonských měst - například Hamamatsu, Nagasaki, Fukuoka, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo a pět v Tokiu. Představení bude dirigovat italský dirigent Giorgio Croci a Jiří Mikula, vedle sólistů Státní opery, paní Andy-Louise Bogzy, Jordanky Derilovy, Nikolaje Višňakova, Jiřiny Přívratské, Galii Ibragimovy, Milana Bürgera, Olega Korotkova, Jurije Kruglova, Richarda Haana, Lubomíra Havláka a Márii Haan se japonskému publiku představí další - zahraniční - hosté Státní opery, italská sopranistka Simona Zambruno, německý barytonista Johannes von Duisburg a italský tenorista Francesco Petrozzi. Diváci v Nagasaki a v Osace uvidí jako Aidu americkou sopranistku Phenisher Harris.

Soubor Státní opery bude mít ovšem v 6 představeních v Tokiu, Osace, Nagoye a Hamamatsu naprosto jedinečného Radama, a to devětatřicetiletého argentinského tenoristu a současnou světovou tenorovou jedničku José Curu. Je dnes považován za nástupce Luciana Pavarottiho a označován za tenoristu 21. století a určitě ho není nutné našim divákům blíže představovat, málokdo ale asi ví, že profesionálně debutoval José Cura v roce 1994 v Turíně jako Albert Gregor v Janáčkově Věci Makropulos. Jeho partnerkou bude v roli Aidy sólistka Státní opery Anda Louisa Bogza, která mimochodem právě v této roli debutovala letos v červnu ve Vídeňské státní opeře.
A ještě jedna informace - soubor SOP se takříkajíc rozdvojí, takže i během jeho japonského zájezdu jsou zajištěna představení i v Praze - diváci nebudou tak o svá představení ve Státní opeře ochuzeni.

Zdroj Státní opera Praha

Note: This is a machine-based translation. We offer it only a a general guide but it should not be considered definitive.

Aida is Ready for Japan

[Excerpt]

The Prague State Opera will depart on October 24 [2001] for a month-long tour of Japan. Mozart's Magic Flute and Strauss's Die Fledermaus were performed on its previous Japan tours; this time it will offer its first Verdi title, Aida. That is why the opera was missing at the Verdi festival in August and September earlier year: the set decoration was already on its way to Japan.

During the month, the ensemble the Prague State Opera will perform a total of 22 times in a number of Japanese cities, including Hamamatsu, Nagasaki, Fukuoka, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo and five times in Tokyo. The performance will be conducted by Italian conductors Giorgio Croci and Jiří Mikula, alongside soloists of the State Opera.

However, the State Opera ensemble will have an absolutely unique Radames in 6 performances in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Hamamatsu: José Cura, the 39-year-old Argentine tenor and the current world number one tenor. His partner in the role of Aida will be the Prague State soloist of Louisa Bogza.

Note: This is a machine-based translation. We offer it only a a general guide but it should not be considered definitive.

Prague State Opera in Japan with Dvorak and Cura

Hudebni rozhledy

Jitka Slavikova

[Excerpt / computer translation]

Bravo for the State Opera

Enthusiastic applause belonged not only to José Cura, but to the entire ensemble, soloist, orchestra, choir and both conductors, the Italian Giorgio Croci and Jiri Mikulo. Understandably Jose Cura was the magnet for the six performances in Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo (four times). He also proved to be an excellent colleague when, for example, at all acoustic rehearsals he made sure that the interceptions of the orchestra were loud enough and that all soloists had the opportunity to check the acoustics in many extremely large areas of the stage and auditorium.

Note: This is a machine-based translation. We offer it only a a general guide but it should not be considered definitive.

José Cura, Tenor of the 21^st Century

Scena

Jitka Slavikova

27 January 2002

[Excerpt / computer translation]

IIn November 2001, Jose Cura performed with the State Opera Prague in Japan as Radames in Verdi's Aida. I had the unique opportunity to watch all six performances in Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo and I have to admit that it will be an experience for me that I will never forget. Not only for Cura's truly exceptional tenor of baritone color with a famous and so rare tear in his voice, which I have admired many times on all his recordings for Erato (with which he signed an exclusive contract in 1997), but also for his exceptional acting. I can't offer you photos from the show, because the Japanese are uncompromising in this respect and I didn't dare "pi-rat-skych" photos, so at least a few words. He can express his characters by facial expressions, gestures or simple glances to convey every bit of his character’s mind and performs constantly, even if he is not singing and the audience's attention is focused on his partners. He is not afraid to sing the part of Celeste Aida while reclining and he is a perfect colleague to his partner on stage. He’s not the star and doesn’t have a star’s mannerism, he simply putting all into the service of the work. In the end, he proved this with his friendly communicativeness with the entire ensemble of the Prague State Opera.

Aida at Massimo between opera and theater two nice surprises

La Repubblica

Michelangelo Zurletti

24 April 1998

[Excerpt]