Tenor José Cura will perform for the first time at the Prague State Opera, performing as Otello

Český rozhlas

29 January 2015

One of the most sought-after contemporary tenor will perform for the first time today on the Czech opera stage.  Argentine José Cura will appear at the Prague State Opera in the title role of Giuseppe Verdi’s Otello.  It is a role for which José Cura has gained worldwide fame:  in the last few seasons he has appeared as Otello in Vienna, Berlin, and New York.

According to the experts, Argentinean tenor José Cura has the resonant voice and unusually drama delivery that makes him a desirable representative of Otello on the most prestigious stages of the world

He has been singing the title role in the Verdi opera for more than twenty years; however, only at the age of fifty could he begin to understand it.

“I would say that my Otello is only beginning to emerge.  Twenty years ago, I knocked on his door.  Finally he has opened that door and let me in.  And I am slowly getting into his head, penetrating into the finest vibrations of his soul that motivate his actions.  And also in the context of this incredible drama,” Cura says.

A play about love and revenge can be outdated and obsolete for many people.  Cura thinks otherwise:

“How often today is it that people cheat and betray us?  That make political or other careers at any price?  How modern and contemporary is the issue of domestic violence?  And it’s all part of Otello.”

Tenor Cura will perform in the Czech Republic in an operatic role for the first time.  “At the Prague State Opera and I am thrilled.  Artistic director and conductor Martin Leginus is a professional, I collaborate well with the Czech soloists and chorus, there’s a good working atmosphere.  I would love to come back to Prague,” he adds. “”But the next time I come to Prague I would like to try out the role of conductor and director.”

Cura repeats the role of Otello at the State Opera on 24 February.

José Cura Will Perform Twice in Prague as Otello

Opera Plus / Reuters

27 January 2015

One of the most sought-after contemporary tenors, Argentine singer José Cura, will perform on 29 January and 24 February in Prague State Opera productions.  Meet the tenor who sings the title role in Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Otello under the baton of the State Opera’s Music Director Martin Leginus.

“It may sound like a joke, but the development of this role is comparable to my own personal development as a person.  When I was thirty-four, I was on staging playing a fifty year old man.  And now, when I am really fifty, I don’t have to pretend,” said Cura.

One of the last performances of the famous tenor and conductor was the character of Dick Johnson at the Vienna State Opera in September last year.  His greatest success, however, remains Otello, which in the last two seasons he has sung in Buenos Aires, Vienna, at the Metropolitan Opera in New York under the baton of Semyoun Byčkova and at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, conducted by Donald Runnicles.

Cura believes that his cooperation with the State Opera will not stop [with his performances at Otello]. "I believe that these two performances will be the beginning of my more frequent guest appearances. I would like it, but it's not just me who decides on it," said Cura, who has already appeared in the Czech Republic several times.  “But this is the first time in Prague in an opera,” said the fifty-two year old singer who last performed in the Czech Republic in Ostrava in March last year.

Originally devoted to conducting, composing and playing the guitar, Cura began to sing professionally at 28.  In 1994 he won the prestigious international competition Operalia.  Last October in the world heard the premier of his Stabat mater at St Nicholas’s Cathedral in Česke Budějovické.  It was part of an evening of music for the soul at the South Bohemian Theatre on the eve of All Souls’ Day.  Cura, who attended the concert, relinquished the baton to his frequent conductor and Music Director of the South Bohemian opera, Mario De Rose. 

Cura describes Otello as a modern and complex work.  To him, it is the picture of the contemporary world in great moral crisis.

Othello (Otello in Italian), is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi.  The Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito was based Othello, Moor of Venice by William Shakespeare.  The premier took place on February 5, 1887 in Milan.  The Czech premiere took place at the National Theater in Prague on January 7, 1888.

“I look forward to seeing you on Thursday.  You will recognize me easily.  I’ll be in black,” the charismatic Cura told reporters. 

José Cura

Scena

[Excerpt]

One of the most sought-after tenors of today, the Argentine singer José Cura, will perform on January 29 and February 24, 2015 at the Prague State Opera. He will perform in the title role of Giuseppe Verdi's opera Otello under the baton of the music director of the State Opera Martin Leginus.

"It may sound like a joke, but the development of this role is comparable to my own personal development as a human being. When I was thirty-four, I had to play a 50-year-old on stage. And now that I'm really fifty, I don't have to pretend." Cura (1962). "Before, they dyed my hair white, now they add black to it for a change," laughs the sympathetic singer.

Otello, whom he has played more than 200 times, has brought him the greatest success. In the last two seasons alone, he sang it in Buenos Aires, Vienna, at the Metropolitan Opera in New York under the baton of Semyon Byckov and at the Deutsche Oper Berlin with conductor Donald Runnicles.

Cura believes that his collaboration with the State Opera will not end. "I believe that these two performances will be the beginning of my more frequent guest appearances. I would like that, but it's not just me who decides on it," said Cura, who has performed several times in the Czech Republic. "But for the first time in Prague I will perform at the opera and in this house. The State Opera in Prague deserves to be one of the best opera houses in Europe. I discovered a great young conductor and people who really want to sing. I would like to work here with this team of enthusiasts, in something that would be tailor-made for this house. "

Music director Martin Leginus confided that he had first seen Cura’s Otello at the Vienna State Opera, where he had to wait 5 hours for a ticket since as a student he could only afford a standing ticket. "And now I'm going to stand here in Prague again - Fortunately, now I'll be very close!" And obviously looking forward to the conducting podium. "You should have called me then and said that in 15 years you would be the conductor of this music house in Prague. I would have given you a ticket," laughed Cura.

Our meeting ended in a more serious tone. Mr. Cura described Otello as a modern and highly complicated work, addressing the current issue of religious intolerance and killing in the name of God. He also finds in it a picture of the contemporary world, which according to him is in a great moral crisis. "Everyone asks me about the future of classical music. But I'm not worried about classical music, I'm worried about the future of the whole world. There is talk of an economic crisis, but the economic crisis is only the result of a great moral crisis.”

	This is a computer generated, enhanced translation of the original article.  It is designed to give you a general sense of the article

Cura Sings Otello at the State Opera

Hospodářské Noviny

Frank Kuznik

29 January 2015

 

The Argentine tenor José Cura couldn’t refuse the challenge: the title role of Verdi’s Otello, which he first undertook in 1997 in Turin.  Claudio Abbado conducted and it was transmitted by Italian TV.  The risk paid off.  The day after the Italian newspaper La Nazione proclaimed:  “A new Otello is born!”  It was this event that started Cura touring the world in the role with which he is most associated with today.  He has sung Otello almost two hundred times.  He will sing it today and again on 24 February as a guest of the Prague State Opera.

When speaking of the Moof of Venice, Cura is uncompromising:  “Otello is a noble general but a pathetic antihero,” he said before today’s performance.  “What is heroic about an apostate who, for political reasons, converts to another religion? This is how mercenaries behave. Otello could use his power to free his enslaved brethren.  Instead, he humiliates and ultimately kills his wife.  The character of Iago in fact does not exist, he is simply the dark side of the Moor.”

Today he is considered one of the world’s greatest tenors but in addition to that he is engaged as conductor, director, and photographer.  During the eighteen years he has spent with Otello, Cura has obviously had the opportunity to think about the figure often.  “The great tragedy of extremely complicated characters like Otello is that they never get old.  The more you sing these roles, the more you discover,” he says.  “I wrote about it in a novel, which has not yet come out, and last year I was in Buenos Aires directing the opera.  Now we are editing the film that I recorded there.” 

The local audience who come to hear Cura sing Otello today or next month will have the benefit of those 18 years.  “When I started, I had to paint my hair gray. That problem has fixed itself,” says Cura, whose Otello has evolved physically as well.  “At thirty-five, I had to pretend to be fifty. Today, the pretense has ended.”

Cura has performed several times in the Czech Republic, once when he gave a mixed recital in which he sang during the first half and conducted in the second.  He has also guested several times in opera roles:  four years ago he was applauded at the Revolving Theater in Cesky Krumlov when he sang Canio in Ruggiero Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci.  “We negotiated hastily for the State Opera so I could fit only two performances into my schedule.  But I really hope that my cooperation with the National Theater continues and will be followed by other performances which I could either conduct or direct,” he says.

To ‘bounce’ into the position of conductor or director is no guarantee of applause; however, Cura recalls the great tradition of the opera—with Zemlinksy and Szell conducting Strauss for Gigli and Caruso—and hopes the Czech audience will view him similarly. “The Czechs has a reputation for being able to understand completely everything that an artist has to say.  So far I have had good experiences with the Czech audience.”

I Am Only Beginning to Discover Otello!

Český rozhlas

Markéta Kaňková

January 29, 2015

On the stage of the Prague State Opera on 29 January will be one of today’s most sought-after tenors.  Argentine José Cura will perform as Otello in the Giuseppe Verdi opera; it is the role for which he has earned aworld-wide reputation

Verdi’s Otello has played a crucial role in your career and has brought you world fame.  You have been singing the role for more than twenty years.  In just the last two seasons you have been Otello in Buenos Aires, Vienna, and New York City (Met).  Has the role become a bit routine for you?

Absolutely not!  Rather the opposite.  I would say my Otello is only just beginning to emerge.  After twenty years of knocking on his door, he has finally opened the door and let me in.  I am slowly getting into his head, penetrating the finest vibrations of his soul to discover the motivations for his actions.  Also, the context of this drama is incredible, not only Otello but every character in the play is exceptional.  Personally, I am fascinated by how well Verdi hit the drama, how much he tried to understand the the character of Otello and how he was able to show that understanding in his music.  All of this is absolutely clear from his letters.  Verdi created in Otello a fantastic, emotionally profound work that is still a source of inspiration and joy to me even after twenty years.

Otello is perceived primarily as a play about love, jealousy and revenge.  As a Shakespearean tragedy it seems remote from the problems of our contemporary world.  Do you see some parallels in the drama in the present day?  For you, is Otello a modern drama?

Is Otello modern?  I will ask you a few questions, and if the answers are “yes” it will also be the answer. How common is it today for people to cheat and betray us?  To succeed in politics or another career at any price?  Is it modern today for Muslims or members of other faiths to kill in the name of God?  How modern and contemporary is the issue of domestic violence? How often do we hear of dead lovers or mistresses?  And all this is part of Otello. So how modern is Otello?

You have outlined a number of serious problems of today.  Among other things, religious intolerance is perhaps one of the main problems of the contemporary world.  Do you think you can anything about that through art?  Can artists change anything?

I firmly believe that as artists we are ambassadors of beauty.  We have a great responsibility to keep the atmosphere in society at the highest possible level. But it is hard nowadays to convince people of the beauty of opera, ballet, or painting when in the news the day after visiting a theater or gallery we read that three fools broke into a newsroom and killed all the journalists.  Or that a girl of twelve hid a bomb under her dress, went to a supermarket and exploded it and killed two hundred people.  I think that under the circumstances, we have an obligation in spite of everything to keep creating and making art, but we have to stop thinking that we artists are the center of the world.

I am often asked the question if I’m worried about the future of opera and classical art.  It is a question that is irrelevant.  If we continue doing what we are doing what we are doing now—hating, killing, making war—then no one is going to make time to go to the theater or have an interest in art. So the answer is clear: let’s make art something that is not outside reality, but a part of it. Then we have a chance to change something.

Let’s talk for a moment about you as a theater performer. You are not only an opera singer but also a showman who seems to take—regardless of the role you sing—enormous pleasure from contact with the audience.  Is that the main reason you go on stage, to communicate with people, to transfer energy through music?

About twenty years ago an American magazine wrote about me that Mr Cura should realize that art was not invented for his pleasure. It was after a concert that I very much enjoyed. And I passed my own pleasure along to the audience.  That critic might believe I should speak with the face of someone who has just returned from a cemetery, with a straight face and tortured soul.  But this is a huge mistake. I think that the artist should have joy in his work and thank God for it.  He should do what he can to transmit positive energy to the audience.  And this is what I am trying to do through music and what I definitely want to keep doing.

We have the great opportunity to see you in the role of Otello on the stage of the Prague State Opera.  You have mentioned you would like to return to Prague again in the future.  In what form, what performance, what role?

It honestly does not matter to me.  I received an invitation to the State Opera and any further cooperation depends on the management of the theater. I sincerely regret that we have just two days for Otello rehearsals.  In two days, you can only soak up the possibilities, the potential of people and places, but you can’t develop it.  In any case, I am excited to be at the Prague State Opera.  Artistic director and conductor Martin Leginus is a professional, I collaborate well with the Czech soloists and chorus, there is a good working atmosphere.  Because of all this, I would like to come back to Prague.

Can you be more specific?  We know you not just as a singer but also as a conductor and opera director.  It would be great if you did a project in Prague where you could be a figure in all these roles. 

José Cura:  Without Prague my Artistic Pedigree in Not Complete

Ceskatelevize

29 January 2015

Prague – One of the today’s most sought after tenors, Argentine José Cura, spoke Thursday evening at the Prague State Opera.  He was introduced as the singer in the title role of Verdi’s Otello, a role he first sang when he was 34.  “It took me twenty years to really understand this character, to figure out the drama,” said Cura.

 “For me, it is very important that I can finally sing for the first time in Prague at the State Opera.  It is inconceivable that I sang in almost all the theaters in the world and never in Prague. My artistic pedigree was not complete.  I needed it.  I needed to be in Prague and I am really enjoying every minute of this job,” he said.

Otello is like a marathon

According to Cura, Otello is a highly complicated masterpiece that is also essentially a modern work.  The violent and frustrating story is a picture of the contemporary world, which is in great moral crisis:  “I don’t like the story but that is what it tells you.  It is a story of betrayal, jealousy, soldiering, apostasy, about a lot of the negative elements that Shakespeare used to denounced them.  In this sense, the opera, or better, the drama, is always current.”

Otello is also a very challenging musically. “It’s like you run a marathon.  The best marathon runners are not the youngest but most experienced.  Because they know how to handle those forty-two kilometers.  If you run the first two kilometers at full throttle, you are not going to make it to the second half.  In Otello, it is the same.  You have to cleverly pace the tempo to master this very difficult role until the end,” said the renowned tenor. .

Otello – José Cura at the State Opera for the First time

Harmonie

11 February 2015

Markéta Jůzová

[Excerpts]

The famous Argentine tenor José Cura, after accepting the offer made by National Theater Director Jana Burian and the Director of the National Theater and State Opera House Silvie Hroncove, came to the stage of the State Opera on 29 January 2015 as the star in a production of Verdi’s opera Otello, in a role which the singer has performed in prestigious venues around the world. 

In the opera history of Czech theater, however, the first notable collaborations with the famous singer came earlier in new productions developed by the Theater of South Bohemia in České Budějovice and Český Krumlov International Music Festival.  From 5 thorugh 10 August 2011, Cura portrayed Canio in the Ruggiero Leoncavallo verismo opera, Pagliacci, under the direciton of Josef Průdka at the Revolving Auditorium in Český Krumlov.  The following season he appeared in a production of Otello at the Slovak National Theater in Bratislava under the same director.

And even though Cura had not yet sung opera in our town, the orchestra knew him from an earlier time when he sang Radames in Verdi’s Aida during a 2001 tour through Japan with the Prague State Opera.  This year he joined the production originally staged in 1991 by director Dominik Neuner who works primarily in Germany and conductor Martin Turnovksý.  The work became a hit but in 2009 the opera was restaged by Lubor Cukr and Heiko Mathias Förster.  Cura, while stressing his pleasure at being on the stage of the State Opera, admitted his frustration with the directorial concept of the work. Conductor and Music Director of the State Opera Martin Leginus expressed admiration for Cura’s work and stated that having the famous singer perform brought great benefits to the house.  Both suggested they were open to possible collaboration on other interesting opera projects in the future.

José Cura was surrounded by the Czech-Slovak opera team and at the same time exposed to both the professional pressures and minimal rehearsal hours.  In Prague, he admitted that he had not even receive a recording of the performance on DVD from the theater before the planned evening; he entered into a relationship that was more complex and hectic than before.  He thus entered a more hectic and complex situation than, for example, before the premiere of Pagliacci in Český Krumlov, where he knew the directorial concept in detail well in advance.  The singer knows from joint cooperation that that many of the Czech orchestras are very good; however, the State Opera Orchestra was not an equal partner for Cura, although at times during the course of the evening and under the leadership of Martin Leginus it was able to play very romantically and impressively. At the level of phrasing, suggestive wording arching across the melodies and dynamism are areas, the players in the orchestra and the conductor could learn from sensitive listening to great singers. 

Cura is famous for his dark tenor voice but in Prague the lyrical passages of the arias were sung in a clear and bright, though muted, voice. In confrontations with Desdemona, the Slovak soprano Eva Hornyákovou, Iago, (Richard Haanem), and Cassio (Richard Samkem), he approached the title role with a great deal of emotion, talent, and a firm grasp of the interior psychology of the character, which was presented on stage with fine facial details and precise gestures that offered clear testimony about the current emotional state and his relationship to his surroundings.  In front of the audience Cura masterfully, uniquely and, above all, naturally portrayed this complex character and set a high standard of incarnating opera characters for his colleagues.  A huge ovation, with waves of applause and screams of Bravo, rewarded him at the end of the fourth act.

	This is a computer generated, enhanced translation of the original article.  It is designed to give you a general sense of the article

 

José Cura at the State Opera:  Otello without Compromise

OperaPlus

Robert Rytina

30 January 2015

[Excerpts]

Ever since the media reported that José Cura would perform the lead role in Verdi’s Otello at the Prague State Opera, the upcoming event engendered two views. The first was sincere enthusiasm that the tenor, who is among the world’s top stage performers, was finally in our capital city.  The second was a certain level of malice. Cura has recently appeared on various occasions in Olomouc, Czech Budejovice, and two series of performances of Pagliacci at the turntable stage in Czech Krumlov. Like an old friend Cura had even been involved directly with the State Opera: ten years ago he joined the ensemble to tour Japan with Verdi’s Aida, working with members of the orchestra and choir in a rather intense experience. Idea number two, then, about Prague hosting the singer was almost conventional. José Cura was not just an ornament at the Vienna Staatsoper, the Met or Covent Garden, but also at theaters in Linz, Karlsruhe, Warsaw and Bratislava, so as far as our city is concerned—it’s about time.

So how big was the celebration in Prague (where Cura had previously sang and conducted in 2002 and 2003 in the Municipal House) for this current Verdi engagement?  If I may say so, it was definitely exceptional. José Cura presents himself as a solitary figure among the singing elite—he is not dependent on influential management or record companies. This fact gives him complete freedom in his artistic plans. As a passionate singer, conductor, director and photographer in one person he can undoubtedly choose from a menu of offerings from around the world.  And as you can see, it seems the attraction of interesting items on the menu draws him more than the reputation of the place from which it comes.  Certainly, the ‘solitaire’ Cura is now probably more of an achievable celebrity than those represented by top agencies, but still his presence remains an event.

This singer’s willingness to portray Otello at the State Opera is particularly worthy of special attention.  Honestly, since Placido Domingo only José Cura has claimed global ownership of this pivotal Verdi role.  He caused a sensation in his debut in the role in Turin in 1997—with Barbara Frittoli and Ruggeri Raimondi at his side and the Berlin Philharmonic under Claudio Abbado in the lead.  In subsequent Otello performances Cura has won the acclaim from many stage that accompanies him to this day. Try to answer this yourself: who among the current tenor stars can aspire to remove the Argentine from his throne as the Lion of Venice? With all due respect to Aleksandrs Antonenko or Johan Botha, I am afraid we will have to wait for some time for another Otello.

Personally, I had the opportunity to see and hear Cura as Otello in a staging at the Vienna State Opera in 2001.  The tenor had a very youthful appears and portrayed the jealous Moor from the outset as quite neurotic, suspicious and almost paranoid.  Visually and thanks to the characteristic tension in his voice he clearly represented a sort of volcano before an explosion. Iago (Renato Bruson) seemed to have enjoyed the possibilities of how easy it was to provoke the nervous monster, and then only to chuckle as he took in the effects and consequences of his experiment.

With the passage of fourteen years from that experience, I was wondering in what further directions the singer had developed the role. In numerous interviews Cura himself makes no secret of his conviction that only now as a man in fifties does he feel completely authentic in the role of Otello as a mature man. What experience awaited the audience in the completely filled auditorium at the Prague State Opera on Thursday, January 29?

Cura entered the minimalist production as a formidable figure in a bright white uniform, but one with graying hair and a big mustache.  It was clear that Cura sees his commander as an experienced man in the prime of life, longing to be a mentor for those around him and one with natural authority. He dealt with the drunken fight between Cassius and Montano with the objectivity of a teacher who has caught his students fighting: an immediate punishment and admonition ended the entire affair for him, and its relation to future events was tragically missed.  Extremely interesting was where Cura took Otello’s relationship with Desdemona. It seemed this husband loved his wife but felt—given the considerable age difference—a kind of paternal guardianship as well.  The duet at the end of the first act effectively managed the right compromise between these two positions with Desdemona falling asleep and Otello acting more like a caring parent who guards his daughter’s sleep.

In the second act was the moment that I personally perceived as one of the highlights of the show. During the quartet—Otello, Desdemona, Iago, and Emilia—Cura changed from the sober Otello with nagging doubt about the fidelity of his wife. This drastic transformation in personality portrayed by the singer was absolutely masterful. Tension and anger was then replaced with negotiation, a sort of passiveness.  There was a somewhat weakened musical duet with Iago but conceptually in this role he worked to contrast euphoria  with the subsequent apathy naturally.

At the beginning of the third act Otello is found alone in a royal pose in the foreground of an empty stage; it is obvious that Iago has supplied evidence to fully confirm his darkest fears. In the scene with Desdemona, his undefined relationship with her turned almost schizophrenic—Otello erupted in an outburst of jealousy, which sharply replaced his attempt to treat his wife from the position of an educator. In this role, however, the Moor failed and after symbolically throwing his wife to the ground he collapsed himself on the stage in tears.  Rather than crying over the dire situation, he was instead in grief over his inability to deal with it. For the monologue “Dio! Mi potevi scagliar” Cura sang mostly lying down and in a painful state.  Before the end, however, he was already on his feet again and his Otello comes to the scene with the envoy Lodovico with almost frantic ecstasy, during which the Warlord’s fury, bordering on symptoms of mental illness, horrified the public. 

Whoever expected to see Cura as a crazy monster without control in the fourth act of Otello had a surprise.  The dialog before strangling Desdemona was presented by the interpreter with a kind of cool objectivity, with folded hands:  Otello had already settled on his wife’s murder. The subsequent allegations and clarification by Emily and Cassio of Iago’s intrigues caused Otello’s entire world to collapse. Before his suicide he realized who he actually wanted to be: an example of wisdom and life experiences to those around him.  The events of recent days, however, convinced him of his utter failure: Otello doesn’t die as a noble hero but as a sobbing wreck.

It remains to be added that his portrait of the Moor of Venice rested also on Cura’s respectable voice and speech. The initial entry of "Esultate” was difficult…he gave the impression that as a singer he might be having a little trouble with a natural full treble, but the concerns quickly dissipated. By the end of the first act, his voice sounded very balanced in all positions.  Despite his excellent natural vocal performance his is not exactly an example of absolute obedience to the style and the score, though Cura can still persuade listeners with a voice that is always directly proportional to the performance of a particular role.  The tenor feel for language and his ability to work effectively with the slightest phrase is an approach I find fully justified.

[…]

During the enthusiastic standing ovation after the performance José Cura engaged in a series of slapstick traditions.  First he bowed to the prompter’s box, inhabited by Mrs. Catherine Sováková, shook her hand and then handed her flowers. When he was caught during one of the other curtain openings with his back to the audience, he turned, stood at attention and saluted.  Certainly he will long be remembered for his elegant [action with the flowers] which Cura unexpected threw to the women’s chorus.

 So much for the forty-first reprise of Verdi’s Otello at the Prague State Opera.  The forty-second (already sold out) will be held February 24 with virtually the same cast, with only Pavla Vykopalová replacing Eva Hornyáková in the role of Desdemona.   

Attempt at Worldliness

Harmonie

Lubos Stehlik

31 January 2015

[Excerpt]

The year-long project of Czech Radio Vltavais is to pull together the heroes of poetry, literature, resistance of Czech and international cultural and social history; pride of place are heroes and antiheroes in the world of opera. These certainly include Shakespeare’s Othello and its simplified shadow as written by Giuseppe Verdi and Arrigo Boito.  On Thursday, January 29,  2015, the National Theatre presented on the stage of the Prague State Opera  the Argentine tenor (also a conductor, director, composer, photographer, painter and entrepreneur) José Cura in the title role of Verdi’s Otello, the deranged jealous hero who quickly changes into a pathetic villain.  It was an interesting attempt at worldliness, hosting a famous artist not at an opera gala as we are used to seeing in Prague but in repertory performances.

José Cura, aging in years and graying, has multiple demands and activities.  His acting and stage deportment is mature and intelligent and he is certainly one of the most interesting (media-attractive) opera stars.  But if the theater wants to gain international stature it should be deploying the best available [singers] to partner the star.

I will not write about director Dominik Neuner because intellectually he was close to impotent and that is regrettable.  What surprised me, on the contrary, was that the State Opera Orchestra and the singers of the State Opera Choir were not accurate in intonation which did no honor to Mr. Verdi.  Deliciously pure chords were scarce. It should be added that a share of the responsibility belongs to conductor Martin Leginus.

Who were Cura’s teammates?  They were dominated by the young tenor Richard Samek.  His healthy, clear voice was a joy to listen to and was perfect for the role of Cassio.  Others were only sparring partners.  Richard Haan was the manifestation in voice and expression of a dull caricature of the insidious and evil symbolized by Iago and the undoubtedly talented Eva Hornyáková so far has neither vocal nor [stage] experience and although she belongs to the younger generation of singers, her high notes sounded forced, as if she were twenty years older.  When interpreting the the singing of 'O Salce!' and 'Ave Maria' I could only keep my fingers crossed that it would go well, at least.  Naturally, I did not expect to hear a performance like Tebaldi, Te Kanawa, Fleming, Freni, Cappuccilli, D’Arcangelo…but still the Opera should have been able to find better.

What about José Cura? At the beginning I was startled by the vocal instability and the force in the intense dynamics in the higher register, which had to climb over the over-exposed Orchestra.  Uncertainty due to movement on the stage is a natural condition but some of the uncertain notes were certainly unnecessary.  Fortunately, he calmed down, he sang ecstatically and especially in the last act was suggestive.  Otello, however, like no other Verdi character, is a complex role and Cura’s acting, which dominated the evening, was so extraordinary and unprecedented in my experience that I forgive him everything. 

Certainly it is a good thing that the National Theatre (with the help of the Bohemian Heritage Fund) invited José Cura but the hosts should be better prepared and consider whom to invite. I wish the National Theater to cast the second Otello on 24 February differently so that José Cura can introduce fans to his mature art at the highest level.

Is Cura’s Otello a promise of further cooperation?

Novinky

Radmila Hrdinova

25 February 2015

Twice in one month the Prague National Opera at the State Theater has presented one of the opera world’s leaders, Argentine tenor José Cura, in the title role of Verdi’s Otello.  First on 29 January and then again on 24 February, each performance was of the greatest interest of the audience. 

Cura appeared in Prague for the first time on an opera stage (rather than on a concert stage) but he has already appeared at the Revolving Theater in Český Krumlov during the summer of 2011 in the role of Canio in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci and last year appeared in the cathedral in České Budějovice as the author of Stabat Mater, when the work had its world premiere with the South Bohemian Opera Orchestra.  He has also performed in concerts in other locations around the Czech Republic. 

Otello is one of Cura’s greatest roles and he has sung it on many stages around the world for almost twenty years.  And as he said in the press conference prior to his first performance here, he is still developing the character.

His Otello, as shown in Tuesday’s performance, is a mature man who initially seemed reluctant to believe in his own happiness and in the tender night scene (act I) with Desdemona it is evident from his words that he could die happy in this singular moment.  Even with the unexpected change in the tragic assumption of Desdemona’s infidelity unbalancing the man, the depth of his pain is indicated in gesture, facial expression, and especially his voice rather than by wild running around the stage as has become customary in some interpretations.  And his killing of Desdemona is the act of a man who has returned from hell with a horrible decision, and even though at the moment of execution he is absolutely convinced of its righteousness, he cannot resist affection towards the woman he loves so deeply.

At the start of the performance on Tuesday it seemed José Cura was not entirely on form, or that his voice could no longer exhibited the strength and brilliance it once did.  As the performance continued, however, his singing brightened and he soon convinced that his Otello is still an extraordinary experience.   Initially, the resounding voice permeated by emotions told more about the character than just well-sung notes.  Cura is always willing to sacrifice smooth and flowing sound for persuasive expressiveness, his voice sounding hoarse and strangled with jealousy and rage.  And he is particularly impressive in the poignant conclusion over the dead Desdemona, bitterly aware of his guilt.

However, director Dominik Neuner's 1991 production (revived six years ago by Lubor Cukor), with its austerity and the now almost untraceable trace of Neuner's former direction, does not give him much opportunity or inspiration to act out the characters and relationships.

[…]

The Orchestra and Chorus under the direction of Martin Leginus had some better and worse moments, primarily with the imperfect interplay of the choir and the orchestra.

Cura had a great success in Prague and it would certainly be beneficial to have him return, especially if he—as he suggested during the press conference—he had the opportunity to stage an original opera production in Prague.

Hallo, Kira and Deb!

We came back yesterday from some days in Prague - it's a wonderful city, but also in cold winter full of tourists. Our main reason was, to see Prague after a decade we had not been here - but the first war naturally: José Cura as Otello. Although we had seen him so many times in this opera (one of his best) - always there are some new gestures, postures and facial expressions - we are sure, he did it not as suggestion of the director!

The photos are with Jago (Richard Haan), Desdemona (Eva Hornyakova) and conductor (Martin Leginus). The most funny is when he throws one of the bouquet of flowers behind to the choir!

Hugz

Eva and Herbert

We travelled to Prague to see José’s Otello in the State Opera. There was full house. It was a difficult production with minimalist, bare staging – only stones were the props – and without too much light on the stage. But José’s unique Otello–dressed in white--shone through it with his enthralling Otello’s portrayal demonstrating his multi-coloured arsenal of the role in both voice and acting.  The Otello -Desdemona duet at the beginning of the 3. act and the ensuing moving solo “Dio mi potevi scagliar” were the highpoints of his performance for me. At one point he used Desdemona’s lying body on the ground to hide behind it when he spied after Cassio. His partners: Eva Hornyáková (Desdemona), Richard Hahn (Jago) and Richard Samek (Cassio) did their best as well as the excellent choir and orchestra (Martin Leginus). Final applause lasted about 9 minutes with standing ovation. --  Zsuzsanna

 

José Cura sings Otello, his iconic role three times at the Opera

MTI

translated by Zsuzsanna

Budapest, 30. January 2015.  (MTI) - José Cura will be heard three times as Otello, in his iconic role, at the Hungarian State Opera in early February. The Argentine star tenor also talked to MTI that he would be glad to direct an opera in Hungary.

Next Friday on 6^th February, José Cura will be heard by students, pensioners and large families at a notable reduced price in an open dress rehearsal held in the frame of the series of “Opera for Everyone” of the Hungarian State Opera. This is followed by two more regular performances on 8th and 11^th of February. Cura takes the stage in an Otello production directed by László Vámos with Polina Pasztircsák (Desdemona) and Anatolij Fokanov (Jago) on his side, under the baton of Marco Comin.

As Cura said to MTI, he would be glad introducing himself as a stage director in Hungary too. "In recent years, I created nearly ten productions, all of which were well received by audiences and critics alike. My production of Samson at Dalila, staged in Karlsruhe (2012) had been also released  on DVD, my production of Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci directed in Liege in 2012, as well as my Otello  directed in Buenos Aires in 2013 was voted as one of the best productions of the year. I hope one day I can create something like this in Hungary! "- said José Cura.

He also stated that he really loves to work in Hungary; he has good relationship not only with the musicians, singers and conductors, but the cooperation is also great with professionals working in the background - make-up artists, dressers, technicians.. He noted that in addition to the many professional bonds, he is tied with several really close friendships to Hungary.

José Cura will be heard even twice this year in Hungary: on 21^st February he gave a pop concert with Andrea Mahó in the László Papp Sport Arena of Budapest, while on 3^rd May he performs in the city of Győr in a concert of opera arias together with Győr Philharmonic Orchestra and Andrea Rost.

The Argentinean tenor is a frequent guest in Hungary. He could be seen in a full opera at first time by the Hungarian audience in 2008, when he sang the title role of Otello in the National Theatre of Szeged. He also formed Cavaradossi in this riverside city of Tisza in spring 2009. Recently, last year, he also dazzled the audience as Cavaradossi in the Hungarian State Opera in the Budapest Spring Festival.

The 52-year-old singer is widely regarded as one of the biggest tenors of today. He took the opera stage at the first time in Verona in 1992. Two years later he won the Operalia international singing competition founded by Placido Domingo. The young tenor was mentioned as the new star of the 1990s who was heaped with contract deals and was also celebrated by the audiences in Paris, London, Milan, New York. In 1997 he harvested explosive success in the title role of Otello written by his favorite composer, Giuseppe Verdi, under the baton of Claudio Abbado with the contribution of Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

José Cura: “I feel young at heart”

 Fidelio

Rita Szentgyörgyi

11 February 2015

Three Otello-performances at the Hungarian State Opera, one pop concert with Andrea  Mahó in the Budapest Sports Arena  in February, and an aria recital with Andrea Rost and the Győr Philharmonic Orchestra  in May: the Argentinean  superstar  will delight the Hungarian audience this year. 

-       You say that the “fourth tenor label” is a bad cliché, yet you follow in the three tenors’ footsteps by singing in a pop concert.

 

-      There are two kinds of music for me: good music and bad, regardless of whether it is pop, classical or crossover, although I cannot really understand the latter term.  If we consider this, my every aria recital is a pop concert, because the opera arias of Puccini or Verdi were hits in their ages.  My so-called “pop infection” goes back to the 60s. When I was young I sang Beatles songs in the streets of Rosario, but later, after I moved from Argentina to Italy with my wife, I made our living as a street musician.

 

-     The emblematic role of Otello has been with you for twenty years, since the 1997 Turin production conducted by Claudio Abbado.  In 2013, you also undertook the roles of stage director and set designer in your own Otello production in Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. What did have changed in your idea about this work of Verdi over the years?

 

-     Otello is neither a hero nor a nobleman. From the beginning, I played it in this deheroised way, which many people didn't like. My Otello is based more on Shakespeare's and Boito's texts than solely on the greatness of the tenor hero. In my twenties I had to imagine the murderous passion and jealousy of a middle-aged man. Now, in my fifties, I have the maturity to draw not on my imagination but on my own experience. Even though I feel young in spirit, when I wake up in the morning, my knees and shoulders ache here and there. These personal experiences are important to understand Otello's personality and his physical rhythm from the inside.
 

-      In your capacity as a conductor, director, set designer you are dealing in a complex way with the opera and the musical genre. Today, do you have more pleasure in working with an orchestra than in singing?

 

-       Each is a completely different challenge.  Singing is a personal matter, a singer has to take responsibility for himself, for his own physical, mental and spiritual state that night. I have been singing for thirty years now, mostly to connect with the audience. Conducting, on the other hand, is a greater responsibility, a complete attunement to the orchestra, the singers, the whole creative team. If you make mistakes, the others suffer because of you; if you are in good form, you can inspire them.

 

-       How How keen are you to promote forgotten or lesser-known Argentine songwriters?
 

-      Whenever I can, I try to move around the world as a musical and cultural ambassador for my country, Argentina. I often give classical chamber music recitals. In the concert at the Budapest Sports Arena I will sing a song by a legendary Mexican musician, Armando Manzanero..

 

-        Is it true that you would like to play spoken-word roles in a movie?   

 

-   I'm a big movie fan, mostly French art movies and English auteur cinemas.  I don’t like action movies or special effects films. Really I would really like to act in a European art film but so far  I have not met such a director yet who would consider me. And anyway, I am of the opinion that it's all right to die chasing an unrealized dream, because at least it keeps you young for life.

 

Production Photos

José Cura's Otello at the Hungarian State Opera House

Opera Világ

Gábor Bóka

8 February 2015

[Excerpt]

Audiences awaited José Cura's debut in the title role of Verdi's Otello as a miracle. We expected an outstanding performance from a big name, even if listeners who are up to date with opera life might have shaken their heads: foreign critics say that Cura is no longer at his peak... And those listeners could draw the conclusion, which is a result of both a sense of reality and an inferiority complex: he is still good enough for us.

This is the fifteenth year that Cura has been back in Hungary: he first came here at the height of his international fame so it is hard to say that he has only just noticed this small corner of the map. The fact that a world star is a regular visitor to our country should be greeted with sincere satisfaction, regardless of any criticism: it can give us the false illusion that Hungary is part of the international operatic bloodstream - and sometimes it is good to dream. So there is no need to look for aggravating or exculpatory circumstances if we want to evaluate José Cura's current capability: it stands on its own. Let's see what we can learn from the performance on 8 February.

First of all, the critic has a confession to make: despite the aforementioned decade and a half, this was the first time I had the opportunity to experience the Argentinean singer's art live; before this I had only had the chance to experience his work through recordings and radio broadcasts. These, however, do not seem to give a false picture of the main features of the Cura phenomenon: no one will ever accuse Cura of vocal perfection.  Both the question of loose reading of the music and the technical shortcomings of his singing are legitimate.  The latter, moreover, is closely linked to the problem of vocal range: Cura's high notes are severely limited - surely his performances will not be recorded in the golden book of operatic performance for the power and brightness of his exposed top notes. On the other hand, there is the natural beauty of the material.  It is a matter of taste whether one prefers a lighter tone than Cura’s dark one but if one has no objection to this baritone version, one must admit that Cura's voice is beautiful in the middle and lower registers and if the high notes are partially done, then they become beautiful by the convincing delivery. All this, however, could be expected. But the star also had some surprises in store for us - a lesson in something that many of his less prestigious colleagues could learn from: artistic humility. Cura could have overwhelmed the whole thing in his powerful voice, and a sizeable part of the audience would have applauded him. He does not do this: in the love duet, the monologue in the third act or the opera finale, he sings with a thousand emotions, tones and dynamic nuances - constrained by his technical limitations but with maximum imagination, always in the service of expression.

Even more pleasantly surprising was the singer’s acting ability: knowing the recording of a Barcelona production directed by Willy Decker, I was expecting a savage Otello, bordering on exaggeration, a kind of wild-man—but  this seems to have been merely the realization of Decker’s directing instructions. What struck me this time was the way Cura can exist on stage without frills; everything he does gives the illusion of naturalness, even though it is obvious that his performance is the result of a long deliberation, a precise working out of proportions.

So that's the inventory: the world star, temporarily stationed in our country, has given a performance that is far from flawless, but remarkable in many of its elements, and at certain moments, thanks to the weight of his personality, has been formidably performed. Where can we place him in the ranks of the great Otellos of the world, or even of his predecessors at the Opera House? It is hardly a question that can be answered with mathematical precision. What is certain is that, for the writer of these lines, Cura's many solutions will always be memorable, even if the performance as a whole falls short of others who provides a more complete experience overall.

[…]

"I was Otello" - José Cura at the Opera House

Operabemutatók

14 February 2015

11 February 2015 Performance

[Excerpt]

The anecdote persists that one of our illustrious writers, who once enjoyed more successful days, regularly introduced himself in his old age as “I was Ernő Szép.”  For some reason, I was reminded of this in connection with José Cura's performance on 11 February. He played Otello with a physique befitting the role but with a make-up-less appearance and an anemic performance alien to the character.

In László Vámos's staging, Otello's ship is already lurking on the director's right during the Storm Chorus, and before Esultate it is only pushed a good metre toward the middle. Then the victorious warlord comes in, throwing us something: a raspy tenor voice with a strong mid-range...

The next time Cura returns, we're in the thick of the action, the ensign has done his job successfully, the people are sufficiently agitated. Our Otello silences the argument with a few sentences, then turns to Desdemona.  This Otello paced back and forth, answering his wife moodily, without at any time showing any signs of emotion towards her.  How long will he mark? we wonder.

Otello does not show any particular fervor in the second act either.  The singer(s) are cautious to the point of mezzoforte; Cura gives no more than is appropriate for a proper rehearsal. The Ora e per sempre addio monologue is hurried at about double-time, the poor conductor barely able to keep up.  It is offered as if for no purpose at all: there are no emotions—or, if there are, just very basic ones. The singer's vocals are pleasant, supple, unemotional. The vengeance duet is reduced to a bland arm-waving...

Cura offered his first forté [in Act III], only after Desdemona provoked it. I toyed with the idea that this was the concept, that Otello was just patiently enduring life and it is only when a woman angers him that he explodes. When he banishes Desdemona, he does so to great effect, violently belittling her.  He slumps believably in his chair after the traumatic scene: the Dio, mi potevi monologue was the only part of Cura's performance that sounded balanced musically and in terms of the performance. It was at this point in the work that some kind of concept behind Cura's strange interpretation of the role was seriously suggested—this Otello just suppresses his temper until he suddenly bursts out with a primal instinct, although there is a difference between restrained temper and resigned passivity. But sadly, this feeling quickly disappears, because in the subsequent Iago-Otello-Cassio scene, Cura is back where he was before, handing over the performance to his partners.

This sense was not helped by some flashy but shallow theatrical gestures in the last act. His performance of Otello's death was very effective, but I was terribly disturbed by his free use of the score. As he sweeps his gaze over his surroundings during "Oh! Gloria, Otello fu..." phrase, it brought a pensive contemplation of a singer who once was "Otello"...

[…]