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

Jose Cura: "Artists Become Famous Before They Turn into Artists"

Classic FM

Georgi Mitov-Gemi

[Excerpt]

Tenor, director and opera producer, conductor, photographer. Pure, open, provocative, hearty.  The famous Jose Cura returned to Bulgaria at the invitation of the State Opera - Plovdiv to join the Otello (Giuseppe Verdi) performance within the Opera Open festival, part of the Plovdiv - European Capital of Culture 2019 program.

"On July 26, I will be on stage at the Ancient Theater in Plovdiv with a band of my excellent fellow singers, the choir and orchestra of the State Opera - Plovdiv and the magnificent technical staff that works so well in front of and behind the stage. So everything is ready for everyone to come and enjoy a wonderful show and spend nice moments together.” With this friendly invitation, Jose Cura addressed the listeners of Classic FM Radio, not forgetting to appreciate the level of his Bulgarian colleagues. "They work on a highly professional level and the climate is great. It would be wonderful to work here and do even more, since it has been 16 years since my last visit. It's been many years! It is good that Plovdiv is the European Capital of Culture. The body is magnificent. The opera theater is excellent and the director Nina Naidenova is very friendly and well prepared. I feel good and if they invite me, I will come back without a problem,” confirmed the Argentine opera singer.

Tonight in Plovdiv he will play one of his crowning roles - that of Otello, partnering with Tanya Ivanova (Desdemona), and visiting baritone Piero Teranova (Iago). The remaining parties are distributed among Elena Chavdarova - Isa, Mark Fowler, Alexander Baranov, Alexander Nosikov, Yevgeny Arabadzhiev and August Metodiev. The conductor of one of the most powerful musical dramas in the opera literature is Maestro Dian Chobanov. The production director (also director of the Plovdiv Opera, Assoc.), Prof. Nina Naydenova, examines the constantly changing duality in the relations of the heroes and peeps in the darkest depths of the human heart. The Ancient Theater was transformed into medieval Cyprus by scenographer Svetoslav Kokalov ("Askeer" for "Storm" and "Don Quixote" by Alexander Morfov). The costumes from the period are made by the artist Tsvetanka Petkova - Stoynova, and the dancing is placed by the choreographer Boryana Sechanova. The choir is led by Dragomir Yosifov, and the concertmaster Miko Dimitrov is head of the Plovdiv Opera Orchestra. In the preparation of the show is included the stage martial artist Kamen Ivanov, who helps the soloists to master the intricacies of the fencing.

José Cura has performed the role of Otello hundreds of times on world stages including the Salzburg Festival, Barcelona's Gran Liceu, Teatro Regio in Torino, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, the Teatro Real in Madrid and others. In the last two years, the remarkable maestro debuted in two major opera productions -  Tannhäuser by Richard Wagner at the Monte Carlo Opera and Peter Grimes by Benjamin Britton at the Opera Theater in Bonn, Germany.

The world-famous musician is concerned about the next generation of talented artists. "New voices come from China, Japan, Korea, Russia. This is a specific public phenomenon. When I was young, I often asked why so many South Americans came to sing in Europe. The answer is that in South America the difference between succeeding and failing is to eat or not to eat. The same happens with boys and girls from Asia, Korea, China, Russia, Balkan countries."

The 56-year-old tenor remains cautious about the future of opera art. "Artists become known before they have become such. To be an artist, you have take time," said Maestro Cura. "By the end of the 90's and the beginning of this century, to be famous, you had to have a bunch of qualities - artistic, professional," he stresses. "Today, to become famous, you need to master the means of communication to serve you - the Internet, Youtube, Instagram. Talent is abundant and mass media ruins it. Now are the junior conductors and conductors. It's nice, it's beautiful, but when I was young, you could not be an orchestra conductor at the age of 20, but a helper, an assistant conductor, and as such, you learned the craft. Today, at 20 they are already being chosen for conductors of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra or the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. I think you must first learn the knowledge and then take that job," said Cura.

In his words, "we are probably losing the opportunity to have great talented artists, as we ruin them before we let them grow, so the future is at stake. In the case of the classical musician, whether violinist, pianist, singer or an orchestra conductor, you have to invest 15 years of your life so you can understand this vocation, which is as beautiful as it is difficult. How many young people today are willing to invest 15-20 years of their life not just to succeed but just to find out if they can succeed at all? But conducting an orchestra, performing an opera or playing a violin is not learned from Wikipedia. There is no way this can happen!"

At the end of the interview, José Cura noted the 25th anniversary of Classif FM radio with these words:  "Anyone who has reached 25 years of something and continues to maintain enthusiasm and a desire to do so, deserves a great applause, congratulations and good luck!"

José Cura - the Noble Argentinean

The famous tenor will sing at the Ancient Theater in Plovdiv on July 26th

BNR

Lili Goleminova

25 July 19

[Excerpt]

We all know that Plovdiv is the European Capital of Culture. It is clear that all traditionally large festivals are part of the special program on this occasion; this is the situation with Opera Open. The fact is that the programming of the festival this year is extremely strong. My personal favorite is Otello with José Cura.

While the entire schedule is strong, the figure of the Argentinian tenor is bright and outstanding in many respects. Wrapped in clichés—from the definition of the "fourth tenor" after the three big through the sexiest tenor to the most arrogant among the tenors—he likes to have an opinion and express it.  He has even confronted the audience…

He is certainly brave but more importantly he how he sings. It is good that in Plovdiv he will perform in one of his crowning roles (based on number of performances and critical assessment), namely Otello.

But let's at the beginning, and that’s on December 5, 1962, in the Argentine city of Rosario, the capital of the province of Santa Fe. It was then that José Luis Victor Cura Gómez was born. He first played classical guitar, at 15 he debuted as a choral conductor, at 16 he began playing piano and studying composition - that is, his preparation was multifaceted before he ever started singing.

In fact, his great dream was (and is) to compose. He went to the university in his hometown, then won a scholarship to Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, focused heavily on conducting and composing, but singing was already on the agenda. In 1991 (when he was almost 30) he moved to Italy with the idea of ​​a singing career.1994 was extremely important for the Argentinean:  he won the first Operalia Award and made his first big record for a full-length opera for a large company, Puccini’s Le villi.  It was also in 1994 that he had many [international] debuts, including in the USA (in Umberto Giordano’s Fedora alongside Mirela Freni). A year later he debuted at Covent Garden in Verdi's Stiflio.  Key roles followed in Samson and Dalila, Norma, Carmen, André Chénier ... his repertoire was becoming more and more extensive, and impressive interpretations guarantee him the place among the most promising new singers. In 1997 he sang at the festival in Ravenna under the baton of Ricardo Muti in Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana.

Meanwhile, the BBC chose Cura for the Puccini segment in the Great Composers series. That same year he made his debut at La Scala in Ponchielli’s Gioconda and was immediately invited back for the next two seasons, still under the baton of Ricardo Muti. Meanwhile he sang duets with Sarah Brightman while continuing to expand his repertoire.  He also made his first appearance in Otello at Teatro Regio […] and the headlines the next day were stunning - "José Cura: A new Otello is born." Afterwards were gigs in the big opera on the five continents. And now he comes to Plovdiv.

Of course, José Cura is not a typical tenor.  His passion for conducting has led him along a different path. At the end of the 90s [ed:  early 2000s] he received an invitation for a three-year contract with Sinfonia Varsovia (taking the baton not from just anyone but from Yehudi Menuhin). 

[Later] the talented Argentinean moved into two additional roles, that of director and set designer, first with Samson et Dalila in Germany and then Cavalleria rusticana [and Pag] in the Walloon region of Belgium.  He has also been named a guest professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London.  And with that, we mark just a few of the great events and successes in the career of José Cura. 

Undoubtedly, he cannot go unnoticed either on or off the stage.  And now he becomes part of Plovdiv’s role as the European Capital of Culture.

We expect a great show!