Suor Angelica 2019 (conductor)

José Cura Interview in Opera Lover re his Conducting of Suor Angelica in Poland.

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

José Cura Again at the Festival Ada Sari

OperaLover

Agata Ubysz

April 16, 2019

José Cura will conduct a concert version of the opera Suor Angelica for the first time in his career at the Ada Sari Festival. The event will inaugurate the jubilee 20th edition of the International Vocal Art Festival Ada Sari. In a conversation with Agata Ubysz, the famous tenor talks about sensuality, intimacy and blood in Puccini's works.

OperaLover: Soon you will be conducting for the second time at the International Vocal Art Festival Ady Sari, this time in Lusławice. What memories do you have about your stay in our country?

José Cura: Last time I conducted the Beethoven Academy Orchestra in December 2015. It was a nice performance, although my memories are painful. I went to the stage with flu and fever. Fortunately, the musicians were great and ready to support even a sick conductor. However, the first collaboration with this outstanding orchestra, namely the performance of the Mahler's Symphony No. 2, remains one of the most satisfying moments in my conductor's career.

OP: Your life is divided between singing and conducting. Which do you find more enjoyable?

JC: I would not like to talk about the division of my life between disciplines, but about its constant enrichment. Now, when after more than 30 years I started composing again, I have the impression that only now have I returned to my roots. The life of an opera diva is perhaps very exciting, especially when it comes to splendor, but it can also be poor in the intellectual sense ... unless you are curious about other disciplines and active in them.

OP: You have experience with conducting Puccini's operas, but is this the first time you have led the opera Suor Angelica?

JC: I conducted the operas Madama Buttefly, Tosca, Fanciulla del West and directed La Rondine, Turandot and Fanciulla ...But this is my first Suor Angelica.

OP: Can you describe how your meeting with this composer as a conductor feels?

JC: The condition of sine qua non allowing one to conduct Puccini well is that one cannot concentrate only on transmitting the internal pathos of his music, based mainly on emphasizing sensuality. The conductor must feel at ease and cannot be afraid to show intimate and personal situations. It is impossible to conduct Puccini without the ability to deal with strong feelings that relate to blood, sweat, fear, heroism, sensitivity, eroticism, mud ... all these emotions, in a deeply psychological sense of words, not only in their basic meaning.

OP: In the upcoming 2019/2020 season, you will return to the role of Samson in Samson and Dalila on the stage of the Vienna Staatsoper. It is one of your greatest creation. Are you happy to be performing this role again?

JC: I am always ready to enter the skin of Samson, the conflicted Judge of the Old Testament. The passage of time and understanding of many aspects of life that I did not understand when I was young allowed me to capture the essence of characters such as Samson, Otello, Canio or Grimes. It became so deep that playing them is no longer just an effort but a real pleasure.

Jubilee 20th Festival of Vocal Art Ady Sari April 27, 2019 at the European Music Center Krzysztof Penderecki in Lusławice

José Cura stars at Festival Ady Sari.

José Cura (official) - conductor

In an extraordinary concert, we will hear the concert performance of Giacomo Puccini’s opera Suor Angelica and Ludomir Różycki’s symphonic poem Anhelli op. 22. It is no coincidence that the works of these two composers were combined. Writing the one-act opera Suor Angelica, Puccini was inspired by the cloister act from the opera Eros and Psyche by Różycki. The solo parts will be presented by the finalists of the previous editions of the Competition and by Małgorzata Walewska. The Beethoven Academy Orchestra and the Polish Radio Choir in Krakow will be led, for the second time at the festival, by José Cura, a world-famous singer and conductor.

UNIQUE SYMPHONIC CONCERT

Giacomo Puccini - SUOR ANGELICA (concert performance)

Ludomir Różycki - ANHELLI op. 22, symphonic poem for orchestra

Sister Angelica - Adriana Ferfecka (soprano)

Aunt Księżna - Małgorzata Walewska (mezzo-soprano)

Priors - Anna Lubańska (mezzo-soprano)

Babysitter Novice - Kinga Borowska (mezzo-soprano)

Novice Superior - Agata Schmidt (mezzo-soprano)

Sister Genowefa - Sylwia Olszyńska (soprano)

Sister Osmina - Monika Buczkowska (soprano)

Sister Dolcina - Hanna Okońska (soprano)

Sister Nurse - Jadwiga Postrożna (mezzo-soprano)

Sisters Żebracze - Magdalena Czarnecka, Barbara Grzybek (sopranos)

Novice Sisters - Magdalena Pikuła, Dobromiła Lebiecka (soprano, mezzo-soprano)

Sisters of Świecie - Aleksandra Krzywdzińska, Ewa Kalwasińska (soprano, mezzo-soprano)

Beethoven Academy Orchestra

Polish Radio Choir

"Camerata Silesia" Katowice Singers' Ensemble

Maria Piotrowska-Bogalecka - preparation of the choir

Anna Szostak - team preparation

Famous for from his original interpretation of the character of opera and his unconventional concert performances, tenor José Cura has performed in the most prestigious theatres in the world. But José Cura is much more than just an opera star: he is also a composer and conductor, director, stage designer, brilliant artist and born showman who uses music to arouse emotions, entertain and educate.

After composition and conducting studies in his hometown of Rosario in 1984, Cura moved to Buenos Aires to improve his skills and learn the secrets of the stage, especially singing. From 1984-1988 he worked in one of the professional choirs at Teatro Colón as his voice developed into a distinctive, bright tenor with the addition of dark baritone shadings. In 1991 he moved to Europe, where he continued his career and gained the status of a legend.

In 1999 José Cura resumed his career as conductor and worked with the best orchestras including London Philharmonia, London Symphony, Vienna Philharmonic, Sinfonia Varsovia, Toscanini Orchestra and Hungarian Philharmonic. He has also recorded critically well-received records, including Rachmaninov’s monumental 2^nd Symphony, which has gained excellent reviews .

In 2007, the world premiere of La commedia è finita - a creative remake of Pagliacci combined with dance and machinery - started Cura’s career as director and set designer. In 2010, his production of Saint-Saens opera Samson and Dalila at Badisches Staatstheater showed his innovative, modern approach to the classic opera, which was both the audience and the critics: "In Karlsruhe José Cura was given the special honor of directing, set designing, and singing the lead role simultaneously. The exceptional project lent wings to the ensemble and created an artistic result that would do credit to any international operatic stage." (Opernglas) The unanimous applause of the audience and critics scored two projects from 2012: La rondine at the Nancy Opera and Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci at Opéra Royal in Liège. His production of Otello at Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires was considered one of the most successful shows of 2013.

Review

José Cura stars at Festival Ady Sari.

The Festival and the Vocal Art Competition Ada Sari

Gazeta Krakowska

Agnieszka Malatyńska-Stankiewicz

28 April 2019

[Excerpt]

The inauguration of the festival, which took place on Saturday, April 27, 2019, and for the first time outside Nowy Sacz, attracted crowds of listeners to the Krzysztof Penderecki European Music Center in Lusławice. José Cura, a world-famous singer and bravura conductor, gave a concert performance of the opera Suor Angelica by Giacomo Puccini. This rarely performed one-act play was presented in a masterly way, with extreme precision of voltage gradation. The performer in the title role of Adrian Ferfecki touched the audience with a beautiful voice and acting, and her duet with excellent Małgorzata Walewska, who played the role of Księżna, was overwhelming. It is hardly surprising that the audience responded with a long standing ovation for the performers. The artists were also applauded by Elżbieta and Krzysztof Penderecki.

The idea for this concert was extremely interesting: on the occasion of the jubilee edition of the festival on the stage, the laureates of previous Ada Sari competitions appeared. José Cura "dramatized" this concert performance, placing part of the orchestra and choir in different spaces of the hall and adding movement to the singers; and he conducted for singers, "breathing" with them. This is also why the implementation turned out to be so impactful.