José Cura: "Last night was a Massage for my Soul"

Györ Plusz

Zoljánszky Alexandra

4 May 4 2015

[Computer-assisted Translation // Excerpts]

"After a night of love, the most important thing is the next morning," José Cura said at a press conference at the home of the Győr Philharmonic Orchestra on Monday, referring to the great success of Sunday's super concert in Győr. The Argentine tenor enjoyed his stay in our city so much that he will perform here again next year, but this time he will not be singing.

"Serious and boring are not synonyms.  Classical music is very serious, but not boring at all," began Cura, who said that the Győr orchestra is also striving to do what he does, to bring joy to the audience.

"The composers were cheerful, happy people, but we play Mozart, for example, or Bach, with a serious air, even though the latter had 21 children... These are the things we have to talk about in terms of classical music if we want to bring it to young people," he pointed out, adding that "what we created yesterday was not just a beautiful moment of music for me and the audience, but also for the orchestra. The kind of relationship that developed between the orchestra, myself and the conductor was really special, and the audience was smiling, and that's our goal. I can only congratulate the Győri Philharmonic Orchestra and I am happy to be part of the next season," he said, adding that while he has had to do what was necessary during a career spanning 30 years, he now is only doing what he loves. "This concert was part of that [new freedom].  It was a massage for my soul last night."

He also revealed that next year he will not be singing but will be conducting the Győr Philharmonic Orchestra, conducting Verdi's Otello. "We need to prepare a new generation of singers. Great young people will be making their debut.  I'll be the only old pirate on board, and it's a double pleasure to be performing on the anniversary of Shakespeare, who was one of the most witty men," he said, noting that the production will take place on the 400th anniversary of the English playwright's death, 23 April 2016.

Gyor Rehearsal

Your repertoire is defined by Giuseppe Verdi’s Otello, the title role which you recently sang at the Hungarian State Opera of Budapest. Many consider your most memorable performance to have been the one 1997 under the baton of Claudio Abbado with the Berlin Philharmonic. You also directed this work in Buenos Aires in 2013.  How has your relationship with this opera changed over the decades?

I've sung the title role of Otello 200 times, but let me correct you: there is no such thing as the most memorable, the most important performance, because every performance is different. The two Budapest performances you mentioned were born under a lucky star.  I have been working with the Opera House team for almost 15 years now, a team of fantastic singers, musicians and conductors.

Is this the reason you return year after year?

My question back to you is why wouldn’t I?   I am a professional, I go where I am invited, my fees are paid and I can do my job.  You would do the same, wouldn’t you, if you were paid for the job?   Of course, there is another aspect to this:  I like being here, because Hungary has everything I need to work in a professional environment so that we can continue to create great productions year after year…well, that’s why I’m here!

A big sandwich

What do you think of the Hungarian audience?

Of course you can’t separate the audience from the musicians.   In European terms, think of this as a big sandwich:  in the south, people are temperamental, they react to everything immediately. In the middle of Europe, a little to the north of here, in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, they are more reserved and much more restrained.   Further east, in Hungary, the Czech Republic or even Russia, the audience and the musicians more closely follow the mentality of the southerners, because they have that real gypsy blood in them, which is very important when it comes to music and the acceptance of the artistic experience.

Returning to Hungary, when I performed here for the first time in 2000, my most surprising experience was the first applause, which was not just a simple expression of approval, but a passionate emotional outburst: “Woah! - not bad!" This is typical of the Hungarian audience, when they really like something, they are extremely persistent, they follow the artist.  Otherwise, the tragedy of a big failure might happen.  Luckily I have never experienced that!

You seem at home in the country.   How are you preparing for the concert in Győr?

The orchestra's management and I have put the finishing touches to the musical programme. In May, some of the most beautiful and well-known works of opera will be performed in the Audi Aréna Győr. I'm really looking forward to singing with Andrea Rost, whom I met a long time ago. I don't know the Győr orchestra yet, but conductor Kálmán Berkes is a guarantee that we will be in good hands, since I know from practice that the work of the conductor determines to a large extent success of the entire evening!

"I beg you to live!"

 You are a versatile artist: you sing, conduct, direct, design the set. How can you deal with so many things?

I am a pain! What does that mean? People like me who do so many things, and, God forbid, do them well and succeed at them, really annoy some. They can't understand how I do it, they are jealous of the fact I can, so they ask: "How can you do so much?" Of course, real the question is, "How can you do five things and I can only do one?!" I don't think I'm the best at everything, but what I do with incredible perseverance, diligence and talent, I succeed at, and that's what counts.

I'm convinced that it's better to die happy and content than to die knowing that you've lived an unhappy and frustrated life. Anyway, you can never do anything that will please everyone, so if you try you will never be a winner!

But you're a winner!

Yes, I'm considered a winner by those who believe in me.  For those who don’t like me, I’m a failure. But after twenty-five years, the audiences that follow me and buy tickets to my concerts know for sure what they are getting for their money.  They know what the Cura brand is.

But it's worth thinking about how many things an artist can do convincingly? The best musicians are, of course excellent on their own instruments but are they curious about other artist’s concerts? Do they go to a museum or the theater? Do they go to music festivals just to have fun? I could go on and on: which musician or singer goes horseback riding or would ever want to skydive in their lifetime?

I beg you, live! We artists, who spend most of our time on stage and constantly serving the audience, cannot live locked into ourselves, locked into our art!

Cura brand

What does the Cura brand look like? Is it a marketing ploy or the simple formula that Cura is always himself?

There is no marketing trick.  Simply put, I am myself in every situation. As we are talking here now, this is how I am on stage, this is how I am when I take my wife to dinner. I live life with passion. It's too short to do it out of boredom, don't you think?

Of course, I could now pretend that I am only a seriously respected Maestro: "Yes, Mónica, what is your next question?..." and then the readers would think: "Wow, what a serious person this Cura is!"   But the fact is, it's true: I'm a world-renowned artist but I'm sorry, who said that serious and boring are synonymous with each other?!

This serious, pretentious attitude is what drives young people away from classical music, because when we give them world-famous works, we take ourselves so seriously that it turns out to be terribly boring! Please, classical music, though a valuable art, is also entertainment! We are not talking about a dead thing, but a living, pulsating thing!

Thus the artistic credibility begins with self-identity. Is this the knowledge you are passing on to the younger generation of artists?

There is nothing wrong with young people.  They are wonderful and talented.  The problem is we do not take them seriously enough. I know this from experience, because I hold master classes all over the world. "Maestro! What do we have to do to become famous and successful artists?” they ask me. I can formulate the artistic aspects, but I don't have a recipe for how and who can become a successful and fulfilled artist.  Everyone has to go their own way, there is no way around it!  The most important message: "be yourself!"   For now the easiest way to be famous today is to upload some silly videos on the internet and you are the star of the day! Fame is easy, but we artists strive for more: excellence!

Everyday Geniuses

In terms of their survival, European symphony orchestras see one of the biggest problems in keeping the audience young. Do you share this view?

I don't see it that way.  Wherever I go, my concerts are full of young people. At the end of the show, they wait for me at the artist entrance, we talk enthusiastically about how they like the style in which I handle this genre. It's new to them, as they say, full of freshness.  Of course, appearances contribute to this.  For example, I don't wear tails most of the time, because I think it's anachronistic. Why can't I wear jeans on stage in the 21st century? But I will tell you another typical example of appearances! Do you know how long they've been calling me Maestro? Very funny: ever since I've been wearing glasses - fifteen years ago.  I was only a tenor, but now I'm a very serious master! Isn't it ridiculous?

Will you bring freshness to Győr as well?

Yes, but the concert in Győr will be a four participants: Andrea Rost, Kálmán Berkes, the orchestra and myself. Hopefully the ensemble effect will create something very good and positive.  I’m sure of it, because Kálmán Berkes has a great sense of humour and that's very important! A concert like this is also all about positive energy. I hate it when someone comes on stage with an expression as if someone had died moments before.  You can't play Mozart like that! Or I mention the greatest figure of the baroque era, Bach. Look at the faces the musicians make during the concert! I would only add that Bach had 21 children and you can image the rest.... But here's Schubert, writing music with one hand and drinking beer with the other and tell me how serious this is!

Far from me being disrespectful, I'm just saying that behind all greatness and genius there is the man himself, the ordinary mortal! Why is it important to recognize this? When we see the man in these geniuses, we recognise the frailty in them and thus we respect even more the miracle they have created. Because they are human, they will always have a connection with the present and so their works will live forever! Well, I think artists should come on stage with this awareness every day and represent this to the audience!

Earlier you asked me about the so-called Cura brand! Well, I think it's my mission to point out these connections! Twenty years ago a British critic wrote: "Cura should realise that classical music was not written for his amusement!" That's why my critics don't have a good opinion about me.  I'm not part of the canon, but interestingly enough I can still win over young people to my cause! For twenty-five years I have been at war with the teachers of the conservatories and the critics, and if God is merciful to me, I will continue this fight for another twenty-five years.  And then I will head for heaven or hell!

Do many of your students want to follow you?

I don't have students in the strict sense of the word, although I hold master classes all over the world.  I tell them what I think about this profession, and then I send them on their way to decide what they want to do. But as we talked about earlier, the most important thing is to be yourself because you can't pretend and fake it all your life.

At the beginning of my career, people were always trying to compare me to someone, Domingo or even Carreras, and I was happy that I was different and not the reincarnation of some star!

The Mature tree

Well, then, what are we to make of the statement that Cura is the fourth tenor?

Yes, they said this about me at the beginning of my career, and that I am the new Karajan or the reincarnation of Caruso. It's almost like Messi is the new Maradona!  Nonsense! Can't I just be me?!

But if we take a closer look at the question of the three tenors: Pavarotti - God rest his soul! - is no longer with us, Carreras is no longer singing, Placido is singing less and less, so we are talking about three excellent musicians from the last century, so where do I come into the picture now?  The fourth tenor was just a ploy for the press so that they could hang me somewhere.  And the agencies also used this cheap marketing trick to sell more tickets. But I don't like these empty gimmicks.  I believe that excellence requires many years of hard work and patience.

So it's a long road to becoming a true artist! In the beginning, every talent is just a possibility, a seed. I am convinced that after thirty years of hard work, this seed has grown into a strong, mature tree. It's up to you to decide whether you like the cool shade or the fruit of this tree, but the point is that I am now a tree, not just a seed.

These thoughts deserve a book! You should write it down!

It's with you. I've told you everything now.

José Cura and Andrea Rost Charmed Each Other and the Audience

Ágnes Peredi

infovilag

3 May 2015

[Computer-assisted Translation // Excerpts]

People from Pest may have had some doubts about what this concert, held in the sports arena named after Audi, would be like.   But the arena in Győr is not like the sports hall in Budapest. It is more beautiful, tasteful and has better acoustics. Here, there is no need to compromise on quality when opera singers take the stage.

José Cura, who always manages to get close to the audience from the first moment, walked in from a side entrance while singing the Prologue from Pagliacci and shook hands with some spectators as he walked through the audience to get to the stage. There he sang and sometimes conducted the Győr Philharmonic Orchestra, primarily conducted by Kálmán Berkes.

The way Cura conducted was soaring.  The audience could follow the movements of his hands and expression on his face on a huge projector. The friendly, creative atmosphere between Cura and the orchestra was palpable. It was no coincidence that he turned to address the audience towards the middle of the concert, saying “This orchestra could be from London, Berlin, New York, but it’s from Győr. It's yours, Győri's!"

He experienced Otello's deep pain in front of us just like Alfred's conquest of Violetta in La Traviata. That is, Andrea Rost, who sang sacred and virtuous arias at the beginning of the concert.

Of course, the response was proud applause, because what he said was true and the way he said it seemed sincere. Whatever José Cura did he did so genuinely and whatever he sang, he sang from the heart. He lived Otello's deep pain before us just as he lived Alfred's conquest of Violetta [Andrea Rost] in Traviata.

But the second part was all flirtation and conquest. The duet and aria of Violetta and Alfred captivated not only the audience with its huge emotional arc but also José Cura.   The two of them, performing together for the first time, mutually enchanted each other as well as the audience.

But before the purple haze could cover everything, the two of them also offered humor to the audience. Improvising on the spot, Rost sang Margaret's Jewel Song from Faust for a second time—in the first half, she sang as if bewitched by the jewels; in the second half, she sang it flirtatiously, bewitching José Cura. Both of them and also the audience knew: good fun is going on here. And, of course, there was brilliant singing and music.

And then there was a party at the end. José Cura picked up a guitar to accompanied Rost in a duet of to the Beatles' Yesterday. And at the end of the concert he sang, as he should, Calaf's aria from Turandot and the Brindis aria from Traviata.

Sometimes it's a good idea to leave the city of Pest to go to the countryside.