A Night with
José Cura and Ildikó Komlósi - July 30, 2010
Leoncavallo, Ciléa, Mascagni, Saint-Saëns,
Bizet and Puccini
A Budapesti Filharmóniai Társaság Zenekara,
conductor: Mario de Rose
The
Argentinean tenor is well known in Hungary as he
already scored great successes in the country
several times. He was born into a family of
musicians in 1962 in Rosario. Cura began playing
the piano at the age of 8 and took up the guitar
at 12. He began his composition and piano
studies at the age of 16. First he studied
composition and then conducting at the School of
Arts at the National University of Rosario in
1982. Later he studied at the Teatro Colón in
Buenos Aires where he also worked as assistant
conductor. He began singing under the guidance
of Horacio Amauri in 1988. When he finally
decided to become an opera singer he moved to
Italy even before he turned 30 so that he could
study with the most influential melodrama and
bel canto singer Vittorio Terranova. Cura made
his debut in Henze’s Pollicino in 1992
in Verona. He received his first major role as
Jan in La Signoria Giulia by Antonio
Bibalo in 1993 in Trieste. This was followed by
more and more requests from famous opera houses.
He performed in Torino, London, Paris, Rome,
Vienna as well as overseas: Cura began 1994 with
a series of highly successful debuts including
Ismaele (Verdi: Nabucco), Don Alvaro
(Verdi: La forza del destino), Ruggero
(Puccini: La Rondine) or Roberto
(Puccini: Le Villi). In the same year
he was the winner of both the international
Domingo competition and the People’s Choice
Award. By this time he also gained recognition
by the international press and profession and
his career began spanning. He was invited to
numerous European and American productions.
After a few years in Paris, he resided in Madrid
with his family. Cura became principal guest
conductor of Synfonia Varsovia between 2001 and
2004. His most memorable performance was in 1997
with the Berlin Philharmonics under the baton of
Claudio Abbado as Verdi’s Otello,
however he also created operatic history with
Saint-Saëns’ Samson. His interpretations are
always unique. Cura is not only well-known for
his unique adaptations of popular opera
characters but also for having sung and
conducted at the same time on record and in
concert. At the Hamburg Opera, for example, he
made a surprising appearance on stage in the
role of Canio in I Pagliacci after
having conducted Cavalleria Rusticana,
with which he really created operatic history.
His deep devotion to stage performances is well
reflected in the 2007 world premičre of La
commedia e finite (prose and ballet based
on Leoncavallo’s opera I Pagliacci),
which he designed as well as stage directed.
Cura’s success as director is shown in the
numerous invitations for directing such operas
as Samson et Dalila for the opening
night of the Karlsruhe opera season in 2010,
Puccini's Il Trittico for the
Nancy Opera and the double bill of
Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci
for Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires, in 2011. As a
fascinating actor and a captivating stage
performer, Cura has been featured in various
telecasts of opera and concert productions from
venues around the world. José Cura is much more
than an operatic star: he is a trained composer
and conductor, a brilliant performer, a natural
showman determined to use the best music to
engage, entertain, and educate. He is an
honoured teacher as well as an honoured citizen
in Rosario, Argentina as well as in Veszprém,
Hungary since 2004. The Argentinean talent is an
excellent opera singer, conductor, composer,
director, stage director as well as a
photographer.
Ildikó Komlósi
graduated from the Franz Liszt Academy of Music
as the student of Mária Ónodi in 1984 and
continued her studies in London and Milano in
the following year. She was contracted by the
Hungarian State Opera in 1985 where she worked
for 9 years. Winning the Pavarotti competition
in 1986 brought her international attention and
she debuted in Verdi’s Requiem opposite
Luciano Pavarotti under the baton of Lorin
Maazel. She allured numerous opera fans in the
cities of Europe and also scored great successes
at La Scala in Milan. She is also a celebrated
opera star at the Far-East as well as in North
America. She made her debut at the Metropolitan
Opera in New York in 1999. Although she does not
belong to any operatic company, she often
performs at La Scala in Milan, in the Vienna
Staatsoper, at the Dresden Semperoper, at the
Verona Arena and the Royal Opera House
Covent Garden in London. Her most
significant roles include: Carmen, Santuzza
(Mascagni: Cavalleria rusticana),
Charlotte (Massenet: Werther),
Principessa di Bouillon (Cilea: Adriana
Lecovreur), Laura (Ponchielli: Gioconda),
Herodias (R. Strauss: Salome), Octavian
(R. Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier), Der
Komponist (R. Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos),
Eboli (Verdi: Don Carlos), Amneris
(Verdi: Aida), Venus (Wagner:
Tannhäuser), Kundry (Wagner: Parsifal).
She sang Bartók’s Judith more than a hundred
times all over the world and this has remained
one of her favourite roles until today. Ildikó
Komlósi and José Cura performed with great
success in Cavalleria Rusticana
directed by Franco Zeffirelli at the
Metropolitan Opera in New York. She has already
sung on many famous opera stages, however she is
rarely heard in Hungary. This is the reason why
this gala concert is of special concern.
Together with José Cura, the Fondazione Verona
per l’Arena awarded Ildikó Komlósi the 22nd
International Zenatello Opera Prize in 2006.