Verdi,
his land, his music. And José Cura. This promises dreams come true. So
how can you not buy a ticket?
Recitals by José Cura, tonight and next Tuesday, at the Teatro Verdi in
Busseto (8:30pm). The famous Argentinean tenor will interpret eight
arias from Trovatore, Ernani, Corsaro, Luisa Miller, Simon Boccanegra,
Un ballo in maschera, Macbeth, La forza del destino, and will mount the
podium of the Orchestra Toscanini to conduct symphonies and preludes
that will open the doors to the beautiful world of the “Bear” (Verdi’s
definition of himself). We will see performances of the symphonies of
Nabucco and I Vespri Siciliani, Alzira and Luisa Miller; also the
wonderful overture to La forza del destino; and the preludes from Il
ballo in maschera, I masnadieri, Macbeth.
José Cura – conductor? Nothing new on the
international front. Since 2001 this versatile artist has in fact been
principal guest conductor of Sinfonia Varsovia, a title inherited
directly from the late Lord Yehudi Menuhin; very recently the same
appointment has been conferred on him by the Philharmonic Orchestra of
Bulgaria. Singer and baton: a Cura divided into two parts? No, a José
regained. This is what the tenor said when asked Friday by the press at
Palazzo Marchi, the new home of the Foundation Toscanini, about the
origins of his strong wish to conduct.
“I started in music as a
conductor,” explains Cura, “ and it was only much later, more than 15
years later in fact, that I launched my professional singing career.
With the Sinfonia Varsovia I have already done symphonic concerts, among
them Rachmaninov’s Second Sympphony, Beethoven’s Ninth, and Pini di Roma
by Respighi. With the very same orchestra I have also recorded Aurora
and Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony; and I have just finished work on a
live recording of Beethoven’s Ninth. With the Philharmonic Orchestra of
Bulgaria, on the other hand, I will concentrate on Tchiakovsky in
particular. In Budapest, I will perform Liszt’s Messa Solenne, and maybe
this piece, which is very rarely performed, will be recorded live and
available on CD.”
But José Cura’s projects certainly do not
stop there; he always strives to achieve both an alternation and
symbiosis of opera and conducting, as was apparent in his triumphant
concert at Vienna’s Konzerthaus [last November], where the tenor
interpreted some arias from his latest album and then conducted
Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony. In Busseto, although a purely Verdian
program, the audience will witness something similar: Cura singing, Cura
conducting, and Cura speaking, or rather, reciting the monologue of Don
Alvaro, taken from the original play by Angel Perez de Saavedra, Don
Alvaro o la fuerza del sino.
Everything, and always more: this is also
where Cura’s appeal lies, and he would still reject – we are sure –
potential complaints, innocent and ignorant as they may be, about the
mere idea of excessive energy, even when crowned by success. Because in
reality we find ourselves face to face with a man who affirms, “In my
life I have never been unprepared and lacking: I have always acted,
knowing that I have the means to confront what I want. I am a singer and
conductor who, before stepping on the rostrum, studied the flute, the
violin and the piano, in order to get a real idea and precise knowledge
of the rapport between individual instruments in the orchestra and
orchestral complexity.
'Directing, for example, also appeals to
me, and I have received numerous proposals in that respect. I gained
experience in that field as a very young man in Argentina. However, I
will restrain myself for the time being, it’s not the right moment for
me to get involved in this, because I want to be prepared in various
ways, I would like to know very well the new technology in computerized
lighting, and I would never want to present myself in the theater – as
is the case with certain directors – being the patron of one single
cause, one single technique, one single idea among the many that make a
true professional.”
This tenor, who is Otello, Samson, Canio
(an enormous number of people around the world identify him with these
roles), we come to realize, is above all José Cura. Knowledge or
instinct? Art or cleverness? In opera, truth is theater. And life is a
mystery. José Cura, in a high-wire performer’s manner, continues his
tightrope walk.
