Berliner  Morgenpost: April 23, 2005

 

STABLE VALUES

 

Tenor José Cura, Berlin’s new Pagliaccio, has experienced both: the highs and sudden crashes.

 

By Manuel Brug/translation: Monica B.

 

Others take their glasses off when the camera of a photographer clicks; José Cura, the only star tenor with a black belt, puts them on. But not tonight, when he takes the stage of the Deutsche Oper (German Opera) as Pagliaccio.

 

José Cura: Argentinean; tenor; fitness trainer; macho; singing, testosterone-fueled jock. Of those clichés, there are many. Cura himself helped them along. A few years ago: “I had to get to the point where I was somebody, had to shake off comparisons, had to become well-known, acquire a reputation. It was a game. I played along. I was driven to it. And I let myself be pushed and promoted.” Singing is sex. Every aria an act of love-making, every C an orgasm. This is Anna Netrebko’s territory now.  “I hope she comes to a clear understanding of that and can handle it”, a serious, mature Cura, now devoid of all illusions, comments tersely.

 

“The comedy is over.” That’s what he sings—not only as Pagliaccio. That, he has experienced personally. However, what’s different from Leoncavallo’s Verismo thriller is that in the real life of the singer, there were no dead bodies left behind. “It was sick. I separated from my managers in 2000. Today, I take care of singers and conductors myself (and) help them to avoid my mistakes.” He has learned from those. “I survived—and I have grown, evolved. I sing Otello with much greater differentiation than ten years ago. I am proud of that.” But he can still turn it up full throttle, if he has to. Then the singing does aim into the belly. “That’s part of it, too.”

 

These days, the 42-year-old Cura lives in Madrid, focused on himself. Continues to sing his signature roles, Samson, Verdi’s Stiffelio and Corsair. “Rarities and conventional Italian fare: that’s precisely what people want from me.” He started with Henze, Biblao and Janacek. Nothing was easy; nothing was predictable in this unusual career. Cura was educated and trained as a guitarist, singer, conductor, and composer. There were problems with the voice, differences with the voice teacher. Only at age 28 did he officially debut as a soloist in Genoa. Then, everything went exceedingly fast. The great stages of the world lay at his feet. These last three years, Cura has concentrated on conducting the Sinfonia Varsovia, has recorded Dvorak love songs with piano accompaniment for a small CD company. He would like to do a lot of things, but stays away from Wagner, a frequent offer. “German is simply not in my world; on stage, I do not want to be hindered by language.”

 

Following the crash of the classical CD market, which left him (at a time when he was spoilt by success) suddenly standing there without a contract, he is now on his own, his own tenor. “It’s going well. My market value is stable; I can concentrate on my conducting projects.” And proceeds to enthuse about the St. Matthew Passion, about Kodaly, Rossini’s ‘Stabat Mater’. “I still have to learn so much of the repertoire.” Opera is only one part of the Cura cosmos now. After he does ‘Le Villi’, the work of the young Puccini, in Vienna this coming fall, he wants to tackle Stravinsky’s ‘Oedipus Rex’. He’s contemplating Britten’s ‘Peter Grimes’.

 

But now’s the time to elicit new facets from the character of Pagliaccio. “David Pountney challenges me totally. His concept is modern but not hysterical. Both operas take place under an interstate bridge, in front of a small chapel. It gets gloomy, dark, Mafia-like, but everything is very logical. Nothing hysterical, as so often in Germany. We spur each other on. I like to challenge, provoke Pountney. In addition, there are many technical changes. You have to be on your toes. I feel challenged, learn new things, don’t just go home with approval and plaudits. I love that. The comedy is really only just beginning, after all.”

 

Cavalleria Rusticana/ I Pagliacci; Deutsche Oper

Premiere tonight, 7PM;  also on 27. April, 1., 5., 8. May