'It has not only been the most challenging and exciting masterclass I have sung in but also the most interesting and enjoyable one I have watched.' One of the participants

LISTEN:  BALANCE

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'This masterclass has certainly been a once-in-a-lifetime experience, at both an artistic and personal level.  I expected beforehand that I would benefit enormously from the extraordinary musicality, vocal bravura, and theatrical craftsmanship of operatic superhero José Cura.  Accordingly, my expectations were very high - and they were surpassed, by far.'   Participant

The idea for the José Cura Opera Project originated in discussions between José Cura and the New Devon Opera in the autumn of 2005.  When NDO first approached Maestro Cura to invite him to be the company's Patron, Chairman Linda Hughes went to meet him backstage at the Royal Opera House, where he was singing the role of Dick Johnson in Puccini's Fanciulla del west.  As the two talked, it became clear that both NDO and Maestro Cura had some similar views about how our emerging regional opera company might find ways of helping talented young artists develop their careers.

Blessed with a rich burnished tenor voice, mesmerizing stage presence, and abundant charm, José Cura has been thrilling audiences since he first burst onto the international music scene.  His intelligent, insightful --sometimes controversial but always intense and unforgettable performances - have made him a household name to opera lovers the world over.  But this success did not come easily.  As Cura puts it:

 

 

'I moved from Argentina to Europe in 1991.  I worked for two or three years in restaurants - my wife worked with me, washing dishes - and we did many things a lot of people wouldn't think about doing.  We had a very hard life.  We lived in a garage for one year because we couldn't pay the rent and we heated the garage with a small fire, with me gathering wood in the middle of the night.'

Where to start?  The first step was to agree to a vision.  The attraction of opera is that it is a complete theatrical art form.  One definition calls it 'a drama to be sung with instrumental accompaniment by one or more singers in costume.' By putting the word 'drama' first, this highlights the central fact that opera singers have to be actors, combining the highest standards of acting and talent with those of singing technique and musicianship.  NDO therefore wanted to include in the Project an element not only for opera singers but - over time - for other artists and professionals involved in opera, such as musicians (singers, instrumentalists, repetiteurs, conductors) directors and designers (lighting, stage sets and costumes).   And so, for this first event, there is also a seminar for repetiteurs, run by Anthony Legge (Director of Opera at the Royal Academy of Music) and Alex Ingram, conductor and coach.

LISTEN:  Butterfly

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As a first step, Maestro Cura agreed that the Project would take place in the spring of 2007 in Devon.  The aims were that the Project should add value to the professional reputation of all participants - as well as offering in-depth tuition and coaching for the participants.  A further key aim of the competition is that it should foster a greater understanding and appreciation of all those elements of opera which encompass a broad range of creative skills.  Lastly, the Project should help to grow NDO's reputation and artistic standing, building towards NDOs goal of becoming the South West region's premier resident professional opera company.

Advertisements went out in the opera press and applications invited from singers of all voice types.  At the closing date of 31 January 2007, applications from singers had come from all over the world:  Australia, Singapore, Japan, China, India;  from Europe - Denmark, Germany, Finland, Poland, France, Romania, Portugal, Spain - and all parts of the UK.  Following a preliminary selection process, a 'long list' of 37 applicants went to Maestro Cura in March 07.  On April 24/25, Maestro Cura heard 36 singers and made a short-list selection of 19 to go forward to the third stage.