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Maestro Cura - Conductor! |
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1st Performance with Sinfonia Varsovia, 25 November 2001: After the first collaborative performance of José Cura and Sinfonia Varsovia at the National Philharmonic, the sceptics must become silent. Cura proved to be not only a skilful conductor but also an entertainer. He brought freshness on the Philharmonics stage, where one rarely sees such gestures: the conductor raises his hands, but nobody starts playing; only a moment later from a balcony a trumpet sounds, and after that the orchestra follows and plays alone Rossini’s overture, while the conductor steps off the podium. Last time something of this kind happened was in 1992, during the New York Philharmonics concert, when Kurt Masur left the orchestra to perform the encore without him. This gesture speaks all the best for Cura. Dorota Szwarcman, Wprost 9.12.2001
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Sinfonia
Varsovia performed yesterday, in bravura style. This concert was the
orchestra's first collaboration with José Cura, the world-renowned tenor,
who now intends to combine his singing career with conducting. He was
appointed the principal guest conductor of the Polish ensemble. The concert
in the National Philharmonic was opened with Respighi's colourful symphonic
fresco “The Pines of Rome.”
Gazeta
Wyborcza 26.11.2001
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Reviewers
have praised the Argentinean tenor for his voice and acting talent. This
second skill is what Cura also uses with great success as a conductor, so
much so that a concert with his participation is not only a feast for the
soul but also an impressive spectacle. In describing the concert, one
cannot miss the whole non-musical layer – the theater – which is created
around the music by the Argentinean. The artist, who looks like a movie
star, wearing a long black, flowing shirt, behaves himself modestly. On the
one hand he drags the attention to himself with every gesture; on the other
hand he cares for the orchestra all the time, showing at every step that
they are the most important. Jose Cura’s concert, with no doubt is going to
become history as one of the most important in this region, in that season.
Wyborcza Gazeta, January 2002
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Concert, Sweden, July 2002: ‘His work as a conductor was brilliant; he had the orchestra eating out of his hand (…) Rachmaninov´s Second Symphony made up the second part of the concert. It was a joy to see José Cura conducting this piece…’ Boel Ferm, DD (Sweden), July 2002
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For the first time in our city!
On Sunday, 13th January 2002, Sinfonia Varsovia conducted by José Cura gave a concert in Wroclaw; revenue from the ticket sales were donated to the "Wielka Orkiestra Świątecznej Pomocy" ("Great Orchestra of Holiday Aid")
Singer, composer and conductor José Cura belongs to the most talented artists of his generation. He was born in Rosario (Santa Fe), where he studied the guitar. The family he was born into did not cultivate musical traditions, and music, in Cura's own words, was an escape from everyday life. Already at the age of 15, he conducted a local choir. Then he went to study composition, the piano, conducting, and next singing with Horacio Amauri, who taught Cura the basics of vocal technique.
In 1991 José Cura left Argentina for Europe. A year later he started studying the Italian opera style with tenor Vittorio Terranova. He made his debut in February 1992 in Verona and Genova appearing in little, supporting parts. His first big opera part was John in Bibalo’s “Miss Julie” at the Trieste Opera. His next role in a Janaček opera, with Pinchas Steinberg conducting, won high critical acclaim and was the springboard to his brilliant career on the opera stages of the whole world. José Cura’s appearances include the Chicago Lyric Opera, Teatro Colon, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Los Angeles Opera, and the Metropolitan Opera New York. He has also sung in Chicago, Zurich, Rome, Ravenna, and Amsterdam. José Cura has participated in important opera festivals in Pesaro, Ravenna, and Verona. In 1997 he got the prize of Italian critics for his performance of Mascagni operas as well as a honoris causa doctorate of CAECE University Buenos Aires and was granted the honorary citizenship of the City of Rosario.
His repertoire is dominated by great roles in the operas of the 19th and the 20th centuries, written by Italian and French composers. In critics’ opinion his voice is “dark and shining”, “flexible and at the same time dramatic”. In 2000 José Cura participated in the famous television production of “La Traviata”, broadcast from Paris by the majority of European televisions. A billion viewers watched the TV version of “La Traviata” all over the world.
Perhaps not all his fans know that this famous tenor used to train body-building and got a black belt in kung-fu, just to acquire grace and control over his body while on the stage. He is also a passionate amateur photographer. This handsome Argentinean, now nearing his 40s, with the hot blood of his Spanish, Argentinean and Lebanese ancestors in his veins, is still extremely popular with women. And yet he remains a model husband and a caring father of three kids.
Since 2001 José Cura has been bound up with the Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra as its Principal Guest Conductor. It is in this role that we can admire him at a concert of the 37th Wratislavia Cantans International Festival, on Sunday, 13 January 2002, at 3.00 p.m. at Our Lady Queen of Peace Church in Wrocław.
Vienna, November 2002: José Cura impressed at the Konzerthaus as singer and even more as conductor. This evening at the Great Hall of the Vienna Konzerthaus showed Cura’s Janus-faced talents. After the intermission, Cura proved his first class innate abilities with a breathtaking interpretation of Rachmaninov’s vigorous II Symphony. The excellently disposed Sinfonia Varsovia set ouot to work for their Principal Guest Conductor with true enthusiasm. To summarise this enthusiastically received evening: a highly talented conductor who also sings opera for his own pleasure…. Die Press, 2 December 2002
Concert, Vienna, November 2002: ‘[Cura] proved to be a meticulous interpreter of Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony. Without airs and graces, with sweeping gestures and precise entries he sketched an electrifying body of sound, in which each movement was followed by frantic applause.’ Kronen Zeitung, December 2002
Symphonic Concert, SOFIA, September 2003: ‘
The Argentine tenor José Cura prevailed in Sofía when he conducted the Bulgarian Philharmonia in his first performance in this Balkan country. …. Applause filled the sold-out auditorium in honor of the Latin American maestro as he directed the national orchestra. The program was comprised of works described by Cura as some of his favorites: Pines of Rome, by Ottorino Respighi, a perfect fit for his Latin temperament; the 5th Symphony by Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky; and selected pieces from Prince Igor by Alexander Borodin. The Bulgarian audience rose to their feet after the final note in an ovation that lasted several minutes.’ Crónica Digital
Concert, Munich, 25 July 2003: ‘Cura conducted with inspiration, with vigor, with knife-edge rhythmic acuity and with a talent for showmanship.’ R. Schwarz, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, July 26 2003
Ballo in Piacenza: 'José Cura is a singer, he knows the singers’ demands and he knows how to follow the singers. (...) The audience can be sure of the high quality of José's performance with the Orchestra Toscanini: he has great natural qualities and a deep knowledge of music.' Vincenzo La Scola, asked which of his Ballo colleagues he esteemed most (Liberta, Feb 04)
Butterfly, Vienna, May 2006: 'Something else of great importance: José Cura and the orchestra. The (singer) conductor offered up a first-rate reading of the composition and proved that the expression of sensitive, tender emotions does not need either sentimentality (schmaltz) or sugary sweetness. The members of the (philharmonic) orchestra were totally committed, accepted him without reservation and also followed him willingly. Cura drew clear distinctions in the orchestral rendition, in that strong dramatic outbursts were followed by the most delicate and soft lyricism in the blink of an eye. To the singers he was an optimal guide and accompanist. After his singing career, the doors of a conducting career are going to be wide open for him; that much was proven.'
Martin Robert Botz, Der Neue Merkur, May 2006
His work as a conductor was brilliant, he had the orchestra eating out of his hand (…) Rachmaninov´s Second Symphony made up the second part of the concert. It was a joy to see José Cura conducting this piece…’ Boel Ferm, DD (Sweden), July 2002Concert, Sweden, July 2002: ‘
Ovations for the Argentinian
Rachmaninov, lyricism and energy
15 December 2005
Cura, crisp on the podium for the pianist virtuoso Albanese
(excepts)
L'orchestra della Fondazione Arturo Toscanini was conducted by Cura, employing the sort of “stage skill” that is perhaps more consistent with his profession as singer rather than conductor, with such enjoyable extroversion that he earned ovations from the Piacenza audience.
Concerning the Rachmaninov piano concert….from this point of view, the determination and “hot blood” of José Cura were appropriate for the original spirit of the score.
Great energy was also present during the second half of the evening for the Sinfonia n. 2 in E minor op. 27 by the same composer. Thanks to José Cura, the audience was able to experience sparkling conducting and the stage presence of a real and proper “personality.” The singer can boast, however, of a remarkable curriculum as a conductor, including a stint as principal guest conductor of the Sinfonia Varsovia and the release of several disks on the Cuibar Video Phono and Avie labels. In Piacenza, where the maestro and pianist granted two encores, he received yet another confirmation of his talent on the podium.
Mantova-Teatro Sociale Mantova: I Vespri siciliani
Alessandro Cammarano
José Cura, this time in the role of conductor, commanded the orchestra with discreet confidence, demonstrating his understanding of the elegance of the score. He didn’t give in to the temptation to exaggerate, even during those moments of extreme “popular” flavor. Tempi were appropriate and the piani of the orchestra substantially well calibrated. His gestures, rigid and absolutely without refinement, proved nevertheless very effective. The excellent orchestra and choir of Toscanini Foundation responded well and the relationship between the pit and the stage turned out well balanced.
Geneva Review / December 21, 2004
CURA IS A HUGE HIT
With a gentleness that is more coaxing than disruptively overwhelming, Cura also knows how to lead, to guide the musicians with the baton.
His very physical version of Dvorak’s Symphony from the New World leaves no room for dillydallying. The ensemble is brought into shape with a solid hand; the brio passages are sustained with strength and power.
The Sinfonietta of Lausanne begins to look like a great symphonic formation in spite of some rare wavering. It was a shower of music from which the listeners left entirely reinvigorated, and some (women) capsized. Sylvie Bonier
Berner Zeitung December 2004
JOSE CURA, AN ALL-ROUND TALENT
There can be no doubt at all that he is among the most well-known and most popular vocal artists at present, but also among the most controversial: now José Cura, initially a conductor and for the past ten years also an internationally renowned tenor, has introduced himself in Berne within the framework of the Post-Finance Christmas tour, which has grown to be a tradition---and he has won the audience over to his side, has taken the sold-out Casino hall by storm with his singing, his conducting, and his personality.
In the second part of the program, Cura took up the baton himself and conducted Dvorak’s 9th Symphony From the New World. Remarkable was the way in which this artist-clearly a person of comprehensive musicality- both elicited and extracted colors, contrasts and expressivity from the work. Make no mistake; this popular symphony has been played in this very hall with much less vitality, inspiration and verve. His remarkable ability surely found its finest expression in the Largo: here he proved subtlety, sensitivity and the capability to also shine an insightful light into the mysteries of the abyss, into the enigmas far below the surface of this score which has not lost any of its power and effectiveness.
This bunch of instrumentalists from Lac Léman seemed to put their complete trust into the directives of the multi talented Cura. They realized his ideas and conception of the work with optimal enthusiasm, flexibility and the utmost willingness to (follow the) design. Is it any wonder that the ovations took on stormy dimensions also after the second part, a part that, sad to say, was disrupted by bothersome, misplaced applause from listeners unaccustomed to concerts.
You wait years for a nice young tenor...
...and then 10 come along at once. Sadly, though, they're not all as dashing and gifted as José Cura
Anthony Holden
Sunday November 7, 2004
The Observer
As if those Three Tenors were not enough, the London solicitor, opera fanatic and part-time promoter Ian Rosenblatt has now wheeled on 10. Together they made a heck of a noise in the drinking song from Cavalleria Rusticana ; individually, they strutted their nascent stuff in everything from Verdi and Puccini to Rimsky-Korsakov and Cilea.With decidedly mixed results. There were times when the evening reminded me of the audition scene in The Producers, when the first toothbrush-moustached aspirant steps forward to strangle 'A wand'ring minstrel, I'. Striding on and off in rapid succession, as if in a penguin-suited, vocal version of Mr Universe, some of these young talents shone considerably brighter than others. Denied the chance to tell us their hobbies, or express a deep-seated desire for world peace, they could only let their voices do the talking.
As the evening began and ended with José Cura showing them how, in those flash tenor showcases 'Vesti la giubba' and 'E lucevan le stelle', all nine twentysomethings were up against it from the off. No fewer than five of them, moreover, were last-minute replacements; even the scheduled conductor, Tugan Sokhiev, dropped out amid apparent backstage tenorial carnage.
So the Philharmonia's leader, James Clark, had to step up to the podium as an unlikely emergency conductor while Cura made light work of the Leoncavallo and Puccini standards. The dashing Argentinian then proved himself a stylish and sympathetic master of ceremonies, giving all nine wannabes the time and space to display their wares in the shiniest possible light.
As Cura had elegantly demonstrated, the tenor's art is as much to do with expressiveness, communication skills and body language as with the voice. Only three young hopefuls stood out: Baku-born Dmitri Voropaev in Mozart and Rimsky-Korsakov, the Mexican Dante Alcalá in Verdi and Giordano and the Uruguayan Juan Carlos Valls in Verdi and Cilea. Despite impressive fortissimo top notes, there was little convincing characterisation from the South Korean Woo Kyung Kim as Verdi's Duke of Mantua and Bizet's Don José or the Odessa-born Kostyantyn Andreyev (a Domingo protégé) as Puccini's Rodolfo and Cavaradossi.
José Cura, Tenor and
Conductor,
José Cura was the big draw, but he spent most of the time conducting. The spotlight fell, as intended, on the other nine. It was the latest wheeze of the solicitor Ian Rosenblatt, who is a connoisseur of singers and fanatical about the higher ranges of the male voice. Concerned to bring on the cream of the next generation, he gives them London recitals and this time stumped up for an improbable gathering that no commercial promoter could afford. He is well advised by Cura, who was his first beneficiary. You'd have been hard put to guess by listening alone who were the first choices and who were the last-minute substitutes.
The experience was riveting because of the strange, glorious variety of personal sounds and techniques. One after another, in a briskly managed succession, they sang short arias, most coming back later for a second. Enjoyment ruled, not least among players of the Philharmonia who accompanied them. Apart from normal male rivalry, it wasn't at all competitive, though a star of the night emerged in Woo-Kyung Kim, who brought the house down with excerpts from Macbeth and Carmen. Winner of two major competitions this year, he is very much the finished article, with superbly developed voice production and an electrifying ability to draw out long phrases.
All the others impressed in one item or another. Cura restricted himself to three items, so that he did himself justice while managing not to upstage his colleagues. Conducting, he made a natural accompanist and shaped orchestral phrases persuasively on what must have been minimal rehearsal. Three Tenors fans had to wait for their fun and games until the encore gave them nine tenors in stirring unison, and sent them home buzzing and enlightened.
Review of Aurora and Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony
One obviously need not worry about José Cura’s “old-age pension”: wherever his dramatic tenor’s ambitions will lead him in the future, he has begun in time to build a second career as a conductor, and he doesn’t confine himself to opera. Cura’s two new releases with Sinfonia Varsovia reinforce the impression that singing is his job but conducting is his true passion. And the recordings leave no doubt that he knows what he is doing. The combination of Slavic melancholy and Latin American temperament is definitely fertile. Although the musicians bathe in emotion in Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony, the conductor always remains in control.
On the CD of opera arias, Aurora, Cura proves to be his own trenchant accompanist. Routine, a most deplorable feature on many such recitals, is avoided from the onset by the tenor’s ambitions as a conductor. As a heroic tenor he is now unrivalled, his performance is musical and intelligent. Yet he lacks the elegance and imaginative phrasing of a Bergonzi – which is very apparent in “Quando le sere al placido”, for example. And the arias from Mefistofele and L’amico Fritz require a much more lyrical and flexible voice. On the other hand there are true finds on this CD: the two pieces from Giordano’s Siberia and the excerpts from Aurora by legendary conductor Hector Panizza. Fono Forum, June 2003, p.82 (Ekkehard Pluta)
Sergei RACHMANINOV (1873-1943)
Symphony No. 2 in E minor (1905)
This is a superb Rachmaninov Second Symphony--in fact, it's one of the better versions available.
In no small measure, this must be due to the excellence of the Sinfonia Varsovia, and in particular to its first rate strings. Richly resonant yet always transparent, rhythmically spot on (listen to them attack the scherzo or the opening of the finale), they make a powerful impression from the very first note. The woodwind players also fare well, timpani and percussion don't miss a trick (terrific glockenspiel), and although horns and trumpets play with a bit more brightness and boldness than trombones and tuba, it would be foolhardy to insist that the climaxes lack fullness or power on this account. Roomy but finely balanced sonics also keep Rachmaninov's well-upholstered musical textures uncommonly clear and transparent.
Now none of this would matter if Cura didn't know exactly what to do with the music, and he leads an expertly shaped, urgently vital performance, as true to the spirit of the music as to the letter of the score. Listen, for example, to the sure way in which he builds the introduction, and to the feeling of a true allegro with which he imbues the first movement (with exposition repeat). His decision to take the second subject in tempo and then relax and slow down only at the cadence theme proves far more emotionally clinching than many a more indulgent treatment (and it also makes the repeat sound inevitable rather than redundant). When the big climax arrives, with crashing cymbals and bass drum, he conveys the feeling of pent-up energy being unleashed without needing to make a massive ritard that checks the music's momentum.
It would be a mistake, though, to claim that Cura's performance belongs entirely to the "classical" school of limited tempo variation. In the scherzo, for example, he maximizes the contrast between the quick principal theme and its lyrical episode, which here sounds truly luscious. The central fugato benefits from extraordinary clarity at a moderate basic speed, and its march episode has a wonderful, other-worldly feel thanks to sensitive quiet brass playing. A swift basic tempo for the famous adagio does the movement nothing but good. Note the well-judged ritard at the beginning that relaxes back into tempo primo for the ensuing clarinet solo--evidence that Cura knows what he's doing and how to get his musicians to do it.
The finale whizzes by in a flurry of high spirits, again with minimal slowing down for the second subject. At the return of the motto theme at the very end, interpreters basically have two options: slam on the brakes (Svetlanov), or plow on ahead, as Cura does here. It's a decision entirely in keeping with his "excitement first" approach, one that never shortchanges the music's Romantic (even decadent) elements, but that also keeps the work moving forward and unfailingly sustains the listener's interest. And that's no mean achievement. If you love this symphony, you will certainly have to hear this surprising performance from a very unexpected source. ClassicsToday
Sergei
RACHMANINOV (1873-1943)
Symphony No. 2 in E minor (1905)
