"I heard Mr. Cura live on Monday for the first time (Barcelona, Il Corsaro) and I was totally astounded by the power, roundness, squillo and darkness of his voice. So much I had heard about Mr. Cura... and most of the times not very kind that I feared that the first live contact would be disappointing. But the experience was great. I’ve become a really great fan of Mr. Cura since last Monday and look forward to hearing him again as soon as possible."  Rubén M

"Last Monday I had the privilege of watching the première of Il Corsaro in the Gran Teatre del Liceu, in Barcelona... Mr. Cura offered a very remarkable performance."  M. Jesus B

 

Sound Snippets From Dana

Ah si ben ditte

Il Corsaro act 3

 

From Yvonne

Giuseppe Verdi "Il Corsaro" (concert version)

Gran Teatre del Liceu - Barcelona

This lesser known Verdi work should be performed more often.  The music is wonderful - the libretto current. Liceu had a very lucky hand with the lead cast - an excellent team.

José Cura - a brilliant, very convincing Corrado.  The audience welcomed him very warmly and applauded strongly.

Marina Mescheryakova - Medora and Susan Neves - Gulnara sang beautifully.

A special compliment to Carlo Guelfi - an outstanding Seid.

The orchestra and chorus - under the baton of Marco Guidarini - played and sang very well.

 

 

From Lilian

Il Corsaro, Barcelona

We saw the last performance of Il Corsaro on 6 February and it was stunning. Just at the moment Cura stepped on stage and began to sing with overwhelming force and unspeakable beauty we were enchanted and awed by the clarity, power and resonance of his voice. On finishing the aria he received a thunderous applause and many bravos and this kind of warm acceptance on the part of the audience continued throughout the performance. The glory and excellence of the performance was rewarded by unending applause and a standing ovation. The whole cast was composed of dedicated singers who all performed with heart and soul and gave a thrilling, memorable experience to the people who were fortunate to witness such an uplifting and ecstatic performance.
 

 

From Zsuzsanna

Il Corsaro, Barcelona

 

After seeing Il Corsaro in two nights (3 and 6 February) in Barcelona, you wonder why Verdi’s romantic opera is considered as a minor and unsuccessful piece among his masterpieces. Now we know the receipt to deny this, when this opera meets with great and enthusiastic singers and musicians on the stage it will shine even in a concert version. This happened in Barcelona, and we could notice this effect already on Thursday where the performance was received with huge celebration. Verdi wrote great solos for every protagonist of the opera, but the tiny choirs, duets and grand finales were also very captivating. The music danced attention and caressed us with its beauty while all eyes were fixed on the singers as we tried to absorb the enormous energy of the stage. The singers played their part at the highest level and worked well together resulting in very integrated, splendid performances.

We were granted with an even more beautiful rendition of the piece on Sunday afternoon, when the Corsaro, José Cura showed again his magnificent voice and singing and put so much vitality, a fabulous extra ingredient into his part, that this energy bomb immediately passed toward and warmed up his partners, mesmerized the audience and resulted in a full-hearted, really sparkling performance in the Grand Theatre of Liceu. Right after his first aria José was awash with a sea of bravos and applause. His celebration swelled into a life-giving, cheering bravo chorus after his touching prison scene and the very effective Gulnara duet in the last Act and culminated in a standing ovation at the curtain call.

 

 

The Corsair’s tragic beloved, Medora (Marina Mescheryakova) represented a very kind, airy soprano, her singing was always like a seducing poetry among the bellicosely fervent and playfully running passages. Gulnara (Susan Neves) - the pasha’s favourite slave who fell in love with Corrado – was the diva of the opera, she brought fresh air into the story with her sensual, very colourful and passionate mezzo. We loved Carlo Guelfi’s (Seid) superb baritone. He richly portrayed the pasha’s figure with power, irony and fearless haughty.  The partners great solos were beautifully rendered and earned huge bravos and clapping from the audience each time. In the minor roles, Josep Ribot (a corsair) and José Manuel Zapata (the pasha’s man and eunuch) also contributed with nice singing to the evenings. The chorus and the orchestra (led by Marco Guidarini) wonderfully served our enjoyment with enthusiastic and sensitive performances.

We enjoyed the concert version of the opera and this form let us concentrate on the music at a deeper level. On the contrary we felt that the frame of the performance disappeared unnoticed and the whole story revived before our eyes on the stage as the singers emphasised all the beauty of Verdi’s music. Whether you were familiar with the score or not, you sensed many times the joy of meeting with unknown beauty of the melodies. These were the reasons why the performances were granted with so much delightful, thunderous applause and bravos from every part of the audience crowned by a unified standing ovation at the end in each nights.

The beautiful Liceu theatre provided a wonderful environment for the play and we could see the stage well from the gently ascending rows. José Cura’s every appearance raised his figure, Corrado, the Corsaro into the centre of the events. His very dark, delicate and heroic timbre easily made his way through the densest chorus and orchestration and coupled with piratical daring, free high notes. You could also take delight in his long, continuous phrases, when he used his whole body to travel on the melodies as long as it was possible. His whole body lived together with the rhythm and the music in every moment. He applied vivid, very dynamic singing style while successfully enriched his part with the many colours that lay in Verdi’s demanding music from the light, tiny ornaments through the most disheartening lyrical passages to the very dramatic, breathtakingly tense moments.

In the first part (Act 1 and Act2) José Cura’s entrance “Fero e il canto de’prodi miei consorti” already thundered toward us with unbelievable power. Then he turned toward his pirates and fired them for the fight in the next great aria of Corrado (“Ah si ben dite…Tutto parea sorridere…”). We had seen, listened and followed a true wonder as his rolling energy and very virile vocal ate the aria with one bite. He acted with the voice beautifully, conveying bursting temper, lyrical storytelling and warlike encouragement to his men. Of course, the aria was crowned by that breathtaking top note at the end.  Then more enjoyment came with the duets, the charmingly soft as well as very passionate farewell from his tragic sweetheart, Medora and the first encounter and fight with Seid and the Turkish soldiers. We fully enjoyed the exiting development of the corsairs and their captain’s trick in the pasha’s camp including the attempt to rescue Gulnara. This action and the finale of the first part were grandiose with its very characteristic, dynamic notes, great tension and the accompanying singing ensembles. You could enjoy José’s most heroic lines here, the captivated Corrado behaved and sang with fearless dignity and pride.

In the second part (Act 3) of the concert, after Seid and Gulnara’s great solo and duet, we listened to Corrado’s second solo in the prison. His heartrendingly soaring, very gentle, sorrowful mourning (“Eccomi, prigioniero!..”) over his lost glory and beloved Medora melted every heart in the theatre. The next duet between Corrado and Gulnara was the real highlight of the many beauty of the evening coloured with amazing high notes and bright vocals. We were totally chained to the stage while enjoying all the essence of Verdi’s dramatic and heated score as the two singers acted the most romantic part of the story that led to a passionate quarrel and then to the escape. The audience called them back to the stage twice and granted José with that cheering bravo chorus. The last scene of the opera united Medora, Corrado and Gulnara into a grand finale of the same beauty. José’s voice radiated wonderfully from the stage and moved us again with his painful, crying words he desperately addressed to his dying Medora and finally to his last, suicide action. Then we fulfilled our very pleasant duty to give love and acknowledgement to the actors of the evening. The well deserved bursting, endless applause turned into a unstoppable, grateful standing ovation at the end when José Cura and his partners appeared on the stage after the many returning once again.

After the opera we had extra enjoyment at backstage with the singers. José was in his usual kind mood and shared his time with many opera fans when posed for the photos and gave his autographs. On Sunday evening we participated in a very nice dinner in a pleasant, nearby restaurant together with more than 20 JCx members.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Yvonne

 

 

 

From M. Jesus