Cura, José - Stage Director

(Rijeka, June 2007)

A well articulated and intense show capable of drawing the audience in and making them think, so

much so that at the end, the engagement drew long applause from the packed house. Cura’s

directing is all about enhancing, all about bringing out the feelings, the powerful and primitive

passions, the dynamism and the theatrical vitality, and it is geared toward taking advantage of the

total (theatre) space (the side boxes, the stalls). There is no doubt that it kept the audience spellbound.

A richly stimulating theatrical event took place Wednesday evening at the TNC Ivan de

Zajc. The spectacular is based on the music of Respighi/Rossini and Leoncavallo with the

participation of the ballet, chorus and orchestra of the theater, of guest vocalists and with Cura

himself in the triple role of director/set designer, singer and playwright. It evidently testifies to the

many-sided, multi-talented personality of the artist whose generous, exuberant and imaginative

nature is reflected here in that he has created and developed a show which is complex, replete

with facets and has an intense and direct impact on the audience.

 

(Karlsruhe, 2010)

José Cura, one of the world's leading tenors and a sensational multi-talent, the Argentine

top singer, who is also active as conductor, designed the set for his acclaimed production

of Saint-Saens' "Samson et Dalila", as well as directing it. That he would take on the role

of Samson was all but obvious.

Cura knows his job, he masters the director's craft. The singer-director offered up a

plausible version, which thankfully omitted superficial updating. There were scenes of

violence, brutality and warlike barbarity, of seduction and hypocritical eroticism, in which

lust for power, hunger for revenge and unbridled blind passion characterized the actions of

the main players. The dynamism of Cura's production was captivating in many respects.

For all its economy, the set design, a desert landscape with three stage-high watchtowers,

"an abandoned oil camp" (Cura), also had an optical appeal of its own. The most

hauntingly powerful moment staged was the excitingly intense and sensitively acted

seduction and fake love scene, where Samson found himself continually entangled,

caught in a white stage-high veil or net ‒ code for Dalila's web of seduction.

"It has been one of the rare opera evenings that are etched on one's memory and

you won't forget for your whole life. The first night of Saint-Saens' opera "Samson and

Dalila" at the Badische Staatstheater ended with standing ovations and got to be a real

triumph for all participants. It is no exaggeration to speak of a great moment of opera, one

that will go down in the annals of the Karlsruher Staatsoper. […]"

José Cura, the "Gesamtkunstwerker" (i.e. an artist who creates and crafts an integrated,

total work of art).

On to Karlsruhe. There, José Cura premiered as "Samson" yesterday, with José Cura in

the title role but also as director, set and costume designer. The "Frankfurter

Rundschau" (newspaper) attended a rehearsal: Tenors who direct are not quite the rarity

one might assume them to be, and singers with conducting talent, too, can be found

occasionally (Domingo, Schreier, Fischer-Diskau). Quite unique, however, is Cura's

ambition to personally design set and costumes to boot. If it wasn't possible to compose

the opera oneself; well, at least as performance it gets spun off of the fantasy and

capability of one individual - a romantic notion of Wagnerian dimension; possibly even a

subject arising from the ostentatiously all-pervading power of the pop-culture entertainer.

The Gesamtkunstwerker José Cura stands right about midway between these two

phenomena. A romantic artist, in tune with the "Zeitgeist", the spirit of the times, with

precision accuracy.

It was José Cura's evening, outstanding in every respect: one doesn't necessarily have to

shift this subject matter from the Old Testament into the present time (three shut-down

derricks) - that one can nonetheless succeed in a very coherent manner with an

interpretation that is inherently logical and absolutely sensitive, was clearly shown by this

production.

José Cura produces a modern version of Saint-Saëns’ opera Samson et Dalila in

Karlsruhe and shines in the title role.

The Badisches Staatstheater gave the singer the opportunity to develop Samson et Dalila

based on his ideas: Cura created the stage design, the costumes, directed, and sang the

role of Samson. He uses symbolic images to illustrate his concepts. Between the old oil

derricks representing human greed he placed the choir and extras in a tableau with a dark

orange backdrop that shows the misery of the oppressed. Children at play bring the scene

to life, with the children of the victors playing with the children of the defeated until parents

chase the others away.

All-round star José Cura did himself triple credit in one swat and secured a publicity-hype

rarely seen in this form for the ambitious Karlsruhe Opera House. In previous years

already, one had been able to experience the outstanding tenor there in several key roles

of his repertoire, most recently in his signature role of Otello. He has been following his

calling as conductor even at the major houses on a number of occasions and has been

thoroughly successful. In Karlsruhe José Cura was given the special honor of directing, set

designing, and singing the lead role. The experiment was successful with only the smallest

of missteps, bringing a much celebrated triumph to the theater and the singing-director.

Breath-taking: "Samson and Delilah" in Karlsruhe

It is not exactly often that this work by French composer Camille Saint-Saens (1835 -

1921) can be found on the opera stages of German-speaking countries. Two years ago,

the Argentine tenor José Cura staged the composer's opera "Samson and Dalila" for the

Badische Staatstheater Karlsruhe. It is a production which received a great deal of

attention from beyond the region and which Cuibar, his marketing company, is now

presenting as a DVD by way of the Arthaus Music Label. Cura himself also takes the

responsibility for the film. It is certainly out of the ordinary. The camera is always close to

the action on stage. And it shows neither Jochem Hochstembach, the conductor, nor the

orchestra -- not even the audience. And the applause was not recorded either. Instead, a

music film was created -- no less breathtaking than the mis-en-scène itself.

Cura is also responsible for the costumes. He shifts the action to the here and now, and

the High Priest even presents himself on stage in a tie. Cura intends to show that history

repeats time and again. He succeeds brilliantly all the way to the downfall of the prison

camp where a ray of hope remains: Samson sends the young people away. Two extremely

worthwhile hours of viewing.

As If Made For Film

Cura's concept for the stage seems perfect for a conversion into film; the suggestive

scenery makes a strong impression also on the TV screen. And the interminable cycle of

the oppression of one people by another in the name of God, which in turn results in

equally brutal methods of the freedom fighters, comes across as even more poignant due

to the detailed views and close-ups. Lucidly staged, the hope for a peaceful future, which

the director sees in the attitudes and actions of the children, comes to light beautifully. That

one of the visually most impressive productions of the Badische Staatstheater has been

captured on DVD, is certainly to be welcomed; after all, it provides evidence beyond the

House of its high level of performance.

 

(Nancy, 2012)

A new production conducted, designed and produced by tenor José Cura. This was a

Youth Production sponsored by Nancy Opéra Passion, featuring a double cast of young

singers. Cura is a well-known pedagogic figure here, where he has conducted master

classes, and although it was an undoubted risk to allow him a free hand in all aspects of

the production, the exercise produced a highly enjoyable performance of Puccini's

underrated score. Cura was eager to reveal the seriousness of purpose behind Puccini's

work, not as a Viennese-style operetta — as it was initially commissioned — but as a work

dissecting the female psyche that could stand beside the works of Richard, rather than

Johann, Strauss. This complex psychological tussle was directed with skill by Cura, who

chose to set the action in designs and costumes of a post-World War II period. Puccini's

much-revised ending was cleverly staged.

In charge of all aspects of the performance, José Cura was also in charge of the staging,

the sets, and the costumes. His work was most respectable and even appealing, moving

the action from the Second Empire to the Fifties and extending the metaphor of the bird

cage, where the swallow (la Rondine) will return to self-imposed confinement. The

direction of the actors led to a perfect naturalness; the costumes were elegant; and the

sets, colorful and well lit, constantly appealed to the eye. But what was most seductive

about this Rondine was the conducting of the very same José Cura. He lovingly supported

his singers by making sure never to drown them out. He supported them without ever

lacking refinement, without a single uncalled-for affectation, without a single wronglyplaced

emphasis. This was a veritable jewel of balance and subtlety.

The series of performances of La Rondine at the National Opera of Lorrain is the

culmination of a project that started five years ago with master classes led by José Cura.

From among those singers was then formed a troupe that would perform in Puccini

operatic comedy, direct and conducted by the famous Argentine tenor. […] The ending,

with the heroine returning to her golden prison as the swallow returns to nest ‒ remember

the French translation of the title ‒ reveals an effective intelligence in staging the scene,

testifying to a skillful know-how in distilling dramatic tension.

In caring for the vocal platform, José Cura’s conducting breathed with the confidence that

seemed connected to the musician of the Orchestre Symphonique de Nancy and

confirmed the relevance of the project that he carried, bringing credit to the institution in

Lorraine.

 

(Liege, 2012)

José Cura has staged Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie,

and as a distinguished singer of verismo tenor arias, has also taken on the two tenor leads

himself. Within the framework of this production's handsomely illustrated scene (he also

designed the stage set), he has carried out a number of ideas that are really original. First

of all, Cura locates the two stories in the same place, on Caminito in Buenos Aires. The

time of the action is the beginning of the 20th century, a decade of quite heavy Italian

immigration to Argentina. Thus, the production already has an appropriate logical

superstructure.

José Cura, who is evolving from “just” a star tenor into a “stage-all-rounder”, is making his

third guest appearance just now at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie. This time, he sings, acts,

directs and does the stage design for Cav and Pag' the veritable twins of Italian operatic

verismo: Pietro Mascagni's "Cavalleria rusticana and Ruggero Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci".

Everything is direct, unmitigated expression. The wild, the excessive, the being-in-turmoil

remains Cura's constant companion, even in restraint; thus a scathing glance, a tender

gesture, an abrupt turning away suffices for the almost 50-year-old to conjure up with small

gestures the great drama about love, jealousy, infidelity and murder.

José Cura has managed to merge the evening's two works successfully in beautiful

temporal and spatial continuity. The set is a replica of the scenic Caminito alleyway in the

heart of the Italian Quarter of la Boca in Buenos Aires. And all the characters in the course

of the two operas live there. The realism is immediate, powerful and poignant, tastily

colorful but without an excess of local color. Each character emerges from the crowd there

in the Quarter or turns up uninvited like the comedians of Canio's troupe. And it works from

start to finish, with a bandoneon player taking care to ensure nostalgic continuity by

playing during the intermission whereas the two composers monitor what's going on onstage,

Mascagni incognito and Leoncavallo by appropriating the famous recitative of the

prolog to "Pagliacci".

José Cura enchants the audience with a production that leaves nothing to be desired.

The enthusiasm about Cura’s singing and his production got the audience to their feet. It is

not unusual to have a connection between the two opera that only with the passage of

years grew together to a sort of diptych. In particular Cura does not only set the two parts

at the same stage setting and, consequently, the company of actors plays at the same

square, but also integrates most of the protagonist in both parts. Nedda’s lover Silvio

works as a waiter in Mama Lucia’s taverna and he´s like a second son to her so that at the

end Mama Lucia did not only lose her real son Turiddu but has also mourns the death of

Silvio. For that very reason Cura puts the last words of Canio "La commedia è finita" in her

mouth. Also Alfio and Lola appear as picture roles in the second part of the evening and

show the audience the pitiable fate of Lola after Turiddu´s death.

With a view to the stage design Cura was inspired by his Argentinean homeland and he

relocates the story in Caminito, a pedestrian zone in La Boca district in Buenos Aires. The

colorful street, that is also named Italian district, catches an atmosphere with his popularity

that, on the one hand, relocates the event of both operas to this days and, on the other,

leaves the operas to their originality and they breathe a breath of tradition.

 

The two one act operas are often shown on one evening. In the production in Liege tenor

and director José Cura even combines them to a thematic unit. And it was successful.

José Cura is in Liege for the verismo double performance. Cura is responsible for direction

and stage design and he sings both title roles. He settles the story in consistent stage

design for both one act operas. Namely at the Italian quarter of his homeland Buenos

Aires in the 1920s when his own ancestors arrived there. One by one he had the streets of

the quarter recreated and this image, by no means kitschy, is of appearing beauty. And this

was the aim of Cura.

And so he tells the story in a realistic way, there´s no need of philosophical superstructure

to maintain tension. At the suggestion of José Cura there´s also a Bandoneon, the

Argentinean national instrument, included in the musical event during the famous

Intermezzo of Cavalleria and as a transition between the two operas. And, as already said,

the story continues despite the break. Small example: Santuzza, who´s at the beginning of

her pregnancy in Cavalleria, is six month later at Pagliacci, heavily pregnant.