March 20, 2010: La Boheme in Zurich

2010-03-20 La Boheme (Puccini), Opernhaus Zurich

Rodolfo = José Cura
Mimì = Adriana Damato
Marcello = Gabriel Bermudez
Musetta = Christiane Kohl
Schaunard = Cheyne Davidson
Colline = Andreas Hörl
Benoit = Davide Fersini
Alcindoro = Valeriy Murga
Parpignol = Christopher Hux
A customs official = Matthew Leigh
Sergeant = Falvio Matthias

Massimo Zanetti, conductor

Lots of JCx friends there. It did not look as it was many of us in the beginning but then I started to see friends all over the house. I was not sure if I would enjoy this production but I really. It was a modern La Boheme but not in a way that would make the story improbable.

Act 1: Jose Cura as Rodolfo was laying on a sofa. He looked larger than life and when Gabriel Bermudez came in, he too looked larger than life. But I was on row 2 so maybe that why all looked so big. Still Jose Cura and Gabriel Bermudez are both muscle men. Andreas Hörl was Colline. He is a tall man with a sweet bass voice. Cheyne Davidson was a solid Schaunard.

Then came the disappointment. Adriana Damato, who I last saw as a perfect Lina in Verdi's Stiffelio, came in as a too solid Mimi. Not only was her Mimi to solid and healthy looking (or even heavy) but her acting was like wood and not the kind Puccini needs. Her singing was good but she really needs to get her acting skills in order. It also should not be obvious to the viewers the strain singing gives. After the very realistic acting from the boys suddenly old-school opera. Jose Cura created the magic with his singing and reacting to his Mimi and of course Adriana Damato rose to her best with him.
Highlights: The duet Questo mar rosso (Cura/Bermudez), Che gelida manina (Jose Cura) and O soave fanciulla (Cura/Damato). Adriana Damato's singing Mimi's aria was great and not so great at the same time.

Act 2: Now, finally Adriana Damato is Mimi as good as anyone. Christine Kohl is Musetta and sings her aria with flair. I liked the staging of the scene, unconventional but it works. This production really works.

Highlight: Quando me'n vo (Christine Kohl)

Act 3: Again the production worked it magic. Adriana Damato, Gabriel Bermudez, Jose Cura, Christine Kohl makes this a musical highlight. Acting and singing is great.

Highlights: duets and quartet

Act 4: Loved it. I was worried that Adriana Damato would not be acting well, but she was superb. Jose Cura was so immersed in his character that he had a hard time trying to smile at the curtain call, he had really experienced Mimi's death as reality.

Highlight: Adriana Damato's and Jose Cura's duet Sono andati. Normally Colline's aria Vecchio zimarra is a highlight but it was not so for me.

It was a great role debut for both Jose Cura and Gabriel Bermudez as Rodolfo and Marcello. It was worth going to Zurich. Jose Cura was fantastic as Rodolfo. In the end I must say I was not too happy with the conductor, Massimo Zanetti. He had a reading of Che gelida manina that was really slow, I think.

After the performance we all went to the backstage and waited. When Jose Cura came he sat down so that we could take photo, talk to him and get autographs. It took a long time for Cura till he finally could get out and have his dinner.

Massimo Zanetti, conductor

La Bohème - Puccini
In italienischer Sprache mit deutscher Übertitelung


Dirigent
Massimo Zanetti


Inszenierung
Philippe Sireuil


Bühnenbild
Vincent Lemaire


Kostüme
Jorge Jara


Lichtgestaltung
Hans-Rudolf Kunz


Choreinstudierung
Ernst Raffelsberger


Orchester
Orchester der Oper Zürich


Chor
Chor der Oper Zürich

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Blog:Sweet-sour from Zurich: Jose Cura triumphs as Rododolfo

For more reviews from my travels, see www.operaduetstravel.com If you want to see more photos from my OperaDuets Travels, go to www.operaduetsphotos.com

March 20, 2004: Samson et Dalila in London

2004-03-20 Samson et Dalila (C. Saint-Saëns), Royal Opera House (London)

Samson = José Cura
Dalila = Denyce Graves
Abimelech = Tigran Martirossian
High Priest = Bruno Caproni
Ancient Hebrew = Julian Rodescu
First Philistine = James Kennedy
Second Philistine = Jared Holt
Messenger = Hubert Francis

Philippe Jordan, conductor



Director:
Elijah Moshinsky

Designs:
Sidney Nolan

Lighting:
Nick Chelton

Choreography:
David Bintley




Second Philistine:
Jared Holt§

Messenger:
Hubert Francis§


§ Vilar Young Artist

Samson et Dalila, ROH 20.3.2004

It was those transparent curtains with rather ugly paintings. It was ugly and disturbing. The first was not too bad, the hand of God (that's my interpretation. But it stayed on too long after the opera had started. That curtain was in a way acceptable. The 2nd curtain a very vulgar interpretation of I guess Dalila the enchantress. That stayed on WAY too lang, and I also found it offending as a woman. Act 2 is a beautiful act, the most beautiful of all operas I know. The 3rd curtain was a painting of the scapegoat, and it was sickening how long it stayed on.

I found the chorus a bit lack in coordination in their singing. José Cura came as the most handsome Samson I have ever seen. He sang admirably and it was the best Samson performance I have seen with this Argentine tenor. Denyce Graves was singing Dalila. No newspapers had prepared me that the American mezzo was 5 months pregnant. That was a shock. Both vocally and in her acting there a sense of her being very careful in conducting herself onstage. I did long sometimes for these blast of powers that Agnes Baltsa brings onstage.

Denyce Graves voice is compared to Agnes Baltsa a more true mezzo/alto voice, but that said I did not feel a strong stage-presence as I always do with Baltsa.

Act 1: Abimelech and Grand-Pretre, good but not really very memorable. The Old Hebrew, great voice, but it is always when José Cura is there that one can say here is an interesting moment going on. I liked the how Samson came a bit later at the gathering round the Old Hebrew, the little boy who is there guiding Samson in the 3rd act, is here guiding Samson in and The old Hebrew out after he (O.H.) has blessed Samson.

Another thing is that this act ends with Samson removing his Jewish prayer-clothing and leaves with Dalila. They kiss. Curtain down for act 1.

Act 2. As always the most fantastic act with wonderful music and singing. This Dalila really longs for revenge, and she is just pretending to love Samson. No doubt. Her coarse laughter when thinking about that weapons is in perfect shape, her tears will be the un-doing of Samson. In the duet with the Grand-Pretre there is very little energy and dark excitement. But when he leaves Dalila put herself in a melancholy state and then Samson arrives "mal-gré lui-mème". And every-thing is just perfectly acted and sung. Just like it was a movie. It is real touching and kissing. It is near real sex onstage and there is no vulgarity and everything is very true. In this moment when they are both laying together one could think that Denyce Graves and Cura would rather inhibited by the fact that this Dalila is really pregnant but they are not. This is very tender love-making, complete trust. Then there is "Mon Coeur s'ouvre à ta voix" and the quarrel "Mais, non, que dis-je helàs". And in the end Samson cannot resist he is going inside her house after her, and the Philistine is creeping nearer like tigers. "À moi, Philistines!"- "Trahison!".
WONDERFUL


Act 3. I hated the Bacchanale and the ballet, the vulgarities put into the scene. The scapegoats were killed and the blood giving to the Philistine. But it had the great aria of Samson wonderfully sung and acted by José Cura, and of course when he came back onstage for the taunting by the philistines lead by the young boy. And then he got his revenge. But the pillars did not support anything, so how he could kill anyone except those two that were sitting on top of the pillars is a mystery.

And then all the applause. In ROH no applause during the acts only after the curtain was down, and singers did not appear to take the applause until the end of the whole opera.

And after that we waited at the Stage Door for a long time. But then Denyce Graves came out, she left rather quickly, José Cura came after and he stayed on till all had taken their photos and even talked at length to a lady just outside the stage door. Someone had to come and fetch Cura so that he could go to the restaurant just opposite the ROH's Stage Door.


BRAVO, José Cura!!!!!!!

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