Bravo Cura

Celebrating José Cura--Singer, Conductor, Director

 

 

 

Concerts

 

Stabat Mater

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

José Cura is in České Budějovice for the World Premiere of his Stabat mater

 

Rozhlas

October 30, 2014

[Excerpt]

The world famous tenor José Cura has arrived in České Budějovice as a music composer with the world premiere of his Stabat Mater.  The work is part of an oratorio, Ecce homo, which Cura composed when he was 26 years old. 

The opus is being presented at the request of the music director of the South Bohemian Theater, Mario De Rose. 

“It’s a hard but very beautiful, expressive piece.  The difficulty is in balancing the expressive parts.  I believe we are well-rehearse.  Even though it is a complex work, the choir, soloists and children's choir are ready, "says Director Mario De Rose.

José Cura returned to the piece after a quarter of a century:  “This work was in a drawer.  A few months ago Mr. De Rose asked me if I had any work which he could bring to České Budějovice as a premiere.  At that moment, I remembered the Stabat Mater.”

 

 
 

 

 

José Cura Introduces his Stabat Mater in České Budějovice

CT24

1 November 2014

[Excerpts]

The world premiere of the Stabat Mater, a work by composer, conductor and tenor José Cura, was heard Friday in České Budějovice in the Cathedral of St. Nicholas.  Cura, who attended the concert, originally considered conducting the work but eventually passed the baton to the musical director and conductor of the South Bohemian Opera, Mario De Rose.

Cura was inspired by one of the five sequences of the Catholic liturgy of Jacopone da Todi, whose words express the pain of a mother losing her son;  it is part of a larger work by Cura, the oratorio Ecce Homo.  The score track bears the date of 1988 and is the work of the then 26 year old composer.  The text of the poem Stabat Mater has been set to music by others, including Haydn, Rossini, Schubert, Verdi, Jan Jakub Ryba and Antonín Dvořák.

The opus has waited 25 years for its musical setting.  Finally, he is seeing it through the efforts of the Music Director of the South Bohemian Theater, Mario De Rose.  “I know José as a composer.  He is a very good songwriter and I knew that many years ago he had written a Stabat Mater and I said to myself if would be a good idea to do it in the Cathedral,” explained De Rose.

The liturgical text by Cura is not just about Christ, about God.  It is about a mother who is under the cross on which her son is dying.  “Think of all the mothers who have held their dying children in their arms in armed conflicts, the Ebola epidemic, suicide bombers.  We sing it for all these people,” said Cura.

“When Mario asked about the piece, I asked if I should rework it.  I wrote it when I was very young and today I have more experience with music and orchestras.  He told me not to touch it,” said Cura.  He has not heard the piece, not even the rehearsals. “I think that after hearing it, I will have the appetite to change it radically,” he joked. 

The evening’s program consisted of two spiritual works, separated by more than 220 years.  After Cura’s Stabat Mater came the Requiem in D Minor by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

José Cura as a Composer in Czech Budejovice

 

OperaPlus

JiriJiri Fuchs

1 November 2014

[Excerpt]

 

The main “attraction” of this extraordinary concert was the attendance of world famous tenor José Cura, this time as a composer.  Of course it is true that it is not impossible to find among singers some individuals who understand musical theory, but it is not common.  José Cura studied both composition and conducting in his native Argentina; as a result he is an extremely complex personality with a thorough and high-quality musical education.  His compositional ambitions culminated at age 26 in a large composition, Ecce homo, the Stabat Mater portion of which was chosen by Mario De Rose for a premiere in South Bohemia.

First in the evening came the Stabat Mater by José Cura, who consecrated the performance with his presence.  In an exposition at the start of the evening, Cura explained to the audience his personal, emotional artistic vision, which ushered in the creation of this early composition.  He warned of conscious dissonances that was meant to sound “like someone tormented” but in the end a calm descend, the light that brightens the future of the suffering of mothers whose children are dying in needless wars.

The theme seems to be eternal and thus timeless.  The dissonance that Cura seemed concerned about, to me, were rare and expressively justified.  The composition he wrote at 26 with a pure soul and very good theoretical foundation has an interesting meditative component and a celebratory highlight in the song Gloria. It’s an honest compositional work that is only slightly lacking:  only a greater harmony tone, greater originality of musical speech, is needed to elevate the effort.

In summary: very pleasant, useful and concise evening with an extremely well-attended audience. It was good enough that a reprise should be considered.  It would be a shame that this high-quality production of both works should go to waste.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last Updated:  Thursday, November 13, 2014  © Copyright: Kira