Bravo Cura
Celebrating José Cura--Singer, Conductor, Director
Operas: Samson
Samson and DalilaPremiere Oper in three acts Deutsche Oper Berlin
Conductor:
Alain
Altinoglu
A Coproduction with the Grand Théâtre de Genève
The biblical figure
of Samson and the many facets of his personality allow many
comparisons, but – it must be said at the outset – none
of these holds up. Samson is different. Even though his
story is reminiscent of his successors found in the New
Testament: Samson is no Jesus. His birth, proclaimed by
an angel, heralds the liberation of Israel from the hands
of the Philistines. The place: Gaza, Palastine, around 1100
B.C. From his mother's (infertile) womb to one of God's
chosen, Samson is the invincible hero, the effective weapon
in the Hebrews' struggle to achieve their freedom. The
wrathful young man murders and sets fires in the encampments
of the enemy. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
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Reviews
Samson et Dalila, Berlin, May 2011: “Fortunately, the protagonists were played by magnetic soloists who distracted from an increasingly fizzling production. The prominent tenor José Cura was a thoroughly seductive Samson despite a somewhat constricted vibrato during the first act. His voice loosened up for a powerful performance at the onset of the third act in which the chained hero desperately prays to God. His visceral but vulnerably expressed singing brought a palpable spiritual dimension to the story.” NPR, May 2011
Samson et Dalila, Berlin, May 2011: “Jose Cura demonstrated that Saint-Saëns' music can produce deep emotions of utmost intensity by means of the minutest alterations in sound.” Klassic, 15May 2011
Samson et Dalila, Berlin, May 2011: “This gross error of interpretation, bad taste and lack of sensitivity cost Kinmonth merciless boos and catcalls from the time the curtain fell at the interval to the end in spite of anything the excellent performances of the great Bulgarian mezzo-soprano Vesselina Kasarova and the brilliant Argentinian tenor José Cura (a Samson with enormous dramatic power and rich sound) could do to remedy. There was a standing ovation from the audience for the singers. But when Kinmonth and Darko Petrovic (co-costume designer) appeared to give thanks and take leave, the booing and catcalls reach an unprecedented level for this stage. In short, this was a production to hear rather than see.” Mundocalssico, 14 June 2011
Samson et Dalila, Berlin, May 2011: “Unfortunately, Kinmonth didn’t have the slightest idea how to inject movement into his stiff, hermetically sealed model. So it was a great shock when two cattle cars rolled onstage in the closing minutes, apparently summoned by Samson’s strength and devotion to God, to ship the Philistines to you-know-where. It was frustrating and totally incongruous with the music: the Hebrews’ revenge on the Philistines is sending them to the ovens. The suggestion would be in bad taste anywhere. In Berlin, it was appalling. Fortunately, the evening’s musical elements were less repugnant. José Cura, now in his late forties, has sung Samson all over the world. He is a powerful, forceful tenor with burnished tones and thrilling top notes, but his phrasing can be confusing and the results uneven. He had moments of transcendence and heroism. He sounded stiff and leaden in his Act I entrance (the top hat and cane may have contributed to this impression); he fared better in the love duet but really came into his own in his Act III lament and prayer to God. He projected anguished, almost cantorial tones and attacked this exquisite music with tormented, fearful precision. The evening concluded with generous ovations for the singers and satisfying boos for Kinmonth and his team.” Opera News, August 2011
Samson et Dalila, Berlin, May 2011: “Jose Cura's Samson, virile and enormously touching in the third act, does not sport a mane of long hair. The singer does without macho affectations, and at the end he is no suicide bomber, who causes Dagon's temple to come crashing down, either. Pensive, with top hat and walking cane or without, he acts the part of defender of his Lord, Jehova, God of the Jews, transcending time as it were.” HNA, 31 May 2011
Samson et Dalila, Berlin, May 2011: “Two protagonists in particular put themselves in the service of music and action with complete devotion and had inspired each other to singular levels of achievement. [A] moment of really great singing was Samson's solo scene at the beginning of the third act. Here, José Cura exhibited the full range of his mastery both as a singer and as an actor; based on excellent technique and breath control, he sang with pure, unbridled emotion, which went straight to the heart. After an initially restrained start, the singer, who has grown and matured in this role over many years, escalated (his performance) brilliantly, so much so that the big duet between Samson and Dalila was a total delight in its gripping intensity. In principle, this should have triggered a storm of applause. That it failed to materialize and instead boos and subsequent vulgarities made the rounds in the auditorium, is to be attributed to the directing, which was obviously all but insufferable for many a patron. Indeed, the director opens himself to criticism less for the radicalism of his conception than for the as yet poorly developed ability to offer workable, convincing directing and guidance. Here, the singers--fortunately deeply charismatic--were often left to manage the challenges on their own, were frozen in theatrical gestures or preoccupied with awkward, meaningless gimmicks.” Opernglas, 15 May 2011
Samson et Dalila, Berlin, May 2011: “The roles of the protagonists were taken by the extremely prominent José Cura and Vesselina Kasarova. The tenor, who has emerged over time as both composer and director, no longer sings with his original captivating ease but remains capable of intense expression, as with his dying piani, for compelling effect. He also showed special talents as an emcee when the curtain for the final applause remained down too long …” Neue Musikzeitung, 16 March 2011
Samson et Dalila, Berlin, May 2011: “José Cura looked striking as Samson and sounded great. He certainly has the physical and vocal presence that the role requires and he was consistently intense of the stage. It was certainly not his fault that this particular Samson was staged…” Operamagazine, 17 May 2011
Samson et Dalila, Berlin, May 2011: “One of the most interesting evenings of the season. José Cura in his signature role as the hero with the potent pile, i.e. with the power of an unstinted head of hair, has the perfect hair for Samson and the right (kind of) chest, too. From there he produces those steel-sobs typical for him by the dozen. Respect. Currently there is no one to match him in this. With his Otello, we had already come to appreciate that he likes to plunge into old, familiar roles in entirely new ways. Alongside Laurent Naouri and Ante Jerkunica he contributes decisively to one of the vocally most interesting evenings of the season.” Kulturradio, , 16 May 2011
Samson et Dalila, Berlin, May 2011: “Hardly challenged dramatically, José Cura concentrated his force on producing trumpet-like tones, increasingly successful as the evening progressed.” Der Standard, 24 May 2011
Samson et Dalila, Berlin, May 2011: “José Cura, who has sung Samson almost as often as he has sung Canio, has a strong, controlled vibrato and knows how to use it as a temple for his broken character, developing it was amazing vehemence and authority.” Die Welt, 17 May 2011
Samson et Dalila, Berlin, May 2011: “José Cura produced some powerful, ringing sounds, though his portrait failed to disguise the fact that the part of Samson is woefully underwritten in dramatic terms.” Intermezzo, 15 May 2011
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Berlin Samson et Dalila Opera News August 2011 A.J. Goldmann
[Excerpts] Behold the railway, symbol of the Industrial Revolution—of the unstoppable mark of “Progress,” mankind’s ingenuity and a fulfillment of democratic European ideals in the wake of the French Revolution. Trains figures centrally in Patrick Kinmonth’s new production of Samson et Dalila at Deutsche Oper Berlin (seen May 15). The British polymath, known for his long collaboration with Robert Carsen, had the intriguing idea of setting Saint-Saëns’s epic not in biblical times but in the place and epoch of its composition, Paris of the 1970s, the era of the Paris Commune. There is no doubting that Kinmonth has a great visual sense. The stage was dramatically bare for most of Act I, save for three train tracks and the luxurious first-class sleeping car from which Samson made his entrance. The tracks remained in place for Act II, although some shrubby vegetation was sprouting near the rails, presumably to make the surroundings more conducive to romance. The dark, Victorian scheme was enhanced by the costumes, which included top hats and walking sticks, gothic black bonnets, corsets, French military uniforms and pastel-colored gowns for the dancing Philistines. Unfortunately, Kinmonth didn’t have the slightest idea how to inject movement into his stiff, hermetically sealed model. Instead, he tried out a variety of effects that enhanced the already pervasive sense of inertia, which in Act I translated into an amplification of the opera’s origins as an oratorio. These included a slow, ritualized dinner for the mourning Hebrews, a rough sex scene between the title characters and a total lack of choreography for the Act III ballet, which played out before a white curtain. The scant evidence of mise-en-scene contributed to the production’s paucity of direction. So it was a great shock when two cattle cars rolled onstage in the closing minutes, apparently summoned by Samson’s strength and devotion to God, to ship the Philistines to you-know-where. It was frustrating and totally incongruous with the music, suggesting an interpretation of the biblical Samson that one only encounters on anti-Semitic blogs: the Hebrews’ revenge on the Philistines is sending them to the ovens. The suggestion would be in bad taste anywhere. In Berlin, it was appalling. Fortunately, the evening’s musical elements were less repugnant. Alain Atlinoglu presided over a lush, detail-oriented reading of this dramatically charged score, highlighting the exotic details while also bringing out its proto-impressionistic elements. José Cura, now in his late forties, has sung Samson all over the world. He is still a powerful, forceful tenor with burnished tones and thrilling top notes, but his phrasing can be confusing and the results uneven. He had moments of transcendence and heroism…He sounded stiff and leaden in his Act I entrance (the top hat and cane may have contributed to this impression); he fared better in the love duet but…really came into his own in his Act III lament and prayer to God. He projected anguished, almost cantorial tones and attacked this exquisite music with tormented, fearful precision. […] The evening concluded with generous ovations for the singers and satisfying boos for Kinmonth and his team.
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Official Reviews
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FROCK-COAT AND TOP-HAT HNA Andrea Hilgenstock May 31 2011 Berlin. A woman and a man. She calls him a coward. He would rather keep the secret of his strength to himself. Could it be that he doesn't love her? The story of Samson and Dalila, which Saint-Saens used in his 'Biblical' by the same name, is well-known. Patrick Kinmonth, however, gives it a new interpretation. It is not Samson's long hair that is cut off, but instead the Jewish insurgent, who succumbs to the Philistine Dalila's seductive, persuasive charms as well as her desire for revenge, discloses his strength in an act of rape. He is literally 'blinded' (deluded). The British novice director and creator of set and costumes, who gave his directing debut in 2008 and as a rule is on the road as art director, writer, painter and designer, does, however, not indulge in awkward, heavy-handed updating. He shifts the opera into the time in which it was composed, 1875, and lets himself be inspired by Freudian psychoanalysis. He is interested in the personal conflicts of these enigmatic protagonists, to whom he attributes a lengthier relationship plus a child. It is in the personal, individual (sphere) that he traces and in subtle ways investigates the question: "Why is there (such a thing as) war and destruction? Thus he cuts off the braids only metaphorically, in an understated and tasteful way. Jose Cura's Samson, virile and enormously touching in the third act, does not sport a mane of long hair. The singer does without macho affectations, and at the end he is no suicide bomber, who causes Dagon's temple to come crashing down, either. Pensive, with top hat and walking cane or without, he acts the part of defender of his Lord, Jehova, God of the Jews, transcending time as it were. The folks in the stalls of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, who in the face of train tracks on stage and a freight car are unable to forget the tragedy of the 20th century, get 'blinded' gently, without having things dished out with a mallet. In the sleeper, Dalila can be seen moving around silently; apart from that, Vesselina Kasarova is drawn towards the apron area of the stage as if by magic. The Bulgarian star mezzo-soprano's setting of every tone is well articulated and calculated; she savors every phrase, picks apart every word. Sadly, the legato suffers as a result of it. Without all Flash Her Dalila never sounds beguilingly sensual. One misses the air, the element of irresistibility, which is after all what ultimately elicits the secret from Samson. No, a seductress she is not; instead, the grand and elegant-imperious is rather more her style. Alain Altinoglu, the great white hope in the upper echelon of French conductors, leaves behind mixed impressions also. His interpretation, which minimizes anything flashy and loud, sounds quite delicate but has little fragrance or exotic shimmer. The oratorical is predominant. The audience is dismissed intellectually stimulated from this pleasant evening. The one thing it establishes in no uncertain terms: The God of Love is the greatest of mysteries.
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Summary Reviews
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Last Updated: Sunday, May 26, 2019 © Copyright: Kira
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