Operatime

Arina Timofeeva

28 October 2017

Note:  This interview was actually conducted a year ago but was published to coincide with José Cura’s appearance with Olga Borodina in Samson et Dalila in St Petersburg.  This is a ‘cleaned up’ computer translation so consider it an approximation of the discussion.

 Q:  I heard that this visit is very short.  Would you like to come to Russia, to St. Petersburg again, maybe for a longer time?

José Cura:  Oh sure!  It would be great to come to sing n Russia, where I have never sung before (in a complete opera performance - AT).  I know that my time as an opera singer will end, so it would be great to sing one of my roles—Otello or Peter Grimes—in the legendary Mariinsky Theater.

Q:  Let's talk about your childhood.  Was there music in your house, were your parents involved in music?

JC:  My parents were not professional musicians but my father played the piano.  Every evening, when he came home from work, he played a little—Beethoven, Liszt, Chopin—just for his pleasure.  In 1974, he broke his arm in a car accident and never played again.  I was born in 1963 so for the first 11 years of my life I heard piano music at home…and then it stopped.  But I always felt connected with music.  My parents were always interested in it.  In those days there were no records on CD, there was no internet, music was on vinyl.  My mother had a huge collection of records: classics, good pop music, Sinatra, Fitzgerald.  My mother did not discriminate: one day it could be Beethoven, another day - Paul McCartney.  This is the atmosphere in which I grew up.

Q: Maybe you have some special memory from childhood about a musical work that made a strong impression on you ?

JC:  No, I cannot distinguish one musical impression.  I heard and listened to a lot of music.  I grew up in Rosario in Argentina. I had a normal childhood.  I remember that I was in the theater a couple of times, I listened to concerts for a guitar, maybe it was the beginning of my interest in this instrument, but I do not remember any one event that would have made an indelible impression in childhood.  However, I can say with certainty that when I was a teenager, I had a musical idol - the legendary guitarist Ernesto Bitetti.  He is also from Rosario, and my family was friendly with his family, we talked, visited each other at a party.  Now he is retired, but in the last century it was one of the most famous guitarists in the world.

Q:  Do you remember the moment when you decided that music would be your profession?

JC: When I was 7 or 8 years old, my dad sent me to learn to play the piano.  The teacher was a very nice elderly woman, she tried to teach me how to play but I was just a child, quite active and unpredictable.  And after three or four lessons she sent me home, saying that I was still too young and not at all interested in music.  After the piano, I radically changed direction and began to play in rugby, which, of course, had nothing to do with music.  I played rugby for a long time, almost becoming a professional athlete.  But when I turned 12 and went to high school, I had a classmate who played the guitar.  Playing the guitar and singing songs seemed to please all the girls.  And I thought that maybe I should also learn this.  I studied, I sang the Beatles songs.  And when I was 14, I told my father that I liked playing guitar and I would like to learn this seriously.  I started studying with a real teacher, so it all started.

Q:  And how did the transition from guitar to composition, vocals and conducting?

JC:  The guitar is an amazing instrument.  To this day, it is the only one I truly love.  But over time I felt that the guitar was too quiet an instrument for my extroverted nature.  I needed something more.  I told my father that I wanted to study at the conservatory and to be a composer and conductor.  Among other courses in the conservatory was a vocal course, and it turned out that I have a voice.  I was about 20 years old.  I've always sung, but it was never an operatic-style singing. 

Studying to be a conductor helped me to discover I have a voice but I was not then thinking about making singing my career.  I studied, I sang in the choir, I earned a little money with it, but I continued to study conducting and composing music.  When I was 22, Argentina passed real elections after many years and the country returned to democracy.  This was the beginning of a new era but these were very difficult times: orchestras, choirs had problems with funding.  It was difficult to survive and to make a living as a conductor and especially as a composer it was almost impossible (even now it is impossible to earn a living as a composer, perhaps only composers who write music for films somehow do).  And I was 24 years old and I thought that I could sing and maybe find a job related to singing: weddings, parties or a professional choir.  I would work [singing] to support my work with the composition.  I started singing in the choir, going to the auditions.

Now I can say that I am happy that I have recognition as an opera singer but in addition I have written music, I'm conducting, and still sing.

Q: Now you are a composer, a conductor, a singer, a director, a choreographer, and a photographer.  Do you have any plans for the future?  Do you plan to develop all these interests?

JC: Nobody knows how everything will develop.  First of all, no one knows what will happen to him in the future: what will happen to health, how circumstances will develop.  Now I feel healthy and young, but every year I feel that I should not work so intensively.  I used to give 100 performances a year, and now I feel that I need more time to recover.  You just need to be prepared to react and adapt to any situation that life can bring.  This is one side.  The other side is dreams.  Of course, I dream to continue singing for as long as I can, but it depends on my body.  Some can sing for a long time, some cannot.  It also depends on how much you've sung throughout your career.  For example, on average over 25 years of career someone can give 1000 performances.  I have already given 2500. If we draw an analogy with cars, that is, two cars from 1990, but one has driven 50 thousand km and another 500 thousand.  Two identical machines, but one of them was operated much more.  So let's see how my body "behaves."  But my dream is, of course, to conduct and compose music, because it all started, and to return to this would be a wonderful way to complete the cycle.

Q:  Let’s return to the operatic career. Do you have a favorite opera hero, a favorite opera part?

JC:  I will answer the way I always like to answer: my favorite role is the one I'm working on right now, the one I'm singing now.  In other words, after all that I have done, and this is a lot of roles and a lot of performances, if I go on stage, then I go out in a role that I really can perform and which I really enjoy performing.  I do not go out on stage for the sake of profit.  When you are young, you have to make a living, you have to be in the profession, then there comes a time when you can say: I can sing this role very well, and in this role I'm not so good, so it is better not to take for it.

Q: Can you name colleagues with whom you are very comfortable singing?

JC:  Of course I will not give you any names, because it can lead to conflict.  For me to be with someone on the stage, working together is like dancing in a couple or making love.  It should be very comfortable, there must be interaction, moments when you lead, then those when the partner leads.  This is the perfect partner for me on the stage.  Sometimes there is a partner who "does not know how to lead" or "steps on your feet".  This has rarely happened to me.  There is nothing more terrible in dancing than when a partner steps on your feet.  It hurts.  And then you have two options: you either stop dancing or you start to lead, and then everything goes well.  Depending on the situation, you must decide how to proceed.  I have been lucky that during my work I never had to "stop the dance."

Q:  I know that you sang with Anna Netrebko.  Did you work with other Russian singers and singers?

JC:  Yes, of course.  Two Russian singers with whom I sang a lot are Marie Guleghina and Olga Borodina.  I met Maria in 1995, so that is already 22 years we have been singing together.  I met Olga in 1998, she sang her first Carmen with me.  We were practically children.  Since then we have sung together, made records, grown older together, watched our children grew up together.  I knew her daughter when she was a little girl, and now she is a young woman.  And of course, I was familiar with Dmitri Hvorostovsky.  I know his family.  I’ve know his children since their birth.

Q:  You said that when you sang Otello, then your partners were , among other things, young singers who performed this role for the first time working with you .

JC:   Yes, we can say that I "baptized" at least 20 singers for the role of Desdemona and also many singers who performed Iago for the first time.  By the way, Hvorostovsky sang his first Iago with me.

Q:  Speaking generally, do you think that the nationality or the opera school has a great influence on the singer, on his manner of singing?

JC:  Singing is a cultural phenomenon, as is painting, literature or dance.  One does not just click the button and start to sing.  In this sense, the Argentinian will not sing like an Italian, the Italian will not sing like a Frenchman, and the Frenchman will not sing like Russian.  Each of us, expressing ourselves in art, does this through the cultural baggage that is in his head and often in the heart.  Of course, training can help, but if everyone could sing like an Italian in an Italian opera, like a German in a German opera, like Russian in Russian - that would be perfect, but it's very difficult.  That's why, for example, I do not sing Russian opera.  I do not have a base on which I could feel myself as Russian.  I would just copy as a pirate.  If they offered Herman for me to sing, it would not be me singing Herman, but it would be me mimicking someone who sang Herman, because I do not have the knowledge of either the Russian language or Russian culture.  For the same reason, I do not sing a German opera.  I sing Italian, French, English, Spanish opera, because I know these languages ​​and understand the culture.  I think that it is very important for an artist to be honest in this matter, including recognizing that in this honesty the difference between the artist and the performer is manifested.  Every artist is a performer, but not every performer is an artist.

Q:  In Russia, only 4-5 of the 40 opera houses are widely known.  Is it the same in Argentina?  Are there any well-known theaters besides the Colón Theater in Buenos Aires?  Is there anything interesting in them?

JC: This is not an easy question.  Why does fame appear?  First of all, the place, in our case the theater, should be part of the story--for example, if there were high-profile premieres in the theater.  It is also a matter of economic power-- that is, money—and whether the theater can launch a "media machine" and make people talk about it.  That is, it turns out that this is not a question of what we like but a question of what moves the business.  We are engaged in business related to beautiful things, but it's still business. 

The Mariinsky is known for many premieres, the same can be said about La Scala and others. There are positive and negative points in this, depending on perspective.  If the theater works, it has its own audience, its sponsors and it plays an important social role in the city.  And then it's not really important if it is a famous theater or not.  Fame is very ephemeral, today you have it, tomorrow you do not.  It is important not just to be known, but to be useful to the environment in which you are in.  I would even put the question differently.  Many famous theaters are known today only because of their past.  They do not serve the present, they do nothing to be known in the present.  Of course, I will not mention names.  But it's one thing to be in the halo of the glory of your predecessors and it's another thing to work for the glory of your present.  Therefore, the question you asked me is not so easy to answer.

Q:  Then let me ask this a little differently.  If I come to Argentina, which theater should I visit besides the Colón?

JC: If you come to Argentina and visited the Teatro Colón and a few more theaters, I can only say: what a pity!  Of course, the Colón Theater is incredibly good, and the artists of the Colón Theater are some of the best in the world, but if you want to come to Argentina just for the sake of it alone, then do not come at all because you can find about the same thing in any famous theater in Europe.  Arriving in Argentina, you need to visit a lot, including the Colón.  Argentina is an incredibly beautiful country, maybe one of the most beautiful on earth, but, as often happens, people come to the country and visit one or two of the most famous and large cities: Moscow and St. Petersburg in Russia, Washington and New York in the US, Rome and Milan in Italy.  But the real beauty of the country is often not in the capital.

Q:  You just do not want to name names, so I'll ask a general question.  You are a dramatic tenor, the owner of a rare type of voice.  Since there are not many dramatic tenors, other tenors are forced to play dramatic roles.  Is it really dangerous to sing something that is not meant for your type of voice?

JC: I will answer with an abstract example, because if I answer using technical terms, it will not be completely clear.  Imagine a boxer weighing 50 kg.  If he competes with another 50 kg boxer, then everything is in order.  If he is in the weight category 50 - 60 kg, this is also normal.  But if he enters into a fight with a 100-kilogram opponent, then obviously he plans to die.  Opera is the same.  Otello is a heavy role, Canio is a heavy role, Grimes is also a 100-kilogram role but if you are a 100 kg boxer, you can deal with them.  Nobody says it's easy, but it's physically possible.  But if you are 50 kg and you're going to fight Mike Tyson, you can say with certainty that you will lose.

Q:  Please tell us about Peter Grimes.  You sang the lead role and directed this opera at the same time.  How hard is it to sing in your own production?

JC:  I must say that for me it was an incredible pleasure.  Again I do not want to talk using technical terms, because then I will remain someone not understood. I will explain with another example.  Imagine yourself writing a book where you can open a page and step into it, become one of its characters, or paint a picture and by magic can enter your creation.  This is the feeling that you have when participating in your own production.  You seem to have stepped into your dream.  This is the romantic side.  The unromantic side is that it is very difficult.  If you are a singer, then you have a rehearsal of 3 hours or a dual rehearsal of 6 hours, and then you go home.  If you are a producer, then you have meetings with technicians, engineers, lighting, then rehearsals with singers, rehearsals with the orchestra, pianists, and then everything in a new circle.  When I put on a performance, I'm at the theater from 8.30 to 23.00 every day.

Q: You brought a remarkable comparison "step into your dream" ...

JC:  Yes, often people think only about the negative side but not to remember the positive.  Imagine, you can live your dream!  You can create the world you dreamed of and step into it and live in it.  Some people criticize me but then I ask: "And what would you do in my place?" And they reply: "You are right, I would do the same."  Of course!  They would have done it if they had had a chance.

Someone may disagree with the fact that I do several things at once but for me it's more important how I do it, whether the singers and the orchestra are good, whether the production is interesting.  And if the answer is "yes, it's done well, it's done professionally" - then what's the problem?  For me, that is the only thing that matters.

And it's also important that the people you work with work well.  You deal with real people, the motor of the theater, the heart of the theater.  The heart of the theater is not the quartermaster, not the administration, not the soloists, not the musical director, they can change.  The heart of the theater is technicians, electricians, chorus, orchestra, these guys are always here.  They are the theater's blood.  And if these people are happy to work with you, if they are proud to work with you and, most importantly, if they feel safe working with you, then you are doing everything right.  Then people can like what you do or not like it, but no one will say that you did it unprofessionally.  This is a border that I will not cross.  If I am offered the chance to do something and I know that I am not able to do it professionally, I will say no.  But if I can do it on a professional level, even if it's terribly difficult, I'll do it.  And I will do it even knowing that I can be criticized.  Because life is short.  And if you live all the time, looking around, thinking only about others will say, then you live a shitty life.  We cannot change a short life.  But a shitty life, we probably have the power to change that.  And this is our own decision.

Q:  What would you advise young singers for career development?  Is it better to stay in home and make a career at the theater and then go out to conquer the world’s opera scene, or to head out into the world at the beginning of a professional career and starting with small roles?          

JC:  There is no answer to this question. We need to place ourselves in the perspective of the present and see what kind of world we live in now. Both opera and classical art are not outside this world, they are part of it. They are part of a big machine, part of society. We live in a very difficult time: terrorism, immigration, environmental pollution, crazy guys from North Korea, experimenting with a nuclear bomb and so on. In addition, the large unemployment among young people is, in fact, a great social drama. In this reality, it is unrealistic to worry too much about the future of classical art. This does not mean that we should not do this! This means that we must persist , because beauty (and what we do is beauty) is always food for the soul, and we should not stop! And I will be the first to insist that we should not stop. If the social machine does not provide it, then the person will seek for beauty himself because he needs it. And looking for beauty, you will find it in nature, you will find it in God, if you believe in God, you will find it in music, ballet, painting, anywhere. But it's pointless to ask society to take care of the opera, when most people think about how to hold out until the end of the month.

 What can I advise the young?  I do not know. The world now and the world when I started 30 years ago are very different. It is difficult to give advice you are sure will be good advice in 90% of cases. How to tell young artists "work hard, learn a lot and you will achieve something" when young artists watch TV and see that someone, just by having a "Big Brother" can become a popular artist? How can you explain to your child that someone, without making any effort, can become successful and famous? It is difficult to find an answer to this. My son is a movie actor and we often talk about it. How can you explain why you need to study for 10 years at the academy when some model or football player or rock musician becomes an actor and gets a role simply because he is known?

But I do not want young people to lose hope, lose the desire to make efforts, so they think "if it's just this way, I will not make it anyway," because it is not true. It happens. And if you really try, maybe it will happen. Even in the past there was never a formula for success. Now it’s just more difficult. There is no single formula for true success. To become famous now appear in the news in any way and you will automatically become famous. I can give interviews in front of the camera and someone will push or insult me and it will be shown on the news and it will instantly become known. With the media this is very simple. So today the bigger task is not to become famous but to become outstanding in your career. Therefore, my advice to young people, to young artists: do not seek fame, because fame is short and ephemeral.  Strive for greatness in work and in life.

 * The interview was taken from Jose Cura in his previous visit to St. Petersburg (10/28/2017)