"Tenor heart-throb!" trumpeted The Times of London -- somewhat anachronistic phrasing, perhaps, but what else, sadly, do you expect from opera reviewers? Besides, Jose Cura, 40, is exactly that.
In the days when opera was big-time it was the tenors who commanded the largest fees, and as the embodiment of the archetypal young lover frequently had an adoring following to boot. Jose Cura is a contemporary example of this phenomenon, albeit on a lesser scale following the reduced modern status of the art form.
But he is more than this. He has, for example, moved into conducting, and in unusual places -- Poland and Sweden. In addition he has founded his own record label, Cuibar. He is the embodiment of an informal "from the heart" style, both as a conductor and as a singer. His appearance at the open-air Swedish festival of Dalhalla, in heavy rain and with a cold, has entered operatic folk memory.
PHOTO COURTESY OF CULTURAL FOUNDATION
He has in addition made 11 CDs on established labels (Erato, Warner Classics), both of opera and of Latin love songs.
His visit to Taipei next week is for two concerts. One is a solo recital on Wednesday, Oct. 16, the other a celebrity concert with the National Symphony Orchestra on Friday, October 18. Both events begin at 7.30pm.
For his solo recital, Cura has come up with a program of 21 items in four languages. First are three spirituals (in English), followed by a selection of early 20th century art songs (in French or Italian) by Faure, Duparc and Respighi. After the interval the program is entirely of songs in his native Spanish (he was born in Argentina). One of them he appears to have written himself.
Next Friday's concert consists of items from Italian opera. For these he will be joined by a Taiwanese soprano whose identity has yet to be announced.
The program begins with Verdi (Il Corsaro, Ernani and Don Carlo) and then moves to Puccini (Le Villi, Madama Butterfly). The first half ends with the 17-minute-long duet Viene la sera which concludes the first act of Butterfly and is the finest love duet Puccini ever wrote.
The second half opens with four items from Leoncavallo I Pagliacci (The Clowns). This is one of the operas in which Jose Cura made his name and which he sang in Vienna earlier this year. The event concludes with three extracts from Giordano Andrea Chenier, an opera about a poet put to death during the French Revolution.
The National Symphony Orchestra will be conducted by the Charles Peebles, well known in British opera circles and visiting conductor with, among other groups, the London Sinfonietta and London Mozart Players.
There are currently tickets at most prices available for Wednesday's recital, but only mid-priced ones (at around NT$1,500) for Friday's celebrity concert. More information can be obtained by calling (02) 2343-1647.
Taiwan can often feel woefully behind on global trends, from fashion to food, and influences can sometimes feel like the last on the metaphorical bandwagon. In the West, suddenly every burger is being smashed and honey has become “hot” and we’re all drinking orange wine. But it took a good while for a smash burger in Taipei to come across my radar. For the uninitiated, a smash burger is, well, a normal burger patty but smashed flat. Originally, I didn’t understand. Surely the best part of a burger is the thick patty with all the juiciness of the beef, the
The ultimate goal of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is the total and overwhelming domination of everything within the sphere of what it considers China and deems as theirs. All decision-making by the CCP must be understood through that lens. Any decision made is to entrench — or ideally expand that power. They are fiercely hostile to anything that weakens or compromises their control of “China.” By design, they will stop at nothing to ensure that there is no distinction between the CCP and the Chinese nation, people, culture, civilization, religion, economy, property, military or government — they are all subsidiary
Nov.10 to Nov.16 As he moved a large stone that had fallen from a truck near his field, 65-year-old Lin Yuan (林淵) felt a sudden urge. He fetched his tools and began to carve. The recently retired farmer had been feeling restless after a lifetime of hard labor in Yuchi Township (魚池), Nantou County. His first piece, Stone Fairy Maiden (石仙姑), completed in 1977, was reportedly a representation of his late wife. This version of how Lin began his late-life art career is recorded in Nantou County historian Teng Hsiang-yang’s (鄧相揚) 2009 biography of him. His expressive work eventually caught the attention
This year’s Miss Universe in Thailand has been marred by ugly drama, with allegations of an insult to a beauty queen’s intellect, a walkout by pageant contestants and a tearful tantrum by the host. More than 120 women from across the world have gathered in Thailand, vying to be crowned Miss Universe in a contest considered one of the “big four” of global beauty pageants. But the runup has been dominated by the off-stage antics of the coiffed contestants and their Thai hosts, escalating into a feminist firestorm drawing the attention of Mexico’s president. On Tuesday, Mexican delegate Fatima Bosch staged a
RSS