Organization

Conductor

Mario De Rose

Stage director

Marina Emandi-Tiron

Singer

Tenor

José Cura

Don José

Mezzo-soprano

Hadar Halevy

Carmen

Soprano

Nicoleta Ardelean

Michaela

Baritone

Stefan Ignat

Escamillo

Bass

Horia Sandu

Zuniga

Florin Simionca

Morales

Simona Neagu

Frasquita

Sidonia Nica

Mercedes

Mihai Lazar

Dancaire

Valentin Racoveanu

Remendado

Opera Națională București

Others

Bucharest National Opera Chorus

Orchestra

Bucharest National Opera Orchestra

Bucharest

Romania

Opera Comică București

JOSÉ CURA, "Carmen" -  George Enesco Festival 2007 in Bucharest, Romania.  
In September 2007, the 2007/2008 schedule, filled with a number of enticing performances, began with a stunning Carmen at the George Enesco Festival in Bucharest,  Romania.  
Venue: Opera Națională București , Bucharest, Romania.  
Date: 8th, September, 2007

Carmen Bizet

Public

Approved

What was there to see in the first show hosted by the Bucharest National Opera in this edition of the ‘George Enesco’ Festival? José Cura himself, a handsome, temperamental, sensitive singer the kind we hadn't seen on our stages for a very long time a high-class and intelligent artist, a man who probably creates a magnetic field around him wherever he goes, and who naturally attracts appraisal due to his celebrity.   

Cotidianul..September 2007 
 "Tenor José Cura was the most powerful Don José that I have ever seen or heard. ...
 What a rare  thing! I cheered enthusiastically and cried ‘bravo!’ with all my heart." 
---- The  second essential point in the work comes at the end of Act III when Don José’s love turns to hate. Tenor José Cura was, at that moment, the most powerful Don José that I have ever seen or heard. Cura offered a solid Don José, without internal cracks, who manages to be outwardly humble and lyrical while at the same time indestructibly arrogant. What a rare thing! I cheered enthusiastically and cried ‘bravo!’ with all my heart. 
Cura’s great quality is not his voice, though without a doubt he sings very well; his vocal cords have been kissed by God. And yet, it is due to the temperament of this huge dramatic tenor, his acting  that he invests in the character and not necessarily in the music. With keen intelligence, Cura knows how to use his voice in a special way. His interpretative solutions are unique, surprising. Where almost all other tenors use piano, he forces one or two notes, makes a split second stop and then offers a tense piano. Every time it works. He convinces. Cura is that kind of tenor,  quite rare, who excels in those moments when  the character lives an emotional earthquake, must make major  decisions, or keenly feel the feelings. For me, the scene at the end of Act III was fantastic. From that moment, when Don José is rejected by Carmen, he becomes her most dangerous enemy. And Cura showed us this transformation with the same clarity as teachers show students how bodies are dissected.


 Cotidianul..October 2007 
"José Cura’s Don José shocked the audience with his machismo, intensity, and interpretation."
---- The National Opera of Bucharest offered Saturday, within the framework of the Enesco International Festival, a show from their own repertoire, and the name José Cura filled nearly 1,000 seats in the hall. 
José Cura amazed the audience with his machismo, intensity, and interpretation. But if many were expecting to see a romantic Carmen, the Gala performance on Sunday must have taken them by surprise.  Cura’s vision turned Bizet’s opera into a passionate and exciting performance, putting particular emphasis on the character of Don José.  Cura’s Don José is an arrogant man  but one in  accordance with the time, whose machismo attitude could not tolerate  the behavior of a free and powerful Carmen. The murder at the end of the opera is not an act of jealousy but the natural act of strong man in the face of humiliation. Two scenes in particular took away the audience’s breath: the third act, when Don José is called home by Micaela for his ailing mother—the violence Cura calls  up could  be read on [Carmen’s] face—and the final scene, when the intensity of Cura’s  interpretation erased any trace of theatricality, as if he had brought the boiling blood and nerves of Don José to the stage.

English

Carmen by Bizet, From (2007/2007), Directed by Marina Emandi-Tiron,, Conductor Mario De Rose, Opera Comică București, Bucharest, Romania

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Ensemble

Program, About & Synopsis

Photos

Further reading

Performance Dates & Venues

Venues