"Perfume" of the words important, says star of Český Krumlov International Music Festival Jose Cura

The Argentinean singer Jose Cura is one of the biggest stars of contemporary opera, known for his powerful and distinctive interpretations of characters like Verdi’s Otello. Czech fans will have a rare chance to see him in the flesh this weekend, when he performs two concerts at the International Music Festival in Český Krumlov, one of the country’s most beautiful towns.

Jose Cura, photo: CTK

I spoke to Jose Cura in Prague earlier this week, just before he set off for south Bohemia. Given his famed skills as an actor, does he give preference to operas with relatively strong narratives?

“Of course, of course. I feel very embarrassed when I have to do operas with a…silly libretto. Even when the music is good. For example, [Verdi’s] Il Trovatore is a great, great piece of music, but the libretto is so, so…funny sometimes that it is very difficult sometimes to feel comfortable on stage.

“I did Trovatore and there is a DVD of my Trovatore, etc, etc. But it’s a role I don’t do any more now, because I really didn’t feel happy on stage with it. But this is only an example.”

Is your interest in acting also a reason you don’t like singing phonetically?

“Of course, yes. When you are an honest actor on stage, you know that the most important thing is not only the words, but the perfume of the words, what is behind, under and around the words, what is not written exactly.

“If you don’t speak the language very, very well, if you don’t master the language, unless you think in the language, pray in the language, you cannot say that language belongs to you.

“That’s why I don’t sing in German for example. I am sure I would probably do a more or less good thing vocally, but I am sure that I would not be very happy with my dramatic interpretation. I don’t want to feel unhappy on stage, because then people will feel it.”

Jose Cura

Generally speaking, opera stars are expected to be able to act more today than they would have been in the past. Why has that change come about?

“It’s very simple. In the past – I’m talking about a long time ago – when cinema was in the beginning, when going to the theatre was for a very small group of people, of course we didn’t have internet, we didn’t have TV, we didn’t have any of these things, it was easy to be on stage doing little things, almost nothing, because the people were there to enjoy the music.

“Now, if you only want to enjoy the music you stay home, you put on a CD, and that’s it. If you come to the theatre with the background of…everybody knows a good movie, everybody understands when a movie is good or bad, when an actor is good or bad.

“When you watch TV you know if you are watching garbage or a good show. If you like garbage, that’s another problem, but you understand…many things in the past were not so easy.

“So it’s impossible today to behave like in the past. Not because the past was bad, but because our present has a lot of different information. And the obligation of an artist is to live in the present.”

I guess also you must have to be physically fitter than your predecessors.

Jose Cura, photo: Roman Casado

“Well, it’s expected. The problem with opera is that opera is a paradox. Of course the number one thing is the voice. If you don’t have the voice, even if you look very good, you can go home.

“And the contrary…if you have the voice and you don’t look good, that you can accept sometimes…Of course everybody would like to look like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie – we would love it, but it’s not possible. But to look at least as good as you can, that is not impossible.”

What is your relationship to Czech music?

“As everybody knows I started my career almost with Janáček. I also did a recording of Dvořák’s Love Songs and the Ninth Symphony for the one hundredth anniversary in 2004. So far that’s my real link to Czech music, which is not big.

“Again, if I conduct then it’s OK, but when I sing, because I don’t speak Czech…it was very, very difficult to do the recording of the Love Songs for example. I did it at Czech Radio, by the way, in 2003. It was very, very difficult – it was a nightmare to try to convey the words of a language that is not mine.

“That’s why I wanted to do it in Prague here, because I was surrounded by Czech people…the technicians, everybody was Czech, so I was breathing in Czech.”

Tell us what can fans expect at your two concerts in Český Krumlov this weekend?

Český Krumlov

“What you can expect for sure is that I will try my best to make people have a good time. Then you have all the unpredictable aspects. You don’t know if it’s going to rain or not, you don’t know if it’s going to be so hot that we will…feel like a piece of nothing, instead of a singer, and you will try even still to sing these difficult things.

“For the musicians to play in 35 degrees it’s no fun. These things you cannot control. But one thing is for sure – everybody’s going to give their best.”

And you’re spending a whole week in the town?

“A whole week in the town, yes. After the first concert the next day is free but I cannot do a lot, because I have the obligation of the second concert. But we will go sightseeing and everything. I’m really looking forward to it: everybody says Český Krumlov is like a postcard.”