José Luis Victor Cura Gómez (born 5 December 1962) is an Argentine operatic tenor, conductor, director, scenographer and photographer known for intense and original interpretations of opera characters, notably Otello in Verdi’s Otello, Samson in Saint-Saëns’ Samson et Dalila, Canio in Ruggero Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, and Stiffelio in Giuseppe Verdi's Stiffelio.
2007 saw the premiere of La Commedia è finita. The show, designed and directed by Cura – in which he also sang the lead role of Canio – marked the beginning of his career as a director and scenographer. He followed this with his productions of Samson et Dalila at the Badisches Staatstheater in 2010 (in which he also sang the title role) as well as La Rondine at the Opéra national de Lorraine (in which he also conducted) and Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie, both in 2012 – singing the roles of Turiddu and Canio.
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Early life
José Cura was born in Rosario, Argentina. At the age of 12 he was playing guitar under Juan di Lorenzo's guidance; at 15 he made his debut as a choral director; and at 16 he began studies in composition with Carlos Castro and piano with Zulma Cabrera.
In 1982, he entered the Music School at the Universidad Nacional de Rosario to continue his musical education; the following year he became assistant conductor of the university choir. At 21, he won a grant to study at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, where he remained for six months.
Cura continued to sing in the opera chorus while focusing on composition and conducting until 1988, when he began working with Horacio Amauri to develop his singing technique.
Determined to make a career in opera, José Cura moved to Italy in 1991 and began voice training with Vittorio Terranova. In February 1992 he made his debut in Verona as the father in Henze's Pollicino. In Genoa he played Le Remendado in Bizet's Carmen and the Capitano de ballestrieri in Verdi's Simon Boccanegra.
Career as opera singer
Cura's first starring role came in 1993 in Signorina Julia by Bibalo at the Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste, Italy.
He began 1994 with a series of highly successful debuts: Ismaele in Verdi's Nabucco in Genoa and Don Alvaro in Verdi's La Forza del Destino in Turin were followed with Ruggero in the world premiere of the third version of Puccini's La Rondine (Turin) and Roberto in the same composer's rarely performed first opera, Le Villi (Martina Franca); the latter performance is particularly noteworthy for providing Cura's first complete opera recording.
In the same year Cura won the first prize of Plácido Domingo's Operalia competition.
In November, he made his US debut in Chicago as Loris Ipanov in Giordano's Fedora, opposite Mirella Freni; he subsequently reprised the role in Trieste in 1995, in London in 1996, in Vienna in 1997 and 1998, and in Tokyo, Zurich and Lecce, Italy, in 1998.
1995–2000
He continued adding roles to his expanding repertoire in 1995. In February, he returned to Italy to star as Paolo il Bello in the Palermo production of Zandonai's Francesca da Rimini. In June Cura debuted in London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in the title role of Stiffelio on the opening night of the Verdi Festival.
In 1996, Cura built upon his burgeoning reputation and solidified his position as one of the most promising tenors of his generation. Following his portrayal of Osaka in Mascagni's allegorical opera Iris at the Rome Opera in January, he returned to London to star in Saint-Saëns' Samson et Dalila, a role for which he has received international acclaim. For his debuts in Los Angeles and San Francisco, Cura added two roles to his repertoire, Pollione in Bellini's Norma and Don José in Carmen.
Other key roles included Le Villi, Leoncavallo's Pagliacci and Giordano's Andrea Chénier at Opernhaus Zurich, Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana at the Ravenna Festival (conducted by Riccardo Muti and broadcast on Italian television), and Pagliacci at Amsterdam's Concertgebouw (conducted by Riccardo Chailly and televised live). In December, he starred in the Puccini segment of the BBC "Great Composers" documentary, telecast in December 1997.
Cura's debut at Milan's La Scala came in January 1997, when he starred as Enzo in Ponchielli's La Gioconda. Cura returned to La Scala in June 1998 as Des Grieux in Puccini's Manon Lescaut and again in February 1999 for La Forza del Destino, both conducted by Riccardo Muti.
In 1997, José Cura sang duets with the famous classical crossover soprano Sarah Brightman, singing Just Show Me How to Love You, and There For Me, songs released in her album Time to Say Goodbye.
With a growing international reputation and increased critical interest, José Cura made a pivotal career decision in 1997: at Turin's Teatro Regio, at age 34, Cura debuted in Verdi's Otello, telecast live on Italian television. Under the baton of Claudio Abbado La Nazione ran the headline "José Cura: a new Otello is born!" Opera houses around the world agreed, offering Cura the opportunity to take his Moor to London, Washington, Madrid, Trieste, Munich, Buenos Aires, Nice, Paris, Vienna, Zurich, Warsaw, Tokyo, and Florence – making him one of the most eagerly sought-after Otellos of his generation.
2000–2005
In 2000, José Cura sang Otello in Washington and starred as Alfredo in La Traviata a Paris a groundbreaking production staged in authentic Paris settings while being telecast live around the world.
In 2001 José Cura appeared in numerous special performances and opera productions honoring the Centenary of Verdi's death, including Otello at the Wiener Staatsoper on 27 January (the date of Verdi's death), Paris' Theatre du Chatelet, London's Covent Garden, Trieste's Teatro Verdi and the Zurich Opera House. He sang in performances of Aida in Greece and Japan and created a memorable Don Carlo in Zurich. He gave two concerts with soprano Daniela Dessi celebrating Verdi's art at the Barbican Centre in London and shared the concert stage with Renato Bruson in Parma for an evening of Verdi arias and duets.
Cura continued his stellar run of Verdi productions into 2002, when he starred as Manrico in the ROH (ROH) production of Il Trovatore, reprised Otello in Zurich, and brought his Moor to Warsaw for a special, one-time-only performance. He also appeared in Tokyo in Tosca, Vienna in Pagliacci, and London in Samson et Dalila in a concert version at the Barbican Centre under the baton of Sir Colin Davis. Other important concerts in 2002 included four outdoor venues: Dalhalla, Sweden; Lodz, Poland; Herod Atticus, Athens, Greece; and Hyde Park, London, where Cura entertained an audience estimated at 40,000. Other notable venues included the National Concert Hall in Taipei, the Pavilhao Atlantico in Lisbon, and the Kremlin in Moscow.
Operas performed in early 2003 included Otello (Tokyo), Don Carlo (Zurich) and Tosca (Vienna). In June, Cura debuted as Calaf in the Arena di Verona production of Puccini's fantasy opera, Turandot.
Cura began the 2003/2004 with his debut at the Wiener Staatsoper as the prophet Jean in Massenet's rarely performed Hérodiade. In November 2003, Cura returned to the Verdi repertoire to reprise his role of Don Carlo and Alfredo in La Traviata, both in Zurich.
In December and January (2004) he made his return to the US, starring in the Lyric Opera of Chicago's production of Samson et Dalila; in March he reprised the role at the Royal Opera House in London. In Vienna, he introduced an intensely personal Andrea Chénier. In Zurich, Cura triumphed as Dick Johnson in Puccini's La fanciulla del west. In April, Cura conducted Madame Butterfly in Warsaw.
2005–2010
Cura opened the calendar year of 2005 with a concert-version of Il Corsaro in Barcelona followed with Samson et Dalila at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.
In spring 2005, Cura focused his considerable talents on portraying Canio in Berlin and Piacenza in two very different productions. In June, Cura returned to Verona as Radames for two performances of Aida in a Franco Zeffirelli production. In July, he traveled to Munich for two performances of Otello. José Cura ended his 2005 opera season with a run of Turandot at the Arena di Verona.
Cura's first concert of 2005 featured the star soprano Anna Netrebko; both performed before a crowd of 8,000 at the Cologne arena (Lanxess Arena). In July, Cura took part in the opening ceremonies of the World Games in Duisburg, Germany.
Cura started the 2005/2006 season in London starring as Puccini's outlaw hero Dick Johnson in the much-anticipated ROH production of La fanciulla del west (September). Cura then reprised the role of Roberto in Puccini's rarely staged first opera, Le Villi in Vienna (October). In January 2006, Cura returned to the stage in the title role in Andrea Chénier at Teatro Comunale di Bologna. In February, José Cura re-introduced the audience at the Liceu of Barcelona to Verdi's masterpiece, Otello, after an eighteen-year absence.
After reprising his Alfredo in La Traviata and Stiffelio in the much-neglected Verdi opera of the same name, Cura became the first tenor to bring Calaf to life in the Zurich Opera's avant garde production of Puccini's Turandot. Cura reprises the role in Zurich in the 2006/2007 season and will again in 2007/2008. From Zurich, Cura traveled to Vienna to star in Le Villi, and conduct Madame Butterfly at the Vienna State Opera. In June, Cura returned to Japan to reprise the lead role in Andrea Chénier with the Teatro Comunale di Bologna. His performance was greeted with enthusiastic applause led by the Japanese Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi, a noted opera lover.
Cura's summer took an unexpected turn when he arrived in Verona for the first of several performances as Canio in Pagliacci: the tenor scheduled for the role of Turiddu in the double-header Cavalleria Rusticana was forced to withdraw at the last minute, leaving the Arena di Verona without a world-class tenor to sing the role. Cura responded immediately. Stepping onto the ancient Roman stones in brutal summer heat, still suffering the effects from jet-lag and trying to recall the role he had not sung in over six years, he repaid a debt of honor to the theater that first opened its arms to him in 1992. It was not an offer made lightly Cura became only the third tenor in 84 years of Arena history to undertake this daunting challenge. In mid-July, Cura traveled to Rijeka, Croatia, for a summer night of music making. Following an early September 2006 engagement in Vienna as Roberto in Le Villi, Cura traveled to Berlin to end the month in the Deutsche Oper's revival of La fanciulla del west. In October, Cura made a return to Turin to star as Calaf in an innovative staging of Turandot.
2010–present
Cura continues to tour concert halls and opera houses around the world, performing his signature roles of Otello, Samson, Canio, Turiddu, Don José, Stiffelio, Cavaradossi, Dick Johnson, Calaf, Edgar etc. – debuting in La Bohème as Rodolfo at the Zurich Opera House in 2010.
He took his Otello to the Met in 2013, not before saving the last performance of Carmen at the same opera house, a favour which he had been asked to do the very moment he landed in New York, jet-lagged, from Europe. Without rehearsals and very little sleep, Cura performed the role of Don José.
His performance of Otello at the Salzburg Easter festival in 2016 was in the opinion Giacomo Parini of the Milano Gazzetto to be "one of the most vulgar performances of Otello in memory. Verdi and all proponents of beautiful singing are rolling in their graves."
In 2025, Cura's links to theaters and productions in Russia came under scrutiny, as a result of which the Estonian National Opera terminated cooperation with him, thereby postponing a performance of Benjamin Britten's opera Peter Grimes. The opera's general manager, Ott Maaten, stated that the issue had been discussed with Cura, in response to which Cura had not condemned the Russian aggression against Ukraine.
Career as conductor
Originally trained as an orchestral conductor, his vocal talents were unrecognised until 1988.
He became the first artist to sing and conduct simultaneously (both in concert and on recordings) and the first to combine singing with symphonic works in a ‘half and half’ concert format.
Cura made operatic history when he first conducted Cavalleria Rusticana and then stepped on stage after intermission to sing Canio in Pagliacci at the Hamburg State Opera in February 2003.
He accepted a three-year assignment as principal guest conductor of Sinfonia Varsovia, a position previously held by the late Lord Yehudi Menuhin, in early 2001. Cura inaugurated his partnership with a concert in Warsaw in November.
Cura subsequently led his orchestra in a series of highly acclaimed performances of such symphonic works as Respighi's Pines of Rome, Rachmaninov's Second Symphony and Beethoven's Choral Symphony No. 9. His recordings of Rachmaninov's Symphony No. 2 and Aurora, a collection of opera arias, feature Cura conducting the Polish ensemble. A favorite guest conductor of orchestras across Europe, he conducted a New Year's concert in Budapest to bring the year to a close.
As a concert performer, José Cura has successfully integrated the roles of singer and conductor as demonstrated in his performance in the Vienna Konzerthaus in November 2002, seamlessly moving from singing arias from his new album, Aurora, to conducting the Rachmaninov Symphony No. 2.
On 18 September he conducted Sinfonia Varsovia in Beethoven's monumental 5th Symphony as part of the VI European Festival in Jelenia Góra. Cura next traveled to Sofia to conduct the Bulgaria Philharmonic Orchestra on 28 September in an evening of music that included Respighi's Pini di Roma, Borodin's Polovtsian Dances and Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony.
In October 2003, he returned to Prague for a standing-room-only concert featuring an inspired selection of Puccini arias coupled with the 9th Symphony from the Czech Republic's most famous composer, Antonín Dvořák. Cura's final public concert of the year was in Budapest, during which the maestro led the Matàv Hungarian Symphony Orchestra in a rendition of Dvořák's 9th-recorded live and released by Cura's Cuibar label.
Directing and scenography
José Cura directed and designed the sets of La Commedia è finita in 2007.
In May 2008, he produced Un ballo in maschera for the Köln Staatstheater.
He later followed suit in his production of Samson et Dalila at the Badisches Staatstheater in 2010 (in which he also designed the costumes) as well as La Rondine at the Opéra national de Lorraine and Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie, both in 2012.
In 2012, he was the first artist to have designed the scenography and costumes as well as directing and conducting an opera. This was La Rondine, at the Opéra de Lorraine, in Nancy, France.
Photography
In 2008, he published his first photography book Espontáneas (ISBN 3-85881-193-9) followed by an exhibition at the Tuscan Sun Festival in Cortona, Italy.
Principal recordings
Cura's discography and filmography includes opera, concert performances and conducting.
In 2002 he created Cuibar Phono Video (CPV). The same year, CPV released Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2 by Sinfonia Varsovia with Cura conducting. Since then, his recordings have been on CPV.
Teaching and patronage
He is the Patron of the New Devon Opera and the Vice-President of the British Youth Opera (or BYO).
In 2007 José Cura was appointed visiting professor of the Royal Academy of Music in London.
He has given many masterclasses and taught at different institutions throughout the years. Most notably, for Nancy Opéra Passion, which focuses on launching new young talents onto the international stage.
Charity work
Cura hosted the annual Muscular Dystrophy Telethon in Italy in 2005.
In August 2007, he was awarded the Socio Fundador Honorario by the Associacao Portuguesa contra a Leucemia (APCL) for his on-going support of the association in its efforts to find a cure for Leukemia.
Since 2008, he has been collaborating the Salva Vita Foundation in Hungary.