Organization

Singer

Tenor

José Cura

Otello

Soprano

Cinzia Forte

Desdemona

Baritone

Pierre-Yves Pruvot

Iago

Giulio Pelligra

Cassio

Mezzo-soprano

Alexise Yerna

Emilia

Bass

Roger Joakim

Lodovico

Papuna Tchuradze

Roderigo

Patrick Delcour

Montano

Marc Tissons

A Herald

Conductor

Paolo Arrivabeni

Stage director

Stefano Mazzonis di Pralafera

Set designer

Carlo Sala

Costume designer

Fernand Ruiz

Lighting designer

Franco Marri

Chorus master

Pierre Iodice

Mastery supervisor

Véronique Tollet

Opéra Royal de Wallonie - Liège

Others

Choeur de l'Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège

Orchestra

Royal Opera of Wallonia Orchestra

Italian

Otello -  (Othello)

Liège

Belgium

Théâtre Royal de Liège

Petit Théâtre

JOSÉ CURA, "OTELLO" - Opera Royal de Wallonie-Liege in Liege, Belgium in 2017 
Broadcast Live on Culturebox with France 2.   

                        JOSÉ CURA, "OTELLO" in Liege in 2017 
                                Opera Royal de Wallonie-Liege
                  HERE IS THE LION !  JOSÉ CURA, AS OTELLO.
-- Bachtrack 
 In June 2017, after his indelible success in Bonn with JOSÉ CURA's NEW PRODUCTION "PETER GRIMES", he returned to Liège for his timeless OTELLO, leading to ecstatic applause.  Opera Royal de Wallonie-Liege opened 2016-2017 season with JOSÉ CURA's  NEW PRODUCTION "TURANDOT" and  ended with "OTELLO" starring  marvelous JOSÉ CURA once again.  
Venue: Opera Royal de Wallonie-Liege, Liege, Belgium.
Dates: 16, 20, 22, 25, 27, and 29, June, 2017 

                      JOSÉ CURA IS IMMENCE OTELLO 
Opera Online ----  It was not for the staging that we made the trip but for the title role, here embodied by the famous Argentinian tenor JOSÉ CURA. We cannot forget, as the curtain came down, the exemplary nuances of the whispered death. And thus he remains one of the most idiomatic interpreters of the role today—and to speak frankly, and immense Otello. 

          JOSÉ CURA BECOMES THE UNDISPUTED WINNER 
GDM ---- From the moment Otello bursts onto the scene, he captures it and becomes the undisputed winner. JOSÉ CURA returns to assume the role of Verdi's ‘Otello’ with the maturity of middle age, giving an intense and painful interpretation, one which he is able to alternate easily between power of expression and delicate inner turmoil.  
 
                    MOST PERSUASIVE OF ALL WAS JOSÉ CURA
Opern Freund ---- And so on to the singers. Most persuasive of all was the star tenor, JOSÉ CURA, in the title role. The Argentinian showed he is still at home in the royal class of tenors more than 20 years after his debut. He was strongest when he relied not only on mere power but when transporting gentle, deep feelings across the orchestra pit, producing, for example, goose bumps in the final scene. The audience was very enthusiastic about the singer’s performances.  

Senior Magazine ---- The Argentinian tenor JOSÉ CURA explores his part with burning vigor and a profusion of colors. His “Abbasso le spade!” in which he proclaims his authority contrasts completely with his duet with Desdemona which closes the first act. He perfectly disseminates his perception of the volatility of happiness when he says he wants to die in the ecstasy of his partner’s embrace. His “Già nella notte densa” overflows with tenderness. Would the gods be jealous of this pure happiness? 

Bachtrack ---- With all the recent excited anticipation of the role debut of a certain German tenor in London, it was still a revelation to hear once again JOSÉ CURA in this most demanding of Verdi roles, which he has been singing for twenty years. He is a singer who has never been content to rely on a safe number of familiar parts, and this year alone he has sung Tannhäuser in French, and produced, designed and taken the lead in ‘Peter Grimes.’ The psychological and vocal demand of the latter came to mind when he sang “Già la pleiade ardente in mar discende.” In Shakespeare's original, Othello says “for that I am declined into the vale of years,” and Cura, with his leonine mane of grey hair and grizzled beard, looked every inch the mature military leader, commanding of stature and pro9ile. Cura's powerful spinto tenor immediately impressed with his opening “Esultate!” and left no doubt as to his authority in his masterful delivery of “Abbasso le spade!” in his quelling of the drunken Act 1 riot. With his years of experience, less becomes more. The waywardness of pitch and rhythm of earlier days are gone, and his sable dark resonant lower voice brought both exotic otherness and passion to the love duet. As Iago's poison took hold, Cura's imperious dignity and self-possession crumbled with lightning flashes of rage in his eyes. Encompassing dynamic vocal extremes, his subtle inwardness from “Ora e per sempre addio” and a grave sotto voce, almost muffled “Dio! mi potevi scagliar” through to a nobly pathetic “Niun mi tema” this was the tragic fall of a flawed hero on a Shakespearean scale. The compelling strengths of Cura made for a moving evening, more so than the recent stellar event in London.

Otello Verdi

Public

Othello

Approved

Production booklet

Further reading