Bucharest: José Cura

In our second performance at Romania’s Enescu Festival 2021, we welcome musical polymath José Cura as he makes his return to the Orchestra for the first time in 21 years.

Known across the world as one of the opera’s most extraordinary tenors, Argentine artist José Cura was originally trained as a conductor. He takes to the podium this evening in a performance of three of his own works, written for orchestra, choir and solo vocalists.

In the first half, “Modus”, a single highly personal from Cura’s Argentinian Requiem, his upcoming large-scale work dedicated to the victims of the Falklands War.

We are joined by soprano Polina Pasztircsák for the world premiere of Cura’s Te Deum, specially commissioned by the Enescu Festival for its 25th anniversary year. The 20-minute work features the combined forces of the Radio Romania Academic and Children’s Choirs, performing alongside the full orchestra.

To close, Cura’s monumental Ecce Homo, a deeply spiritual three-movement oratorio, recently recorded for the first time in Hungary. Tonight’s performance features soloists Elisa Balbo, Ramón Vargas, Roxana Constantinescu, Marius Vlad Budoiu and Nicolas Testé.