Beyond the mask: Two tenors tackle San Diego Opera's 'Cav' and 'Pag' double-bill

By CHARLENE BALDRIDGE - For the North County Times | Wednesday, March 19, 2008 2:26 PM PDT ∞

Consider two tenors, similar in stature and renown. Their stars are now aligned for a close encounter in San Diego Opera's production of the popular operatic twins Pietro Mascagni's "Cavalleria Rusticana" and Ruggerio Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci," opening Saturday.

The two operas, affectionately known as "Cav" and "Pag," were first performed together in Australia in 1892, two years after "Cavalleria Rusticana" was written. They are both operas in the "verismo" genre, the Italian word for "realism," a style of gritty, passionate operas about common people, popular in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Celebrated in leading roles at major houses abroad and at New York's Metropolitan Opera, the two tenors are reigning operatic royalty. In San Diego, they occupy the same space on the Civic Theatre stage, but at different times, in separate operas on the double bill.

American tenor Richard Leech, returning to San Diego Opera for his 12th leading role, makes his role debut as the mamma's boy, Turiddu, in "Cav." Argentine tenor Jose Cura makes his company debut as the killer clown, Canio, in "Pag." Both operas have to do with infidelity and unmitigated jealousy, and both take place in rustic Italian towns in the mid-19th century.

Each of the lead tenors got an early career boost by winning an award named for another tenor: The 51-year-old Leech, the 1988 Richard Tucker Music Foundation Award; and Cura, 45, Placido Domingo's 1994 Operalia, World Opera Contest.

Leech is tall, blond, dimpled and all-American. He was born in Hollywood and raised in Binghamton, N.Y., where he went from church choir to opera chorus while still in his early teens. He made a stunning 1988 San Diego Opera debut as Faust and has since sung leading roles in "Lucia di Lammermoor" (twice), "Werther, "La Boheme" (twice), "Carmen," "Romeo and Juliet," "A Masked Ball," "Tosca," and "Madama Butterfly."

In contrast, Cura is dark as well as tall and handsome. With a steeply raked forehead/nose combination and curls like those found on an ancient statue, he resembles a Greek god. A colleague in the company of San Diego Opera's "Pagliacci" calls him "an intense artist."

Each tenor is known for his glorious top voice. An insider says it's going to be a competition to see who outsings whom.

Each tenor has sung both Turiddu and Canio, Cura in the same production, something Leech says he has not contemplated as yet. Leech made his debut in the role of Canio in Pittsburgh a year and a half ago and recently repeated it with Franco Zeffirelli at the 6,000-seat Kremlin Palace in Moscow.

Asked which of the two characters is more despicable, Leech said, "You'd have to say Canio in 'Pagliacci.'" In a fit of jealousy, the cuckolded Canio kills both his wife Nedda (Elizabeth Futral in her company debut) and her lover, Silvio (Scott Hendricks).

"He flips," said Leech. "He's a bit of a psychological study. As an actor, it's a dream role and the music supports it. That's when opera becomes just the best thing in the world.

"The only thing Turiddu does wrong is sleep with another guy's wife and cheat on the girl he's betrothed to. What the story speaks to clearly is rustic chivalry, the opera's title. It's a matter of honor, and a duel is decided upon."

Other than the familiar and brilliant intermezzo, Leech has two favorite musical moments in "Cav," one when Turiddu spurns his girlfriend, Santuzza (Carter Scott), and the other when he parts sadly from Mamma Lucia (Judith Christin). "He knows he's probably going to die in this knife fight."

Cura isn't certain how many productions of "Pagliacci" he's sung, but says it's at least 100 performances in 10 productions. He debuted in the role of Canio at the Concertegebouw in Amsterdam.

"Canio is certainly a violent guy, but not so certain is the reasons of being so. Age, alcohol, disappointment, jealousy, frustration of age? Of the ravage age is doing in his artistic career? Is Nedda running away from him because he is drunk and violent, or did he become drunk and violent because he felt Nedda was more distant each day and the feared epilogue was getting closer?

"As you see, the rainbow of possibilities is so wide that it is not enough to write it; it took me hours of confrontations when I directed the opera, finally being able to remove the thick layer of pancake that usually covers this character."

Asked to describe himself, Cura responded, "One thing I can tell you is that I am not like Canio or Otello or Samson. Usually people think that a convincing actor is so because he is like his character in his private life. 'No, Pagliaccio non son.' Look at me, I am the one behind the mask. The opera vindicates the right of the comedian to be considered beyond his mask."

Richard Leech's previous appearances with San Diego Opera:

1) 2006 - Edgardo in "Lucia di Lammermoor"

2) 2005 - Rodolfo in "La Boheme"

3) 2003 - Pinkerton in "Madama Butterfly"

4) 2002 - Cavaradossi in "Tosca"

5) 1999 - Riccardo/Gustavus in "A Masked Ball"

6) 1998 - Romeo in "Romeo and Juliet"

7) 1997 - Don Jose in "Carmen"

8) 1995 - Rodolfo "La Boheme"

9) 1993 - Werther in "Werther"

10) 1989 - Edgardo in "Lucia di Lammermoor"

11) 1988 - Faust in "Faust"

Stories of the Operas:

In "Cavalleria Rusticana," Leech portrays Turiddu, a returning soldier who impregnates Santuzza (American soprano Carter Scott), then dumps her to resume an affair with his now-married former girlfriend, Lola (New Zealand mezzo-soprano Sarah Castle). The infuriated Santuzza tells all to Turiddu's Mamma Lucia (Judith Christin) and Lola's husband, Alfio (Irish baritone Bruno Caproni in his SDO debut). Alfio challenges Turiddu to a duel, and Turiddu perishes.

The men are writ large in "Pagliacci." Cura portrays the cuckolded Canio, proprietor of, and clown in, a touring commedia dell'arte theatrical troupe. The leading lady and Canio's wife, Nedda (internationally acclaimed American soprano Elizabeth Futral in her role debut), is having an affair with a villager named Silvio (American baritone Scott Hendricks). The strapping Cura sings opera's most wrenching and familiar dramatic aria, "Vesti la giubba," the words of which begins "Vesti la giubba (get into costume)" and ends with opera's most familiar line, "Ridi, Pagliaccio (Laugh, clown)." The opera culminates with Canio's pronouncement (originally intended for Tonio), "La commedia e finito (The comedy is finished)." Caproni portrays the lecherous Tonio, who sings the famous Prologue. American baritone Simeon Esper plays Beppe.

Forget the Three Tenors, Three Mo' Tenors, and the Ten Tenors. San Diego Opera transports audiences to operatic nirvana when it showcases two tenors ---- American Richard Leech and Argentine Jose Cura, respectively, in the verismo double bill, "Cavalleria Rusticana" and "Pagliacci," which test technique and dramatic ability on the grand scale. Here are further questions and answers.

Q&A with Jose Cura:

conducted via e-mail

Q: Are there roles you still wish to learn and perform?

A: Many, but for sure three "different" challenges, different in the sense of probably unexpected from me are "Boheme," "Peter Grimes" and "Don Giovanni" (in the role of Don Giovanni, a baritone role, but he's been known to sing the Prologue from "Pagliacci" in concert).

Q: Are there other roles that you currently love to sing?

A: For sure the roles I can sing again and again without getting sick of them are Otello, Samson, Canio, Johnson, Stiffelio ...

Q: Will you ever retire from singing?

A: I hope so! I have so many things I would love to do before retiring from this world ... But let us hope I will not retire before finishing my mortgage ...!

Q: Are you still composing?

A: Yes. Just finished a cycle called "Sonetos," seven songs based on Neruda's texts, which will be soon recorded and edited for selling, and a choir in Hungary is willing to do the premiere of my "Stabat Mater."

Q: Are you still conducting?

A: Just conducted Verdi Requiem in Budapest. I am writing this answers from Berlin where rehearsing a symphonic concert a got to conduct next Monday.

Q&A with Richard Leech:

Q: Are there still roles you wish to learn and perform?

A: Well, now that I am well over 29 (laughs uproariously) and I'm almost a big boy, I'm starting to do these roles like Canio and Turiddu. I've always been slow to go to the heavier Verdi but there are some roles that are essentially lyric. I scheduled the "Manon Lescaut" of Puccini three or four times, but it never worked out.

Q: What are your favorite roles currently?

A: "Carmen" is still a mainstay of my repertoire, covers the full spectrum of lyric and dramatic. And of course I did the first one here. I've done it since countless times. I'll always go back to "Boheme" and "Butterfly" and I'm never very far from "Tosca." I'm going back to "Traviata" in Cincinnati, and I'm doing "Hoffmann" next year in Las Palmas for the first time in some time.

Q: Will you ever retire from the stage?

A: I'm sure there will come a time. You have an innate sense of your voice and its condition and the requirements of the roles that you are singing. It's the singer's responsibility to figure out where that line is. If you're not doing the job, you either need to move to a different repertoire or move along, little doggie. I can't imagine myself being happy if I'm not doing what I consider the job, which is at a certain standard.

Q: What will you do when that time comes?

A: I like playing the guitar and singing country music and writing songs. There's a lot of other music I want to sing. Singing opera is hard enough by itself, but there's the Great American Songbook ---- Harold Arlen, George Gershwin, Jule Styne and (Leonard) Bernstein ---- that I would enjoy, but it doesn't fit into this career. Who knows where that will take me? I see myself singing far beyond the time I'm singing opera.

"Cavelleria Rusticana" & "Pagliacci"

When: 7 p.m. March 22, 25 and April 2; 2 p.m. March 30; 8 p.m. March 28

Where: San Diego Civic Theatre, Third Avenue at B Street, San Diego

Tickets: $28-$175 ($192 top ticket price on Saturday)

Info: (619) 533-7000

Web: www.sdopera.com