José Luis Victor Cura Gómez 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, Stiffelio in Giuseppe Verdi's Stiffelio and many others.
José Cura in 2013
José Cura during 1994's Operalia competition
José Cura as Jan in Signorina Julia, 1993
José Cura as Otello at the Teatro Colón in 1999
Samson and Delilah (opera)
Samson and Delilah, Op. 47, is a grand opera in three acts and four scenes by Camille Saint-Saëns to a French libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire. It was first performed in Weimar at the Grossherzogliches Theater on 2 December 1877 in a German translation.
Samson and Delilah, by Gustave Doré, c. 1860
The role of Dalila was written for Pauline Viardot (1821–1910) (pictured) but the singer was too old to assay the role for the 2 December 1877 Weimar premiere and the role was entrusted to Auguste von Müller.
Franz Liszt (1811–1886) was an enthusiastic supporter of Samson et Dalila and was instrumental in arranging the first production in Weimar. (Photograph, 1870)
The Grand Ducal Theater in Weimar (now the Staatskapelle Weimar) was the site of the premiere of the complete Samson et Dalila on 2 December 1877.
