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World-famous for his intense and original interpretations of opera characters, notably Verdi's Otello and Saint-Saëns' Samson, as well as for his unconventional and innovative concert performances, José Cura is the first artist to have sung and conducted simultaneously and the first to combine singing with symphonic works in a 'half and half' concert format. He also made operatic history when he first conducted Cavalleria Rusticana and then stepped on stage after intermission to sing Canio in Pagliacci at the Hamburg Opera in 2003.

A compelling actor and charismatic stage performer, Cura has been featured in numerous telecasts of opera and concert productions from venues around the world. Blessed with a rich, burnished tenor voice and mesmerizing stage presence, José Cura has been thrilling audiences since he first burst onto the international music scene. His intelligent, insightful, sometimes controversial but always intense and unforgettable performances have made him a familiar name atop marquees at the most prestigious theaters in the world, including Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House, Vienna State Opera, Grand Teatro Liceu, Zurich Opera House and Teatro alla Scala.

In 2007 José Cura designed and stage directed the world première of La commedia è finita, a meta-show of opera, prose and ballet based on the opera Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavavallo and Cura's own tale About how the travelling company of clowns came to be. The huge success of the show marked the beginning of yet another facet in the career of this extraordinarily eclectic artist: stage directing and set designing. Cura's determination to pursue as a director the same refreshing approach to opera he demonstrates as a singer is readily apparent in the resounding echoes of his newly premiered version of Verdi's Un ballo in maschera at the Köln opera house and in the many invitations he has received to direct some of the most distinctive operas in the repertoire, including Samson et Dalila in 2010 the opening night of the Karlsruhe opera season, Puccini's Trittico for the Nancy opera and the twin-bill of Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci for Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires, in 2011.

But Cura is much more than an operatic superstar. He is a trained composer and conductor, a brilliant performer, a natural showman determined to use the best music to engage, entertain, and educate.

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