David A. Preiser | Tacoma, WA United States | 01/17/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"First Off I Am NOT An Opera Buff!! I Don't Speak Spanish! But After Discovering Luis Miguel & Alejandro Fernandez I Fell In Love With These Songs, Based On That Love I Purchased This Cd And Have Become An Instant Fan Of Jose Cura!!! His Voice Is Glorious & He Sings These Songs With Such Passion & Tenderness That He Takes You Beyond This Earth And A Little Closer To BLISS!!! Please Buy This And Add Some Romance To Your Life!!!!"
Everyone's a critic
James A. Holland | Las Vegas, NV USA | 08/25/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"...As for this CD, there is nothing to say other than FABULOUS!!!
By and far one of the best CD's I own and a most brilliant example of Mr. Curas' vocal and interprative talents.
While he does sound more baritonal than anything else, it is exactly that which sets this CD apart form any of Domingos' "pop" efforts....or any CD of contemporary nature by other Tenors i.e. Boccelli etc.
Granted, Mr. Cura avoids most high notes (the highest sung on any song is an A natural), but given the song selections and that this is a vocal Jazz CD, there really is no room nor need for any excessive Tenoral vocalizing.
If you like Jazz and want to hear a world class Tenor sing it, purchase this CD.
Unless you belong to the "If it's not Pavarotti, it's no good.." crowd, you're promised to enjoy this most recent effort by Mr. Cura immensely."
Unusual but lovely venture
Grace Polichar | 12/11/2002
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Folks, let me offer a word of piece. Jose Cura the tenor and Jose Cura the pop singer are like two different personalities. Yes, to those of us who heard him live in opera (and haven't heard his "Anhelo" CD) this comes as a surprise. After all, not a single high C (or B for that matter) makes a presence, and majority of the selections are sung in near-whisper manner. It's decidedly un-operatic.
But it's an interesting and lovely album of songs arranged in a soft jazz-like way, and Cura invests a lot of feeling into each of these. I listened to the album about 3 times before coming to appreciate it. Do likewise and you'll descover a totally new side to this remarkable artist."
A wonderful surprise
Kelly Jordan | Torrance, CA USA | 06/26/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I was familiar with Cura the opera singer. I had no idea what to expect with this CD. It is wonderful! Reminds me of the surprise I got when I heard Anne Sophie von Otter's Christmas CD. You'd never imagine she's an opera singer, and indeed in the accompanying booklet she talks about using her "non-opera voice." Cura does the same thing here, simply sings in the pop mode, with none of the high-flying vocal histrionics one expects from a superstar tenor onstage. His is a really delicious pop voice, more like a baritone much of the time, but he does rise to some moderate tenor heights here and there. He conveys the feeling of each song masterfully. Several of the selections' melodies are familiar because they've been turned into pop hits in English ("Somos novios" as "It's Impossible", for example). Some are even jazzy, with combo accompaniment. This is an unusual, unexpected venture from this singer. All things being equal, it should be very successful, but I wonder how the not-Cura-initiated will ever even come across it. Too bad. It's a treat."