Cura Magazine

Cura set himself a hard act to follow in his outstanding debut disc of Puccini arias, but here he lives up to that reputation with an imaginative programme drawn from no fewer than six verismo composers. Leoncavallo's Pagliacci is the logical place to start, even if the Prologue – effectively a verismo manifesto – is really a baritone piece; the Argentinian tenor's rich, dark tone is well suited to such music, and the only shortcoming here is his indulgent introspection when the character should be addressing his audience.