I had the somewhat unusual experience of watching two videos of Samson this evening. One was with José Cura, the other with José Carreras in the title role. Both performances were given within the past year, and I was really surprised to discover that Carreras wins hands down over Cura, in my humble opinion.

Admittedly, I may be prejudiced toward Carreras, who is a friend. That being said, I certainly know the condition of his voice in recent times. The top is catch as catch can, and is usually lunged at, and the sound can be leathery around the passaggio. But... the intrinsic beauty of the voice remains through it all, and shines through..

Samson is not a role one might suggest for Carreras, but at this venture in his career, it fits him quite well. The role is not very high, and he is comfortable with the tessitura. Cura is not. Cura makes a very strange sound when attempting to sing at less than forte. I wouldn't say it's an ugly sound, but it is certainly not pretty. It is sort of a half croon and half moan, somewhere around the pitch.

Where Carreras really wins out, at least for me, is the energy with which he sings. Cura lacks this almost totally. He sings with sort of a 'dead' tone, with little slancio or excitement.

Both tenors look fine. Cura is much taller, and looks the part more than Carreras, but the latter is well costumed, and with his long, flowing stage wig, looks wonderful.

The stage presence of Carreras is much more charismatic than that of Cura. The 'gristmill' scene that opens Act 3 is a perfect case in point. With Carreras, you hear the utter anguish and despair of Samson. With Cura you see a tenor making a big sound, but you hear none of the despair in the voice at all. It is really like night and day.

I know it is increasingly unpopular to praise Carreras these days, on Opera-l and in the operatic world in general. At the risk of being unpopular, he is just wonderful in this performance. Sure, there are a few notes that almost get away, but the total package is so much better than Cura, even in 1997, that it is striking and remarkable.

Even the final high B Flat, when Samson makes the temple come crashing down, is better with Carreras than with Cura. How surprising, but how pleasurable it was for me to discover this performance by Carreras.