Jonas Kaufmann – Tenor

The online opera guide on Jonas Kaufmann

Read the short biography of Jonas Kaufmann and listen to highlights of his career. He has been is one of the leading tenors since 2005 in the Italian, French and German Fach.

 

The ascent

Jonas Kaufmann was born in Munich in 1969. He received his singing and musical education at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich. His first musical homebase was smaller theatre in Saarbrücken where he played various roles. It was followed by years in smaller and middle theatres like Zurich and Stuttgart. A vocal crisis led him to Michael Rhodes, who showed him new ways in vocal development. His breakthrough came quickly after this intensive further education. Engagements in the Scala and at the Salzburg Festival followed. His debut at the Met took place in 2006 as Alfredo in Traviata alongside Angela Gheorgiu and was a triumph.

Parigi o cara (La Traviata) – Kaufmann / Gheorgiu

 

In 2007 he got his first Inaugurazione (season opening) at the Scala in Milan with Alfredo in La Traviata, which was a great distinction for a German tenor in one of the great Italian Belcanto operas.

 

Repertoire

Kaufmann has planned his repertoire intelligently and strategically. He is a versatile singer, he feels at home in the Italian as well as in the French repertoire.

Pourquoi me réveiller (Werther) – Kaufmann

 

Kaufmann is a renowned Wagner tenor. His Wagner interpretations are sung belcantistically in legato and also stick out with their elegant piano passages as well as the passages with full power.

Im fernen Land (Lohengrin)

 

Popularity

Kaufmann  is a box-office magnet in opera houses. In particular with Herteros, Netrebko, Gheorgiu and Damrau he celebrated great triumphs. His solo albums also sell very well.

 

Voice

In his early years Kaufmann had a slender, light, lyrical voice. Later it became much darker and more stronger. She is rich in colour and nuances. Due to the baritonal coloration, the high register is not the strength of Kaufmann.

 

Impact

Kaufmann is in the middle of his career. A final assessment is not possible. In 2004, the important critic John Steane said “there is currently no stronger candidate for the position of top tenor than Jonas Kaufmann”. Kesting calls Kaufmann “a highly musical singer, a captivating performer and an important artist. He is the ideal cast for broken characters (Max, Florestan, Don Jose and Tannhäuser)”. His Wagner is also praised. Certain compromises are made in lyrical works.

 

Dass der mein Vater nicht ist – du holdes Voeglein (Siegfried)

 

More highlights of Kaufmann’s records

 

Let Jonas Kaufmann, the famous German tenor, speak: «The role of Florestan is short, but because of the big scene in the second act it is one of the most demanding roles in my Fach. Many tenors have already failed in the delicate final part. It is not the physical decay that should be heard here, but the state of mind of the desperate, his ecstatic vision of salvation and liberation. In the same way, the first tone of this scene, «God» that comes from nowhere, that becomes ever stronger and more urgent, the cry of the tortured soul, that requires the greatest vocal-technical control. I do not know how often I have worked on this crescendo.»

Gott welch dunkel hier 

Siegmund succeeds to pull out the swort and calls the sword Nothung. You can hear this very dramatic passage in a great filmed opera house performance of Die Walküre.

Siegmund heiss ich, Siegmund bin ich

 

Powerful Wagnertenor Jonas Kaufmann !

Wälse

A wonderful interpretation of the dreamlike «Winterstürme wichen dem Wonnemond».

Winterstürme wichen dem Wonnemond

 

Next the dream aria from Manon. Jonas Kaufmann, a great Werther, has also sung Manon with great success. He gives the aria a melancholic character with his dark baritonal tenor voice.

En fermant les yeux 

 

The next recording comes from his CD from 2007 (Romantic Arias), which has received excellent reviews. The greatest praise (which was quoted again and again) came from the highly respected critic John Steane in the magazine Gramophon, who saw Jonas Kaufmann as the candidate for the future top tenor . Especially the Manon excerpts stood out.

Also the French experts were full of praise, the excellent French diction of the German was noted appreciatively.

Je suis seul… ah fuyez douce images  –  Kaufmann

 

The famous Aria from La Boheme.

Che gelida manina

 

You will hear a an interpretation from the famous aria “un aura amorosa” from Cosi fan tutte, which was recorded in 1998 at the very beginning of his career. Kaufmann describes in his book «Jonas Kaufmann» (by Thomas Voigt) how this recording came about. He got a call from the great director Giorgio Strehler. A first audition was excellent and the engagement almost a clear thing. But a little later Strehler found Kaufmann to be too old. Kaufmann was only 27!  But a few weeks later Strehler approached him again and the cooperation worked out. Kaufmann was highly impressed by the theater genius Strehler, precisely because he did not dictate everything, but encouraged the singers to think along. To his regret Strehler died a few weeks before the first performance of this Milan Cosi fan tutte.

Un aura amorosa

 

An Interpretation of  “la fleur que tu m’avais jetée” with Jonas Kaufmann, a brillant Don José. As Kesting says: “Kaufmann is the ideal cast for broken characters as for example Don José”.

la fleur que tu m’avais jetée

 

Puccini’s Recondita armonia in a version by Jonas Kaufmann.

Recondita armonia (5)  –   Kaufmann

 

The great love duet from Madama Butterfly with Angela Gheorghiu and Jonas Kaufmann. Especially remarkable is the great and transparent orchestra sound of Pappano.

Bimba dagli occhi – Gheorghiu / Kaufmann

 

A dark interpretation of this aria from Madama Butterfly

Addio fiorito asil – Kaufmann

 

A heroic Interpretation of this famous aria from Rigoletto.

La donna è mobile

 

His voice is romantic and heroic and captivates with beautiful diminuendi and pianissimi. Lohengrin is probably Kaufmann’s best Wagner role.

Mein lieber Schwan

 

For Jonas Kaufmann, one of the challenges of the role of Faust is to do justice to both the old Faust and the young. “The fact that Faust becomes both perpetrator and victim requires vocal flexibility. And by this I mean not only the rise of the tessitura from the baritonal beginning to the high C in this cavatina, but also the many timbres. The dark brooding must be expressed as well as the rapturous lyricism in “Salut demeure chaste” and the passion in the duet. From beginning to end the part is so rich in colours and nuances that I wouldn’t want to miss it in my repertoire. (Voigt, “Jonas Kaufmann”).

Salut, demeure chaste et pure  –  Kaufmann

 

Jonas Kaufmann has always carefully selected his roles. In 2016 he finally sang his first complete Otello. Politically correct, the face was no longer black. The vocal pitch of this role does not correspond to one hundred percent to his voice. His interpretation of the “niun mi tema”, it is that of a vulnerable almost tender Otello.

Niun mi tema

 

We hear a gripping version from Tannhäusers Roman Tale

Inbrunst im Herzen

 

Watch Jonas Kaufmann from the production of the Salzburger Festspiele 2015. At the double performance of Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliaccio he made his debut at both operas! His reviews were excellent.

Recitar…vesti la giubba

 

This aria from Freischütz is very diverse and consists of various passages: love, sadness and bitterness must be expressed credibly. It begins dramatically and after a short but beautiful transition by the clarinet the beautiful melody begins. A dark tremolo leads into the third dark and slow part, which again demands the dramatic qualities of the tenor. Listen to Jonas Kaufmann in a beautifully arranged interpretation. Kaufmann is not only a master of the Puccini aria, but also a gifted song singer. Also in the dramatic parts he shines with his dark voice.

Durch die Wälder, durch die Auen 

 

Watch Jonas Kaufmann from the production of the Salzburger Festspiele 2015. At the double performance of Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliaccio he made his debut at both operas! His reviews were excellent.

Un grande spettacolo 

 

“Niun mi tema” is the last death scene that Verdi has written in his long career as a composer. It is resignative. Dark chords in minor accompany Otello to his suicide.  Otello collapses dying, the music changes to major and one last time the love melody sounds.

Jonas Kaufmann has always carefully selected his roles. In 2016 he finally sang his first complete Otello. Politically correct, the face was no longer black. The vocal pitch of this role does not correspond to one hundred percent to his voice. His interpretation of the “niun mi tema”, it is that of a vulnerable almost tender Otello.

Niun mi tema  –  Kaufmann

 

«Niun mi tema» ist die letzte Sterbeszene, die Verdi in seiner langen Komponistenkarriere geschrieben hat. Sie ist resignativ. Dunkle Eingangsakkorde in Moll begleiten Otello zu seinem Selbstmord.  Sterbend bricht Otello zusammen, die Musik wechselt in Dur und eine letztes Mal erklingt die Liebesmelodie.

Jonas Kaufmann hat seine Rollen sorgfältig ausgewählt. 2016 war es endlich soweit, er sang seinen ersten vollständigen Otello. Seine Stimme mit seinem baritonalen Klang ist für die Rolle glänzend geeignet. Seine Interpretation ist die eines verletzlichen beinahe zärtlichen Otello.

Niun mi tema  –  Kaufmann

 

Dieses Terzett ist eine der schönsten Stellen von Gounods Faust. Nimmt man vergleichbare Szenen aus anderen Werken als Maßstab (zB. die Kerkerszene des Trovatore oder von Werken der Grand Opéra), so erstaunt die Kürze dieser Stelle. Gounod komponiert diese Stelle kompakt und dramatisch. Der Refrain «Anges pures, anges radieux» wird mehrmals wiederholt, immer einen halben Ton höher, was einen unheimlich dramatischen Effekt auslöst. In der anschließenden grossen Apotheose mit Chor richtet der Erzengel den Teufel.

À l’étude mon maitre  –  Kaufmann /  Poplavskaya / Pape

 

For Jonas Kaufmann, one of the challenges of the role is to do justice to both the old Faust and the young. “The fact that Faust becomes both perpetrator and victim requires vocal flexibility. And by this I mean not only the rise of the tessitura from the baritonal beginning to the high C in this cavatina, but also the many timbres. The dark brooding must be expressed as well as the rapturous lyricism in “Salut demeure chaste” and the passion in the duet. From beginning to end the part is so rich in colours and nuances that I wouldn’t want to miss it in my repertoire. (Voigt, “Jonas Kaufmann”).

Salut, demeure chaste et pure  –  Kaufmann

 

He thrilled the audience in the role of Maurizio (“Adriana Lecouvrerur). He sings this aria with a melancholy that gets under your skin.

L’anima ho stanca  –  Kaufmann

 

Walther’s prize song from “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg” consists of three verses that are continuously increased in tempo, volume and intensity. It is an urgent and romantic heroic tenor aria, which must be sung in the most beautiful legato and which receives its beauty not least through the magnificent accompaniment.

We hear in this effective piece Placido Domingo. The Spanish-speaking tenor was not the ideal Walther from an idiomatic point of view, but no tenor could match the beauty and splendor of his interpretation of the prize song.

Morgenlich leuchtend im rosigen Schein –  Domingo

 

Peter Lutz, opera-inside, der online Opernführer über Jonas Kaufmann.