Jonas Kaufmann - Romantic Arias
|
List Price: Our Price: $10.13 You Save: $6.81 (40%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $7.69 (click here) Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for Romantic Arias
Free Music Review: Infectious Sense Of Purpose Is Unyielding!
Hit: 5 Stars
Several years ago I had the pleasure of attending a recital Jonas Kaufmann gave in Munich. I had heard about his superb interpretation of Strauss Lieder and when I finally had my ears filled by his compelling voice a sense of revelation and inspiration totally consumed me. Kaufmann's singing of these 'Romantic Arias' conveys such an unequivocal direction of line and beauty of conception. The voice is deep and has the rich, darker quality of a baritone, yet the eloquence he produces is substantial and his range vast, consequently allowing him to attain long-breathed generosity in the middle and higher tenor register. This ability is gloriously conveyed in Massenet's "Manon", ingratiating in tone and pleasingly articulate. As well, Kaufmann provides innate dramatic sensibility and poetically nuanced dynamics especially in the extremely high notes. In Wagner's "Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg..." Kaufmann's operatic grandeur provides us with singing that is radiant, exhilarating and never denying the incandescence of the climaxes. Verdi's "La traviata" tended to lack the necessary light-hearted character in the aria, but without doubt the "Flower Song" from Carmen opens Kaufmann's soul. The phrases have both elegance and intensity, producing a touch of sensuousness in the tone. His gentle pacing of the long ascending finale makes for a spiritual encounter. Kaufmann is, as ever, admirable in the quality of his tone, the clarity of his diction and the conviction of his style. He is a remarkably gifted artist, yet the voice is still young, and Kaufmann is indeed striving to find placement and a sense of future direction, as his personal musical journey continues to captivate us with grandeur, artistic maturity, and anticipation of future magnificant accomplishments.
"It is only a matter of time before Jonas Kaufmann will take his place as one of the world's finest tenors!"
(Jon Vickers)
Author: Raymond Vacchino M.Mus. A.Mus. L.R.S.M. Licentiate (honorary)
Free Music Review: A fine large-voiced tenor at work
Hit: 5 Stars
Jonas Kaufmann is what I would call a big voiced tenor--along the lines of Franco Corelli or Richard Tucker (I'm not saying he's that good yet--but his voice is powerful!). The liner notes begin by noting that many of us want to compartmentalize tenors--"He's a Puccini tenor," He's a Mozart tenor," "He's a Wagnerian tenor." The notes then say that ". . .Jonas Kaufmann resists [this tendency], uncompromisingly maintaining his remarkable versatility." Versatile indeed! This CD ranges from Puccini to Wagner, from Bizet to Weber and Verdi.
Let's take a look at a few of the cuts on this CD.
"Che Gelida Manina." What a tenor piece, from Puccini's "La Boheme." Kaufmann shows a good rich large voice. He also sings with considerable passion. Here and there are those annoying affectations, such as "catches" and "cries," but not anything that really detracts from his art. When he sings "Vivo" or "millionaria," his voice sounds great. He can up his volume without his voice becoming out of control (no bleating here!). The high note on "la speranza" seems well hit, with power behind it. This is not another "light voiced" tenor.
"E Lucevan le Stelle." This classic tenor piece from Puccini's "Tosca' is also well sung. When he opens to full volume, again, the outcome is splendid. Again, some annoying mannerisms, but not an issue. His close is dramatically sung.
"Lunge da Lei. . .De' Miei Bollenti Spiriti." An affecting piece from Verdi's "La Traviata." Again, nicely sung. His voice works well with Verdi's music.
Finally, "Morgenlich Leuchtend" from Wagner's "Die Meistersinger." This shows his range in terms of roles. And this is very well and smoothly sung. The richness of his voice works well here.
So, it seems to me that Jonas Kaufmann is a fine tenor, with a welcome large voice that retains musicality. I look forward to tracking the arc of his professional singing career. . . .
Free Music Review: The next challenger to Wunderlich? Cross your fingers
Hit: 5 Stars
Jonas Kaufmann won awards for a recital of Strauss lieder last year, and now here he is being boosted by Decca as the next big thing. The company earned a king's ransom with Pavarotti, so one understands their eagerness to push Kaufmann toward the popular Italian-French repertoire and away from the less commercial German. But as the arias from Meistersinger and (especially) Der Freischutz demonstrate, his forte lies in his native language. He's serious and heroic rather than carefree, smiling, or seductive by temperament. As further evidence, see the DVD of Fidelio under Harnoncourt, where Kaufmann sings a really stirring Florestan with ease and accuracy.
In his own mind, however, Kaufmann had to break out of the mold of Wunderlich, Kmentt, and Dermota. Trying to sound light and flexible like them, he almost ruined his voice until an inspiring vocal teacher gave him the courage to unleash the true quality of his voice, which is baritonal but with a ringing top register. That's fine, but what I crave is Wunderlich's artistry, not just his vocal timbre. To my ears, Kaufmann is rather lost in the Italian style, despite his outgoing passion. His soft singing sounds odd (as someone else here has commented), and yet there's lots of color to it. Every once in a while, as in Don Jose's Flower Song and the Massenet arias 'Ah fuyez, douce image' and 'Pourquoi me reveiller,' Kaufmann almost convinces you that he could turn into a French singer, and yet ...
In The Gramophone the estimable vocal critic John Steane praised this CD so extravagantly that he nominated Kaufmann for Best Tenor in the World. Obviously this is a voice that creates excitement and promises great things. It's as visceral and masculine as Jose Cura's. Whatever the future holds, Kaufmann is already the best German tenor on the scene, barrring only Ben Heppner.
Free Music Review: Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, He Really Is That Good!
Hit: 5 Stars
Jonas Kaufmann is developing a committed following and for good reason. Having just come from a recital in Los Angeles where he (and pianist Helmut Deutsch) presented an extraordinary evening - Part One Schumann ('Aus den Kerner-Liedern' and 'Dichterliebe', and Part Two Strauss 'Schlichte Weisen: Fünf Gedichte von Felix Dahn) and Vier Lieder, Opus 27) - that resulted in a tumultuous response from a full house demanding seven encores, it is clear that his impact on his audience is very powerful. Having concentrated on Kaufmann's three recital sets of lieder, this listener decided to give Kaufmann's operatic CD a try: he is as great with opera arias known as warhorses as he is with lieder.
Jonas Kaufmann's voice is burnished bronze and gold. His range is tenor but his sound bridges both tenor and baritone. He is able to produce volumes of sound and at the next moment sing pianissimos that require the finest breath control. This CD is a pleasure to hear: singing from a tenor who understands the meaning of each of these varied arias, able to convey in one aria the complexity of the character, and yet avoid the crooning and bleating and theatrics that so often disrupt the musical line in other tenors' voices and manners. He elicits the love struck ardor of Puccini's heroes, offers a perfect 'Morgenlich leuchtend' form Wagners 'Die Meistersinger', manages to convey the depth of Verdi's fatal romances, offers one of the finest interpretations of Massenet's 'Werther', strengthens the Berlioz 'Invocation' from 'La Damnation de Faust', and on and on. In addition to being a full voiced, intelligent and musical artist, Kaufmann is also exceedingly handsome and strikes a irresistible stage presence. It will be interesting to hear his new CD of Verismo Arias. He is the real thing! Grady Harp, March 11
Free Music Review: Excellent Start
Hit: 5 Stars
Like another reviewer, I bought this CD after reading the generally excellent review in Opera News. And I wasn't disappointed. If Pavarotti and Domingo are more silver and gold vocally, think of Kaufmann as a rich dark amber. He has a lovely dark warmth to his voice, much like the late Richard Tauber (without Tauber's excessive vocal mannerisms.) He does not have an open ringing Italianate top--in fact the top notes, although right on, are covered.
What he does have, besides a beautiful warm tone, is excellent musical artistry. He breaks no ground in his musical selections, but gives a new and appealing interpretation to the music--more subtle and less bombastic. Although he's good in the Italian and fine in the German repertoire, my personal favorites were the selections from French opera, which Kaufmann delivers with what I would call restrained passion. (Sometimes less is more.)
The only misstep was a weird rendition of The Prize Song from Wagner's Die Meistersinger. Despite the fact that he'd done a concert production of the opera to apparently great acclaim, he delivers Walther's big number almost diffidently, as if he were tossing off a little German folk song instead of singing his heart out to win the hand of the girl he loves from his detested rival. Odd, and it doesn't work. Other than that, however, he does just fine.
He gets excellent support from the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Marco Armiliato, and the sound quality is excellent. I am very glad I bought this CD and am enjoying listening to it.