Jonas Kaufmann - Romantic Arias
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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: 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.
Free Music Review: LIKEABLE DEBUT OPERA RECITAL
Hit: 4 Stars
The age of the 78 rpm record (and the later-day 45 rpm EP single) had a distinct advantge for new operatic talent. In those days a debut artist setting out on a promising career could present themselves with a single recording of a song or aria. If the public "bought it" more recordings would follow; if not, the individual would fade into obscurity. Today's debut artist has to submit an entire CDs worth of material, and therein lies the problem. The rep is a series of familiar arias that have been recorded innumberable times already so comparisons will be inevitable. Given that opera on audio-only CD is a dying breed, wouldn't it be more practical if a company like Polygram preseneted several first-time recording artists on a single CD?
That not standing, Mr. Kaufmann's CD debut isn't without merit. This is a handsome voice, musical and versatile. I see everyone's point of the baritonal quality (comparison to the likes of Domingo, Del Monaco, Cura, McCracken and others), but this is really a tenor as the rather weak lower notes suggest. There's enough variety in the repertoire to demonstrate the singer's range and abilities, although it's safe to say he is not one of the "High C" type lirico leggero tenors and coversely should refrain from Wagner or heavy German roles for at least another decade. It's hard to gauge how large his voice is from this CD. A proper hearing in the opera house or concert hall (unmiked, of course) will be the real test. According to the photos and videos, he's also easy on the eyes -- I guess that helps. Ah, marketing!
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: Nice Debut Recital
Hit: 4 Stars
Jonas Kauffman may not be the most familiar name in opera, since he's relatively new on the international scene. While I vaguely remembered hearing his name mentioned a few times, no doubt form listening to radio broadcasts from New York's Metropolitan Opera, it was only after reading a review of this CD in OPERA NEWS that my interest was piqued in his artistry. The reviewer could not speak highly enough of him. He was being hailed as in the tradition of the greats, so I decided to see if the collection was worthy of such praise. I certainly enjoyed the collection and it is my guess is that he's at the beginning of a wonderful career.
In this collection, Kaufmann tackles some of operas best known tenor arias. This in itself is a challenge. Since listeners are so familiar with Pavarotti, Domingo, Corelli, and di Stefano performing, and in some case all but owning many of the arias in this set, comparisons would be natural. While he is not yet in the same category as some of the legendary tenors, he could well be on his way. He has a full voice with wonderful expression. Most of the arias are the standard 19th century arias. and he is adept in the Italian, French, and German repertoire. His strongest arias are those from LA BOHEME, CARMEN, MEISTERSINGER, DER FREISCHUTZ, and MARTHA. Overall the French repertoire may not be his strongest suit since the two weakest arias are from FAUST and WERTHER where he tends to strain a bit in both..
My guess is that this is just the first Kauffman recording. His voice is appealing, it has the full sound we associate with tenors such as Pavarotti et al, and he's at home in a wide variety of roles. This is a worthwhile collection to own, but I think it's safe to predict that as good as this collection is, the best may be yet to come.