What do Jonas Kaufmann, Anja Harteros, Piotr Beczala and Daniel Behle have in common? Besides being internationally acclaimed singers, they’re all “vocal athletes” who keep their voices in shape. In this “rewarding documentary” (Opernglas), filmmakers Barbara and Wolfgang Wunderlich team up with Thomas Voigt to examine the physical and psychological hurdles that constantly face professional singers. Next to theoretical matters, the program offers a generous selection of musical excerpts that illustrate the topic at hand and shed light into the complex interplay of every singer’s body and mind.
Jonas Kaufmann – You Mean The World To Me – Documentary
Jonas Kaufmann traces the paths of the great singers and composers during the last years of the Weimar Republic (between Germany’s defeat at the end of World War I in 1918, and Hitler’s rise to power in 1933). The film is focussing on three pillars: Franz Léhar, Richard Tauber and the heydays of the “Silver Operetta” era; Robert Stolz, Joseph Schmidt and the invention of sound movies; and the diversification of musical styles through international commercialization. It includes excerpts of Jonas Kaufmann’s correpetitions with Stellario Fagone in Munich and the recording session for his album in the Funkhaus Berlin. Also available: Concert “You Mean The World To Me” (70′), Cat.No. 9151