Never has Giuseppe Verdi composed revenge, intrigue and jealousy fierier and more diabolical than in his late opera Otello. One of the greatest love stories in literature – Otello is the second of Verdi’s three Shakespeare operas – fails brutally, cruelly and senselessly. With the title role of Otello, Jonas Kaufmann takes on what is probably the most demanding part of his vocal register He is “in splendid form” (Kronen Zeitung) and “has sung his way into the Olympus as an interpreter of Otello” (klassik-begeistert.de) with this performance. Baritone Ludovic Tézier “is unrivalled as Lago” (Kurier). “This baritone’s attacks are like acts of tonal violence, his legato mischief clever manipulations. A devil on earth.” (Der Standard) Soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen is “a Desdemona to fall in love with” (Die Presse) with “a voice to kneel down to, with a timbre that captivates” (klassik-begeistert.de). Adrian Noble’s staging moves the action to circa 1900, stripping it of its historical context. Emphasizing the inner world of the main character and his emotional disintegration, his Otello becomes “a psychological thriller” (bachtrack.com).
Turandot
At the Vienna State Opera, Claus Guth stages Puccini’s last opera as a chamber drama of timeless topicality – far removed from all pseudo-Chinese clichés and with shooting star Asmik Grigorian and audience favourite Jonas Kaufmann in the two leading roles. For Asmik Grigorian, the role is a debut and she succeeds “brilliantly. […] Her singing reveals a woman’s soul” (Die Presse) and captivates with “glistening high notes, the coldest cantilenas and deeply felt emotions” (Süddeutsche Zeitung). In contrast, the foreign prince appears less as a swashbuckling conqueror than as a sensitive companion who reaches out his hand to a woman struggling with her demons. The role of Calaf is also a stage debut for Jonas Kaufmann. He sings the famous “Nessun dorma” “with the greatest sensitivity” (Salzburger Nachrichten), “he is in his element in the top notes, his velvety timbre is convincing in every register”. (Der Standard). The Russian soprano Kristina Mkhitaryan portrays a touching Liù as an “enchantingly beautiful soprano” (Kronen Zeitung). Conductor Marco Armiliato “delights with the unleashed splendour of Puccini’s sound” (Falter).
Parsifal
Russian stage director Kirill Serebrennikov’s fearlessness, which one can almost physically feel in his productions, fascinates some as much as it confuses others. His radical reading of Wagner’s last magnificent opera at Wiener Staatsoper considers Parsifal as an opera of liberation, namely as a liberation from oneself through the realisation that the path to freedom can only be tackled by oneself. One central idea of this production is the doubled Parsifal, who drags his old ego of the past around with himself in order to leave it behind at the end. Opposite the wavering Parsifal figures stands a powerful Kundry. The whole cast excels, especially the central pairing of Jonas Kaufmann as Parsifal and Elina Garanca in her role debut as Kundry: two icons in prime vocal form and immersed in their roles to a degree that transcends the hype that surrounds them. Philippe Jordan conducting the Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper opts for a bright, fast Wagner. “A luxury cast for Wagner’s wonder sounds” Salzburger Nachrichten / “Serebrennikov conjures up worlds of images that never let you go.” FAZ
Andrea Chénier
Jonas Kaufmann and Anja Harteros, the dream team of opera, continue their successful collaboration in a new production of Umberto Giordano’s Andrea Chénier at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich. Alongside the superb baritone George Petean, the superstars show how love triumphs over death in the shadow of a terrifying regime. In the opulent staging by film director Philipp Stölzl, Marco Armiliato conducts the Bayerisches Staatsorchester. “A sensational Anja Harteros brings the house down! Kaufmann is perfect for the role – full of vitality and radiance! World-class!” (BR Klassik)
Verdi, Messa da Requiem
In time for the Verdi Year 2013 the Teatro alla Scala has come up with a special project: Verdi’s Messa da Requiem with an exquisite quartet of soloists – Anja Harteros, Elina Garanca, Jonas Kaufmann and René Pape – conducted by Daniel Barenboim, the Teatro’s Maestro scaligero. This first performance in Milan is followed by performances at the Lucerne and the Salzburg Festival and in the Berlin Philharmonie in 2013.
Tosca
Puccini’s verismo masterpiece demands a trio of vocal soloists of stellar quality. This Munich Festival production of “Tosca” meets all expectations. The great Finnish soprano Karita Mattila infuses her Tosca with passion and controlled intensity. As her lover Cavaradossi, Jonas Kaufmann once again confirms his status as one of the leading tenors of our time, and Juha Uusitalo’s evil Scarpia brims with dark menace.
Lohengrin
With Jonas Kaufmann’s long-awaited role debut as Lohengrin and Anja Harteros as Elsa, Wagner’s epic of love and loss was not only the opening premiere of the Munich Opera Festival, but its uncontested highlight as well. Which is why the performance was followed not only by a longsold- out house, but also by tens of thousands of spectators at a live public viewing event in Munich and Vienna.
Der Rosenkavalier
“The best of the best assembled on stage,” wrote Germany’s leading newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung after the premiere of Richard Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden. Indeed, it would be hard to find a more ideal cast for this late-Romantic Rococo pastiche anywhere in the world. As the Marschallin, stellar soprano Renée Fleming uses her velvety tones and autumnal shadings to complement the youthfully lyrical and dynamic voice of Sophie Koch as her young lover Octavian. Diana Damrau’s Sophie enhances the trio’s sparkle with her ethereal high notes. Next to Franz Hawlata as a swaggering Baron Ochs and the always impressive Franz Grundheber as Faninal, the Baden-Baden production rounds off its male leads with international tenor star Jonas Kaufmann as the “Italian Singer.” Leading his Münchner Philharmoniker, acclaimed Romantic specialist Christian Thielemann revels in Strauss’s lustrous melancholy and obtains a rarely heard transparency from the brass and woodwinds.
Birgit Nilsson – A league of her own
An intimate portrait of Birgit Nilsson (1918–2005) on the occasion of her centennial on 17th May 2018: The Swedish soprano had an incredible technique and was the world’s leading dramatic soprano between 1955 and 1975. Rare TV and archive footage shows Nilsson at work, and is complemented by interviews with Plácido Domingo, Otto Schenk, James Levine, Nina Stemme, Jonas Kaufmann, Marilyn Horne, Christa Ludwig and many others. The film reveals a sensitive woman behind the honest, down to earth, quick-witted artist, who had “a voice like fire and ice” (Antonio Pappano). The documentary was shot at the farm in Bastad/Sweden, where Nilsson grew up and spent the summers until the end of her life, at the Royal Opera in Stockholm, where the legendary Wagnerian singer made her operatic debut in 1946, and in places like the Bayreuth Festival, the Wiener Staatsoper and the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where Nilsson was the star and box office draw.
Jonas Kaufmann – The Sound of Movies
Accompanied by the renowned Czech National Symphony Orchestra, Kaufmann takes his audience on a cinematic journey that transcends the silver screen. From the romantic trains of “Where Do I Begin” from Love Story and the poignant “What a Wonderful World” from Good Morning, Vietnam to the evocative “Strangers in the Night” from A Man Could Get Killed, each performance embodies the essence of cinema’s most iconic moments. Spanning decades of cinematic history, this unforgettable program promises to captivate film and music lovers alike. “As an ardent film buff and singer I am naturally very receptive to all the vocal numbers that have been heard in soundtracks all over the world, which is why it was a particular pleasure for me to rummage in the treasury of film music in search of the most beautiful pieces. The result is The Sound of Movies, a collection of wonderful songs from over eighty years of cinematic history. Whether they are accompanied by moving pictures or treated as pure music, they have all found a place in my heart.” Jonas Kaufmann