Onkyo Proudly Presents Jonas Hellborg

Dutch girl Group formed around Patricia Paay. Originally formed as a gimmick for a Dutch TV-show ( with Yvonne Keeley and their mother Mrs. Paay) to perform a Andrews Sisters medley. Becoming a huge success, they replaced mother for Sylvana van Veen and became an act. After a few years the succees declined and they split up around 1987. In 2007 they tried to make a comeback with their former successingle "Stars on 45".

On a sweltering night at London’s Royal Opera House in June 2017, Jonas Kaufmann made his debut performance in Verdi’s Otello - one of the most coveted and challenging roles in the tenor operatic repertoire. The Guardian commented on his performance: “Kaufmann thrills in a dark, expressionistic staging” and The Daily Mail concurred: “He is undoubtedly the most vocally and physically charismatic exponent of this role here since Domingo.” This new production by director Keith Warner presents a simultaneously modern and abstract approach to one of Verdi’s greatest operas.

Following on from his phenomenally successful Grammy-nominated first Puccini album in 2015, “Nessun Dorma”, Jonas Kaufmann now presents a new album of Puccini highlights to mark the composer’s anniversary year 2024. “The greatest tenor of his generation” (The Guardian) has selected for his new recording six great duets and scenes with six outstanding sopranos – legendary love scenes, emotionally-charged Love Affairs. He is joined by sopranos Anna Netrebko (in Manon Lescaut), Asmik Grigorian (in Il Tabarro), Malin Byström (in La Fanciulla del West), Maria Agresta (in Madama Butterfly), Pretty Yende (in La Bohème) and Sonya Yoncheva (in Tosca). Two famous tenor arias “E lucevan le stelle” (Tosca) and “Che gelida manina!” (La Bohème) complete the attractive programme, with Asher Fisch conducting the Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna. The album is presented in limited edition deluxe packaging, including printed interview with Jonas Kaufmann, full lyrics, photos and many of the original Ricordi opera posters.

Starring Angela Gheorghiu as the celebrated French actress Adriana Lecouvreur and Jonas Kaufmann as her lover Maurizio, Count of Saxony, Cilea’s verismo drama explores celebrity, romance, jealousy, and death. The trio of sublime voices is completed by Russian mezzo-soprano Olga Borodina as Adriana’s jealous rival, the Princess de Bouillon. David McVicar’s hit production – the first performance of the opera at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden for more than a century – presents the life of the French actress as a blurring of the distinction between fantasy and reality.