Jonas Kaufmann

On 14 June 2015, German tenor Jonas Kaufmann walked onto the stage of La Scala, Milan, the home of Italian opera, for one of the most highly anticipated performances of last year. The concert of Puccini arias made national news in Italy and following five encores and more than half an hour of ovations. Kaufmann’s spectacular performance is the focus of this film Jonas Kaufmann – An Evening with Puccini, directed by Brian Large, which was broadcast into cinemas worldwide. Experience this unforgettable event on DVD and be treated to an inciteful introduction to Puccini – the man, the musician, the celebrity – narrated by Jonas and featuring rare archive footage.

Opera buffa in two acts / Sung in Italian The eponymous heroine of Paisiello’s Nina (1789) had a far-reaching influence on the operatic taste of the Romantic era. The mad heroines of Bellini and Donizetti are her direct descendants. Driven out of her wits by the supposed death of her lover, Lindoro, the role of Nina offers a wealth of opportunity for histrionic and vocal fireworks. In this live recording from the Zurich Opera of a revival of Cesare Lievi’s highly successful 1998 production, Cecilia Bartoli triumphs as Nina.

François Girard‘s stunning post-apocalyptic production of Parsifal at The Metropolitan Opera trail-blazed the way for Wagner’s centennial year celebrations last year. Wagner's last and most intriguing opera, Parsifal centers on a young hero’s search for compassion, redemption, and acceptance in a world dominated by rules and fanaticism.

Described by The Daily Telegraph as “The world’s greatest tenor”, Jonas Kaufmann dedicates his new album to the most popular Italian opera composer of all time, Giacomo Puccini. Featuring the most loved aria of all time, ‘Nessun Dorma’, alongside stunning pieces from Manon Lescaut, La Boheme, Tosca and more. Together with Jonas Kaufmann, this album includes celebrated Royal Opera House conductor Antonio Pappano and his renowned orchestra and choir of the Accademia Nazionale Di Santa Cecilia.

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.

Jonas Kaufmann has taken care in his professional choices not to be pigeonholed and has successfully tackled roles in German, French, and Italian operas ranging from Monteverdi and Mozart to Schoenberg and world premieres, as well as singing lieder and symphonic works. These verismo arias show off Kaufmann's mastery of this repertoire and his ease in bringing an authentically Italianate sensibility to this music.

Double Tony Award winning stage director Desmond McAnuff’s production, hailed by the New York Times as “rich with ideas and theatrically daring”, presents Faust as an atomic scientist inhabiting a dark world shot through with Cold War resonances. Alongside Kaufmann, a typically gold-standard Met cast includes the “phenomenal” Rene Pape as Mephistopheles and the “ideally-suited” Marina Poplavskaya as Marguerite. Star conductor Yannick Nezet-Seguin draws an “elegant, darkly textured performance” from the Metropolitan Opera orchestra.

This should clinch it: Jonas Kaufmann is the pre-eminent Wagner tenor of this generation. (Slated to sing Manrico soon, and judging from his Werther, he may just be the pre-eminent tenor, period.) For those who haven’t heard him, the voice is dark and manly, with easy ascents above the staff at all dynamic ranges (including some crooning that can become more like a mannerism than a service to the music), a top that rings loud and clear, phrasing that confirms great musicianship, a smooth legato, and flawless diction.

Martin Kušej’s thrilling contemporary interpretation of Verdi’s late period opera proved the perfect vehicle for the Bavarian State Opera’s dream team of Jonas Kaufmann and Anja Harteros. The imposing sets’ references to terrorism and the implosion of modern civilization bring the opera’s inherent drama to a breathtaking pinnacle. Specialist promo & marketing activity.