Super Mario

In Munich as at the Met, Luc Bondy's Tosca was coolly received. But one thing everyone agreed on: Jonas Kaufmann IS Cavaradossi. Here he is in Arte's live broadcast on 10 July: 

E lucevan le stelle

Recondita armonia

Comments

[L.]

Thanks for the article links... the videos seem to have been taken down but YouTube users bollypl and Operalou2 also have excerpts, some audio-only.

[inter mezzo]

thanks for pointing that out - I've now re-linked to functional versions.

[Lily]

Thanks. Really nice. Bland words to describe something not bland at all.

[John]

Advance notice: Jonas K is singing in the Verdi Requiem at the Zürich Tonhalle on 10th July 2011, with two other of my all time favourites Ninna Stemme and Matti Salminen.

[Hal]

The best all-round tenor singing today.

[Hedgehog]

Totally agree. I heard Kaufmann in Tosca at the ROH in May 2008, and he was simply marvellous. In the flesh, there's a dark baritonal quality which sounds astonishingly like Jon Vickers in his prime, but he can also carry the arch of those great melodies with both visceral passion and exquisite sensitivity. Truly thrilling. I did hear Luciano do it once, and, although that remains inimitable, Kaufmann is the one to hear nowadays - in anything! Anyway, who will not be clawing their way to the front of the queue for Tosca in June 2011 with Kaufmann/Terfel/Gheorghiu? Sell your premium bonds!

[pietro]

I still can't see (or hear) what the fuss is about. He doesn't sound in the least Italian, for a start. And I don't think the baritonal quality suits Cavaradossi's music.

Maybe he needs to be heard live.

[Michel]

I absolutely love Kaufmann.The man has the entire package...the looks...the voice and the acting skill. He was absolutely marvellous with Keenlyside at the beginning of the year in Don Carlo. Looking forward to hear him again next year in Tosca (and by the way he is schedule to sing with Karita Matilla and not Gheorghiu which is extremely good news).

[GailB]

Thank you for the arias.

Luc Bondy: I wish there were more demand for directors who understand that melodrama does not combine well with drama. Bondy is aesthetically sloppy. Thank goodness that there is an educated audience who can recognize fakery. Is he ignorant or stupid---that's the question.

I endured the Met's Bondy Experience. Never again. I appreciate good thinking skills, and a respect for the dramatic arts. Bondy exhibits neither in this production.