Jonas Kaufmann hits London

Jonas Kaufmann / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra cond.Jochen Rieder  - Royal Festival Hall, 24 October 2011

What's hot, yummy and Bavarian?  No, not Weisswurst.

Drooling as adorably as a basset hound in his recently-fitted braces, Jonas Kaufmann won over tonight's London audience to the tune of four encores.  His programme stretched from verismo cheese to the magnificence of Wagner and he didn't put one foot wrong.

His voice is burnished bronze, an instrument in its prime. He controls it perfectly, with taste, musicality, and a studied ear for style. I have to say he's given some opera performances more emotionally committed and as a result more moving, but from a purely technical standpoint, this is the best I've ever heard him sing. Even a slack and under-rehearsed orchestra weren't enough to let him down.

A bold choice of starter displayed his confidence.  The unaccompanied opening lines of Cielo e mar from La Gioconda make a daring test for a voice fresh from the dressing room, but the control was absolute. La fleur que tu m'avais jetée was a brooding reminder of one of his greatest stage roles. More verismo completed a first half padded out with overlong and overslow orchestral filler, like a stale sponge with not enough jam.

After making Andrea Chénier sound like a masterpiece, he moved on to the Wagner. Siegmund is undoubtedly the Wagnerian role most tailored to his skills right now, and he deftly raised and narrowed his tone to project the Winterstürme from Die Walküre over the massed orchestra.  He narrated the Gralserzählung from Lohengrin with the enormous sensitivity to text which characterises all his German singing, but his thinned tone left me constantly aware of how uncomfortably the role sits in the tenor passaggio.  

Of course we all want the greatest singers to sing the greatest music. But in a strange way Kaufmann's Italian escapades, with their visceral, instinctive connection to the emotional core of the music, were the more satisfying part of the programme. And never more so than in his third encore, a wrought and abandoned Vesti la giubba. Surely reason enough for Covent Garden to try a Pagliacci?

The programme:
Giuseppe Verdi: Overture, Les vêpres siciliennes
Amilcare Ponchielli: Cielo e mar from La Gioconda
Amilcare Ponchielli: Dance of the Hours from La Gioconda
Riccardo Zandonai: Giulietta! son io from Romeo e Giulietta
Alfredo Catalani: Overture to Act 4 from La Wally
Georges Bizet: La fleur que tu m'avais jetée from Carmen
Pietro Mascagni: Intermezzo from Cavalleria rusticana
Pietro Mascagni: Addio alla madre from Cavalleria Rusticana
Camille Saint-Saëns: Bacchanale from Samson et Dalila
Umberto Giordano: Un dì all'azzuro spazio (Improvviso) from Andrea Chénier
Richard Wagner: Lohengrin, Prelude to Act 3
Richard Wagner: Winterstürme from Die Walküre
Richard Wagner: Lohengrin, Prelude to Act 1
Richard Wagner: Gralserzählung from Lohengrin

 

Finally, Special Agent Kyoko tucked a secret camera into her Birkin to bring you this footage:

all photos - intermezzo.typepad.com

Comments

[Les Mitnick]

To start with, I'm thrilled that he emerged from that scary node surgery (I feared the worst!). That he IS the reigning tenor in opera (alongside of Florez, albeit in a completely different repertoire) is already an established given. My only caveat: why can't he find himself a decent barber and do something with his hair? For such a handsome guy, why does he insist on looking like a sheepdog?

But no matter ----- he's truly amazing. Yes, I'm a Jonas freak as well as a Florezido!

[Brainpack]

Jonas was obviously very much enjoying himself! I'm got the impression that he was eager to sing more and had to urge the RPO to go along this extra mile (4 encores)!

Interestingly, as Intermezzo pointed out, his Italian/French repertoire was also more satisfying to me. But his presence was charismatic right from the start! The pictures, and even Special Agent Kyoko's video, don't do him enough justice!

[sub opera]

A great concert indeed. A voice at its prime with beautifully executed crescendos and diminuendso.

Shame about the RPO's woeful playing. NO ONE in the hall last night came to hear the awuful playing of the RPO, surely????

Did Herr Kaufmann really need those big breaks between pieces?

Cecilia Bartoli gives us hours upon hours upon hours of gorgeous music without the need for poorly executed orchestral fillers.

[FragendeFrau]

I'm glad to hear your positive reviews. I was somewhat worried by the less positive tweets I was reading from the concert. Some don't like the verismo material--I adore it and clearly JK does too.

I believe he performed this same program (or one very similar) in Athens on Friday with piano accompaniment (!) as the booked orchestra was on strike. And the pianist also did some solo interludes, so I guess the program is what it is.

[Mark]

Anyone got any idea what the other encores were?

Also disappointed by the orchestral interludes and bored with the comings and goings. My attention was severely taxed.
***************************************
Intermezzo replies - L'anima ho stanca from Adriana Lecouvreur, Richard Tauber's Du bist die Welt für mich (not Lehár’s Du bist das herz der Welt as the Independent seems to think) and I've forgotten the other one.

[Vecchio John]

A great evening for Jonas, but I know a few who left in the interval because of the woeful RPO fillers. The Dance of the Hours really did seem to last hours, and who in their right mind programmed the Bacchanale from Samson before the Wagner extracts.
Now we must hear him in a full length Wagner role in London.

[Kit]

@ sub opera: Never mind their poor playing (agreed!) but to me the worst was how these orchestral interludes ruined the atmosphere and excitement of a great concert. Its no coincidence that the IM preferred the encores ... no interludes!! ( ... But I agree, IM, there was something extra about the Italian rep.)
The Lohengrin followed its prelude without interruption and was all the more intense for that. I would rather have had 5 minute "chat breaks" between items if Jonas needed the rest, rather than interminable and distracting muzak.

[Manou]

I did enjoy the concert - and spotted Intermezzo [..redacted]. Sadly have to report that the Birkin is in fact a commodious black bag...

I am starting a fund to buy Jonas a comb and a razor.

[Steve W.]

If one could bear to look away from those big brown eyes of Jonas for more than a couple of seconds, there were things being said between the Conductor and RPO Leader on more than one occasion that left the Leader looking like absolute thunder.

I actually like his hair (and he can toss it back with a very sexy snarl), though seeing him in the Met broadcast of Valkyrie left me thinking he would benefit from the gym... but then I wouldn't be able to concentrate on purely musical values!

The £6 programme was a lazy disgrace... Shame on the grubby Gubbay greed. The contractual association does Jonas no service and I hope it is severed.

[Kit]

@ Manou: I'm good for a tenner (deutchmark that is...)
@ IM: You haven't forgotten - its in your review - 3rd encore was Vesti la giubba. But what was the 4th?

[Mark]

Thanks for the encore info. I just feel deeply ashamed at not getting the Adriana Lecouvreur, especially as I was there at the ROH when they did the whole thing.

[FragendeFrau]

Maybe he is taking his beloved hair on a farewell tour? I'm trying to imagine how it could possibly be worked into the ENO's time-specific Faust production and coming up clueless.

[Stephen]

I think people are being a bit hard on the RPO which, while not the finest, was much better than the sort of orchestra you generally get on these tours with star singers - and a great improvement on what would have been on offer in Athens if they hadn't been on strike. Some of the rubbish that has followed Florez around Europe on tour for example - from the Georgean Chamber Orchestra to the SWR Rundfunkorchester Kaiserslautern - has to be heard to be believed. And a couple of hours rehearsal with Kaufmann is all that would have been available. Bartoli's accompaniments, always impeccable, are the exception.

But a great, if overpriced, concert, to be sure, and Vesti la giubba simply overwhelming.

[sub opera]

Leave Jonas' gorgeous hair / facial alone, bitte!

[miranda]

Lots of twitterati etc left at the interval, and I have some sympathy for that but I think it would have been a shame, because I think the encores were worth it. It was a bit bizarre though, because during the encores the audience as a whole looked as though they couldn't wait to leave while JK looked as though he was desperate to carry on. @Kit, I too would have gladly accepted chat breaks instead.

Vesti la giubba and the the spontaneous standing ovation that followed it (or was that people desperate to leave before another encore? - hard to tell) was the first and only time I really felt he let his emotions go and reach us. Having said that, Gralserzählung from Lohengrin was perfect.

And I have to say, that hair is so extraordinary, so 70's footballer and so fabulous that I was distantly wondering when the hairspray would loosen its hold and we'd get some swishy effects. Alas, only in the bows at the end. I won't be contributing to the comb fund, @Manou! If I'm being really embarrasingly honest, if the voice can successfully compete with that hair for my attention, I think we are on the right track..! (It did).

So all in all, it's always going to be a privilege to see and hear him (and his hair), and he has such a reputation for delivering on expectations that in the end I was left feeling a little wanting and deflated. I was so looking forward to a night to remember for ever and it just wasn't that. It doesn't even begin to compare with what people have said they experienced at Wigmore Hall (sadly not me), or emotionally, what I have seen him produce at the opera house.

A shame that there was a shoddy accompaniment, too much Gubbay shmaltz that made it feel like one big commercial insult, a simply stupid programme (ok for George Michael Symphonia, perhaps) and if he was prepared to sing so much by way of encore why didn't he do it earlier? Apparently there were two more on the playlist.

I just love the verisimo, (especially with the hair) but there are clearly many people who just want the German repetoire. Luckily, he ain't really listening. Although, i can sort of understand why. He blows it out the water.........

[Manou]

@sub opera - stubble opera?

[Liane]

I entirely agree to leave Jonas' gorgeous hair and the beard alone. This is HIM, his trademark, if you like, and though I have seen him look very good with straight hair too, I prefer the curls anytime and I hope he will keep them for a long time to come. I don't agree with the criticism about his Lohengrin. I find the Gralserzaehlung superb and it moves me no end.

The last encore he sang was Ombra di Nube by Refice which is also on his Verismo Arias CD. .

The orchestra was not fantastic, but not as bad either and agree that the intervals and part of the ouvertures were too long.

[Su Traditor]

4th encore was ombra di nube - Refice

[Ryan]

From what's been said, I hope the RPO are in better form for the RAH concert with Jonas, Anna and Erwin next year. But it is another Gubbay presentation.

Budgeting at least £6 then for a programme.

[Vecchio John]

@Ryan At least with 3 soloists we may be spared the tedious orchestral intermezzi (with aplogies to our hostess).

[MikeMD]

I had tickets to go, but had to cancel a few weeks ago. I am so pleased that JK was on form, I would have loved to have heard him. I am always surprised that no one mentions that he sounds a bit like the great Jon Vickers!
Has anyone seen the Edward Seckerson review?
http://www.edwardseckerson.biz/?p=717
Seems his hearing is going - he says a top B in Cielo e Mar NOT a Bb and even a top C in Carmen, again a Bb. Inflation has reached the ears too!

[Kath]

yay! I have my ticket for that already!

[FragendeFrau82]

@VJ If they follow a similar programme to the concerts in Berlin, Munich, and Vienna this summer, there were several orchestral interludes...sorry.

[miranda]

I'm starting a FB fanpage for THE hair. Who's in? :)

[Kath]

I saw the Munich one via the internet and loved it!

love the hair too ;-) count me in!

[Rannaldini]

I can remember a post a while back in which everyone was be-moaning the glossy mass produced singer led albums that record companies force upon these days - and here you all are (ladies... and no doubt a couple of th chaps too!!) fawning all over him and basically saying to the record companies - yes - we want the same stuff endlessly re-cycled with new glossy good looking singers with a shelf life of zip!

[Christie]

I saw Kaufmann here in Berlin a few weeks ago, and he was simply amazing. It was a Liszt evening, though, and I would have given a lot for him to give a recital like this one. Next time, I guess.

Funny, how come no one else has mentioned his braces? Why on earth does he need braces? His teeth were already pretty straight. And I agree that his curls and beard are his trademark. If he cuts them for Faust, I will cry.

[Lili]

Personally I love the sheepdog look, but it's just funny to have braces at his age! A sponsor's request?

[Kath]

@Rannaldini I don't think that is strictly true..just because because we admire his looks doesn't distract from JK's talent and his ability to play lots of different roles

After all he wouldn't be here if he couldn't sing..and he's definitely here to stay!

[FragendeFrau82]

I thought his teeth were perfectly fine too (and you know how we Americans are about teeth). Noticed the braces during the Waldbühne webstream.

Given how particular I can imagine singers are about anything to do with their mouth, abdomen, chest--anything to do with their instrument--I can only think there is a very good reason and he is comfortable with it. Maybe it's something he's always wanted to do? I have a colleague at work who is *cough* the far side of 50 years old and she just got braces, albeit not the full-on type JK is sporting.

[May]

I also love the sheepdog look, but everyone who posted here seems to forget that he starts his concerts with his hair nicely combed and then it gets all messy by the end. He never starts a concert evening looking as disheveled as he does by the end of it (I think he still looks cute).
It seems like madness to me to leave in the middle of a Kaufmann concert! I would sit through the entire Faust Symphony to hear him sing just one aria! (those who left may view THIS as maddness).

[Miranda]

@Kath @May I couldnt agree with you both more. May, your observation is so profound I'm going to have to get it on the Kaufmann mane page. Viva that hair!!!!

[Sheila]

1. He sings really well.
2. He has really nice hair.
3. He might as well enjoy both while he's in his prime. Neither the voice nor the hair will last forever.

The beard thing is a modern fashion I'm not thrilled with but it's his wife who has to contend with that, not me.

Can't wait for Faust even though I've just seen two different productions and think it's a stinker opera, totally passe.

[Rannaldini]

@Kath. I hear what you say but all I can say is that when I heard him in Zurich singing alongside Kasarova in Carmen, he forgot to come on stage at the right moment, and there was a pause of about 30 seconds and huge embarrassment all round (daggers looks from her) as he eventually staggered onto stage, and when i heard him in concert in germany he got lost and the conductor had to turn his pages for him and point to where he was.... Agreed, a lovely voice, when he knows when to sing.

[H. E. Pennypacker]

I too am slightly disturbed about the enthusiasm people have for Kaufmann's looks, and find it difficult to believe that it doesn't sometimes cloud some people's judgement about his singing (for the record: I do concede that he's one of the best tenors around today). It reminds me of the ridiculous scene I witnessed in last Friday's Hvorostovsky concert where about half of the middle aged ladies in the audience got their cameras out and started photographing the minute Hvorostovsky walked on stage at the beginning of the concert. He had to stand there for what felt like forever, waiting for the frenzy to end. This was of course followed by enthusiastic applauding after every single song for the rest of the concert. Commenting in a blog, posting an unnecessarily high number of close up photos of Kaufmann, or making a video of Kaufmann standing on stage doing nothing is of course entirely harmless and just a bit of fun, but perhaps a mild symptom of the same affliction?

[richie]

Terrible teeth though.

[Liane]

If people left in the middle of his concert might have had good reason, i.e. the last train or something like this,since they may have come from very far.(not me)

@Christie Next summer he will give a recital in the Wigmore Hall, and it will no doubt be Liszt etc. since this is his new program which he has sung in Germany this year. My advice, however, become a member of the Wigmore Hall, only £40, since otherwise you will not have a chance in hell to get a ticket. This year it was the earliest sold out recital of the whole year.

[rosieM]

Hair? Braces? an orchestra apparantly not at its best? Didnt notice any of that - we just wallowed in the wonderously dazzling singing of Jonas Kaufmann who was clearly enjoying himself too particulalry in the second half of the concert.
If audience members leave before they see all the encores more fool them! The same thing happened with Florez last year. I cant really believe that they ALL want to catch the last train - its a rude habit I abhor in the concert hall.

[Nikolaus Vogel]

@ Manou

We boys LOVE Jonas's just-got-out-of-bed look! :)

[Nikolaus Vogel]

@ Liane

I think he's doing Winterreise at the Wig.

[Kath]

@Rannaldini I will admit that I am quite new to this opera thing (and have yet to have the pleasure of seeing Jonas live)

All I can say is,all the operas I have managed to watch (via the internet) ...I couldn't fault his performances, his voice..his stage presence.

I was completely lost in the moment and enjoyed every minute.

[Popoluska]

Dear Mr. Rannaldini,
you repeat this your ridiculous story many times on many blogs. Why do you do it?

[Liane]

@ Nikolaus Vogel Thank you very much. This is wonderful news. After The Muellerin I can't wait to hear this. I don't only love Jonas, I love Schubert too!!

@ Mr. Rannaldini, also I have read this comment of yours in other blogs too. We are all human and can make mistakes. This shows that Jonas is not only an "Opera God", but human and you seem to me a bit jealous.

[Andres]

I think we should all do an outing when he comes to Birmingham next March (awfully cheap and incredibly un-sold out) and sit in the audience with a wig like his, a la Being John Malkovitch.
*********************************
Intermezzo replies - what a splendid idea. If that doesn't send him running to the hairdresser, nothing will.

[Lucy]

@kath, count me in for the hair fb page!! Jonas is the reason I've started to explore Opera. His Flower Song from Carmen made me cry & almost choke - thank god I held my breathe for the rest of the song. I can't understand why people leave if there is any chance he will open his mouth!! As for people getting last trains - it finished at 10 ( with the encores) we were in London not the outer Hebrides!! Aaghhh!!

[lilloboss]

@liane- just to say that i joined wigmore to buy tickets for kaufmann last time, applied earliest i could and received nothing. seems that the more senior members have priority so new joiners'll likely get disappointed. boxoffice said they could've sold that schubert recital five times over. maybe better pick another favourite tenor!

[Adina]

@Popoluska
Probably because Mr. Rannaldini (a new name?) hates Jonas, so the question should be more "why does he hate him". BTW I was there in Zurich, it was quite funny, just 20 seconds, nobody thought bad about Jonas because of it.

[Kath]

@Lucy

Jonas was pretty much my first experience into opera too ( I have a friend that is a huge fan) Fidelio if I recall correctly...

[miranda]

To all who have posted sanctimonious remarks in this or the other blog about how some of us are lowering the tone by appreciating (or not) the stubble, the hair, eyes, teeth or smile, or whatever else tickles your fancy of Jonas in addition to his artistry: I say this:

My seat at RFH was so cheap I was ensured no visibility at all of Jonas, be it his hair or otherwise. So long as I could hear his voice, I was happy. But that doesn’t mean I don't hugely appreciate Special Agent Kyoto's footage and fab pics, showing me in close up what I couldn't really see and giving me extra bonus enjoyment of my memories of the evening which after all, was just slightly short of the mark.

And who is to say, honestly, that lovers of opera and classical music are precluded from appreciating good looks to the bargain? All the arguments posted here against it do tend to come across as patronising & elitist - in short all the things that alienate and intimidate new audiences. In this age of austerity in the public subsidy purse, we can hardly afford to do that.

If you read La Nilsson's autobiography, or Marilyn Horne's - you will see neither of them were shy of enjoying and allowing the good looks and virility of the likes of Corelli and Domingo to further enhance their own performances - so if it’s ok for them, it’s ok for me! Who can honestly tell me that Placido's looks and Corelli's calves didn’t help rock the opera world?

I am in favour of anything and anyone that brings attention and punters to this extraordinary art form. Including irreverent blogging! (Thanks mostly to our hostess par excellence) So if an artist packs both punches in terms of skill and physical attraction and hence pulls in the punters, and boost opera house box office takings and the rest, that can only be a good thing.

Crucially, there is no reason to presume those punters are not as discerning as anyone else. There is no place on the stages of the best and less well known opera houses for anyone who is trading on looks alone (Kathrine Jenkins, anyone?).

I personally am reasonably young (yay!) and credit my love of opera to a rip roaring goose bumping life changing performance of Carmen in 2007 by Herr Kaufmann and his hair, which I am sure many of you will remember as well. I have since trustingly introduced a whole crowd of kids, and other young fans to the form, and whether it involves seeing Schrott in Don Giovanni, or Kaufmann in Adriana, or Netrebko in Manon, (the list goes on), I am thankful that I dont have to fight the uphill battle that they may be alienated at the first hurdle by having to suspend disbelief to a surreal degree. (Cue all the people who are now tut tutting at my line up of easy listening opera and opera brawn)

No one seems to have a problem with the beauty of De Niese, Netrebko, et al. Are we allowed to appreciate the beautiful women who can sing like angels but not the men? Sex appeal on the opera stage doesn't do it any harm whatsoever. I think the likes of Netrebko, Schrott, Kaufmann and Hvorostovsky to name but a few, are all doing wonders to help ensure this amazing, wonderful, and let's not forget - supremely unforgiving - form carries through to the next generation.

And anyone who thinks otherwise should get off their high horse and chill out!

[miranda]

@ Andres: Excellent idea! Count me in! I just have to learn German first. Can anyone help?