Jonas Kaufmann

[MAuer]

Looks like I might just have to shell out for that super deluxe edition . . .

[Hoffmann]

This has got the German version

(I should know, I bought it for that. Prefer the original language)

The best thing on this disk is Jonas singing Paul'a aria from Die Tote Stadt. I have listened to it on repeat many times. It is GORGEOUS.

I don't know, though, if JK has ever sung Paul in a staged production of Die tote Stadt. I would pay good money to see that. A downside of the somewhat tarnished reputation of the opera, and the low risk tolerance of opera companies around the world, I guess, is their reluctance to stage the opera. I will put this on my buy list so I can compare this with Klaus Florian Vogt. The advantage of KFV's lighter Heldentenor and boyish demeanor is his ability to portray innocence.

It's interesting, though, that JK is increasingly looking toward Italian opera - Verdi, especially, while KFV seems to be sticking with mostly German repertory. Both will be undertaking Walther in Die Meistersinger next season (JK in Munich, KFV in Berlin, I think).

[Soave_Fanciulla]

I don't know, though, if JK has ever sung Paul in a staged production of Die tote Stadt. I would pay good money to see that. A downside of the somewhat tarnished reputation of the opera, and the low risk tolerance of opera companies around the world, I guess, is their reluctance to stage the opera. I will put this on my buy list so I can compare this with Klaus Florian Vogt. The advantage of KFV's lighter Heldentenor and boyish demeanor is his ability to portray innocence.

I don't think he has, and I'm sure he won't because opera companies will want him in their "popular" mainstream fare to get bums on seats. Unless he asks someone; he no doubt has the star power. On the other hand singing Paul is pretty punishing and he might not want to get into that on stage; it certainly is a better fit to KFV's higher tenor.

It's interesting, though, that JK is increasingly looking toward Italian opera - Verdi, especially, while KFV seems to be sticking with mostly German repertory. Both will be undertaking Walther in Die Meistersinger next season (JK in Munich, KFV in Berlin, I think)

KFV has already sung Walther in Katharina Wagner's anti-bourgoisie topsy-turvy production (Walther is the baddy, Beckmesser is the victim):

[Clayton]

...KFV has already sung Walther in Katharina Wagner's anti-bourgoisie topsy-turvy production (Walther is the baddy, Beckmesser is the victim):

I am waiting for this to come out on CD. I like this very much. I like Hawlata's Hans Sachs (charismatic power), I like Jack Nicholson's Beckmesser (the succession planning is mine by right) and I like Ernst's David (I'll take it as it comes in my own pace management). I just do not understand the visual demonstration and so can do without. Though if there is no CD version launched (will anyone help me writing letters to the production company?), I will be forced to, through the love of opera, to buy the DVD.

[Hoffmann]

KFV has already sung Walther in Katharina Wagner's anti-bourgoisie topsy-turvy production (Walther is the baddy, Beckmesser is the victim)

KFV as the bad guy? No, can't be true!

[Amfortas]

I like Jack Nicholson's Beckmesser . . .

?

xxxxxxxxx

[MAuer]

In a recent interview, der Jonas revealed that he'll be making his role debut as Offenbach's Hoffmann during the 2016-17 season (but no indication where). According to the May issue of Opera (which finally arrived on these shores), he is also slated to make his role debut as the Emperor in Strauss' Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Vienna State Opera in 2019, with Nina Stemme as the Dyer's Wife and Christian Thielemann on the podium. (It would be lovely if Camilla Nylund sang the Empress . . . and lovelier still if the performance would be recorded and released on DVD! .)

[Ann Lander (sospiro)]

In a recent interview, der Jonas revealed that he'll be making his role debut as Offenbach's Hoffmann during the 2016-17 season (but no indication where). According to the May issue of Opera (which finally arrived on these shores), he is also slated to make his role debut as the Emperor in Strauss' Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Vienna State Opera in 2019, with Nina Stemme as the Dyer's Wife and Christian Thielemann on the podium. (It would be lovely if Camilla Nylund sang the Empress . . . and lovelier still if the performance would be recorded and released on DVD! .)

Possibly ROH for the Hoffmann. Eric Halfvarson has already put it up on his own site. Scroll along until you get to October 2016.

I hope in a way it isn't Kaufmann because I'd love to see Eric but I wouldn't pay the obscene price of the tickets if JK was Hoffmann.

[MAuer]

I wouldn't be at all surprised if it is the ROH (sorry!) because he and Sir Tony are close friends.

[Ann Lander (sospiro)]

I wouldn't be at all surprised if it is the ROH (sorry!) because he and Sir Tony are close friends.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see JK in this, I just get cross when ROH hike the prices for stars like Kaufmann, Domingo and Netrebko and then deny that the singer influences the price of the seat. This is the line they trot out when a big name cancels (like when JK cancelled Les Troyens) and people ask for a refund.

[MAuer]

That's infuriating. And opera houses wonder why some people finally refuse to put up with their games and they end up losing audience members.

[JohnGerald]

For fans of JK (of whom I am not one; he's too baritonal for me) I see that:

1 Medici is telecasting Carmen (post performance live streaming ["soon"]) with himself and Kate Aldrich, with Inva Mula as Michaela, which promises to be a very good performance, and

2. Decca is releasing a "four pack" of Blu ray discs of Tosca, Carmen, Faust and Werther. In the US, the release date is 8/28 and the cost (gasp!!) is $69.98.

[MAuer]

In this interview with Opera Online, der Jonas talks about three roles he's singing this year -- Don José at the recent Chorégies d’Orange festival, Florestan at the Salzburg Festival, and Radames this Fall at the Bavarian State Opera:

[Ann Lander (sospiro)]

Last Night of the Proms audience show their appreciation of Kaufmann.

[MAuer]

I watched the video of "Rule, Britannia" on JK's unofficial web site yesterday before it was pulled (BBC cried foul -- actually copyright violation). It was fabulous to hear him and the audience, and the way everyone was so enthusiastically involved. A little more enthusiastically than I realized, to judge from the Telegraph article. Der Jonas, like La Bellissima, is not only a great artist, but knows how to really connect with an audience.