Culturekiosque.com

Joel Kasow

FRESH AND FAMILIAR VOICES: NEW RECORDINGS FOR A NEW YEAR

Universal is doing its best to corner the tenor market, and it is the first solo album by Jonas Kaufmann (B0010837-02) that is virtually self-recommending. It is not only the voice itself, solid from bottom to top, but the stylishness with which it is used that captures our attention. When we realize that most of the selections are from operas he has already sung on stage, we appreciate his seriousness as we wait for him to tackle, for example, the lighter Wagnerian repertory, yet at the same time that he maintains in his active repertory Verdi’s La Traviata in which Alfredo is the least significant of the three principals. His ventures into the French repertory demonstrate his chameleon-like ability to take on the colors associated with Faust (Berlioz and Gounod), Des Grieux and Don José.