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Associated Press, 11.2.2013 |
By MIKE SILVERMAN |
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Kaufmann expands Wagner rep |
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Just
about anything the German tenor Jonas Kaufmann does these days is special,
and he sounds in particularly fresh voice as he ventures into some new and
some familiar territory on this album of excerpts from Richard Wagner's
operas.
He brings youthful exuberance to the "Forest Murmurs" scene
from "Siegfried," then switches seamlessly to the mature bitterness of
Tannhaeuser's "Rome Narrative," an opera he has yet to add to his
repertoire. His rendition of the prayer from the last act of Wagner's early
opera "Rienzi" is especially lovely. One track offer a welcome surprise: His
"Grail Narrative" from "Lohengrin" includes the second verse, which Wagner
himself cut before the premiere and which has rarely been recorded. This
extra four minutes of music helps fill out the opera's final scene and
allows the hero a better explanation of his past.
Also included are
the five Wesendonck songs in the Felix Mottl orchestration. Though these
were written for a female voice, Kaufmann makes them his own with unflagging
lyricism. The melodies and harmonies in these songs prefigure "Tristan und
Isolde," an opera that Kaufmann will surely tackle in a few years. The
singer gets strong support by the Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin
conducted by Donald Runnicles.
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