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Opera News/November 2004
The Herald

Auszüge

"Jonas Kaufmann's Max was every bit the dashing tenor, packed with sensitivity, if occasionally understated."

Kaufmann, meanwhile, presented Max as a potentially tragic figure - a man whose inner demons are infinitely more dangerous than the supernatural forces that assault him. His voice has gained in power, of late, without losing any of its flexible beauty and he registered every emotional shift with exceptional vividness - a reminder that Freischütz, in addition to being a great horror story, is also a remarkable study in how despair can erode the human psyche.

Jonas Kaufmann sang Max with impressive force and ardour, though a little more variety of colour would have been welcome.

In his extended Durch die Wälder, Jonas Kaufmann portrayed a convincing Max...

But the well-balanced principals included the heroic Swedish soprano Hillevi Martinpelto as the heroine Agathe, Ailish Tynan's nicely soubrettish Annchen, a ringing, virile hero in Munich tenor Jonas Kaufmann, and for the tempter Kaspar (who has sold his own soul to the devil) the American John Relyea's bass trombone-tones were formidable but none the less musical for that.

Only the hirsute Kaufmann, sporting a wildman look as outlandish as his role, hurled himself into the evening with the requisite abandon: Relyea was too concerned to be charming, Martinpelto too unsure of her command in the top register.

Men's voices predominate during the rustic evening which forms Act I. Jonas Kaufman was the hero Max in a part that suits his lighter voice, and John Relyea was his potent and sinister nemesis Kaspar.

but Der Freischütz, featuring the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Philharmonia Chorus led by Charles Mackerras with his usual aplomb, was scarcely less effective. It featured a touching Agathe in Hillevi Martinpelto, a buoyant Ännchen in Ailish Tynan and strong portrayals of Max and Kaspar, by Jonas Kaufmann and John Relyea, respectively.

Hillevi Martinpelto, Jonas Kaufmann, and John Relyea as the heroine, hero, and villain were in wonderful voice, finely supported by Ailish Tynan, Siegfried Vogel, and Christopher Maltman in what could only be called an ideal cast.

Sir Simon Rattle und das Berliner Philharmonische Orchester eröffnen die neue Saison
Es ist zwar noch nicht so weit, daß seine Melodien vom kleinen Mann auf der Straße nachgepfiffen werden, wie es sich Arnold Schönberg einst ... 

... Solisten dagegen - Christiane Oelze, Birgit Remmert, Jonas Kaufmann und John Releya - waren, wie das neuerdings Mode ist, wieder einmal hinter dem Orchester postiert und gingen streckenweise darin unter. Man spielte in großer Besetzung und in amerikanischer Aufstellung: acht Kontrabässe, dreißig Violinen. Simon Rattle, der wie ein Chamäleon offenbar je nach Hintergrund die musikalische Farbe wechseln kann und erst kürzlich mit dem Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment einen "Ring" -Zyklus mit historischen Instrumenten begonnen hatte, setzte sich damit entschieden ab von der klein besetzten, an historischer Spielweise orientierten, "Kammermusik"-Fassung der Neunten, wie sie zuletzt sein Vorgänger Abbado mit dem Orchester unternommen hatte.

"Über Sternen muss er wohnen": Fünf Takte in der neunten Symphonie Beethovens sprechen mit heiklen Höhen der Sopran- und Altstimmen ... 

... das der Hornistin Sarah Willis. Christiane Oelze überglänzt das "Flügelquartett" (Birgit Remmert Jonas Kaufmann John Relyea) mit weichen Vokalisen. Schönbergs Variationen Opus 31 künden in ...