The Telegraph

Rupert Christiansen

Schumann: Four songs from Opus 35 and Dichterliebe Opus 48; Liszt: Three Petrarch Sonnets (1838 versions); Richard Strauss: Six songs

Excerpt from: The stuff of which legends are made

Queen's Hall

Jonas Kaufmann is a Munich-born and trained tenor with dark flowing locks, angelic smile and a striking resemblance to popular images of Jesus Christ. In a first half devoted to Schumann, he sounded distinctly baritonal, short of variety of colour and only intermittently in control of his top register. Then, half-way through Dichterliebe (at "Hor'ich das Liedchen klingen", to be precise), the voice eased and blossomed, revealing the makings of a considerable artist. By the time he returned after the interval with some of Liszt's Petrarch sonnets, Kaufmann was producing a stream of clarion tone, and one could also admire his eloquent enunciation and firm tuning. A final Strauss group, culminating in a bold plunge into the maelstrom of Wie sollten wir geheim, brought him a richly deserved ovation and left us all keen to hear more. Helmut Deutsch was his stormy and challenging accompanist.