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Australian Book Review, 18 August 2014 |
Peter Rose |
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Konzert, Hamer Hall, Melbourne, 14. August 2014 |
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Jonas Kaufmann in Concert
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Six words would suffice to describe Jonas Kaufmann’s Melbourne début. He came, he sang, he conquered |
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This was Kaufmann’s second appearance in Australia, after a gala in Sydney
(repeated on August 17). It’s not often that an impresario or Opera
Australia manages to lure a great tenor to this country. The inimitable
Carlo Bergonzi visited in 1979 and gave a masterclass in tenor singing to
about 300 noisy adorers at the Palais. Luciano Pavarotti followed in 1983;
he brought a pianist, his Mimi of the moment, and a light program consisting
mostly of songs.
Kaufmann’s concert was very different, with a full
orchestra and a packed house. Before the concert we were in the dark about
the program. Those who like to swot might have appreciated a promotional
hint. But no one could have complained about the choice of music: seven
major arias, including several closely associated with Kaufmann; and seven
overtures and intermezzi from the band, capably led by conductor Jochen
Rieder.
Much excited journalism has attended Kaufmann’s brief visit
to Australia. I will not comment on the profusion of languages at his
command, the liberality of his dark curls, nor the compulsions of his good
looks. The voice is quite enough. I first heard him fourteen years ago in
Dresden, four years before international stardom descended on him at the
Met. Most people were there to hear Susan Graham’s Marguerite, but the young
Kaufmann – as Berlioz’s Faust – was magnetic.
The voice, inevitably,
has darkened since then, with a transfiguring baritonal depth that gives him
such stamina and flexibility. (Who knows what he will be singing in
twenty-five years’ time. Perhaps he will follow Domingo into the baritone
repertoire.) The mezza voce singing – audacious for a bona-fide star singing
in a huge concert hall – was superbly done, always in fine taste and at the
service of the music. The high notes were powerful and secure, with a
Callas-like emotional heft at the climaxes. Kaufmann has done much singing
in recent years – in some of the hardest repertoire (Lohengrin, Parsifal,
Cavaradossi, Werther, Des Grieux) – but the voice is in exceptional shape.
After a huge and unMelbourne-like ovation, Kaufmann gave us four encores,
including Cavaradossi’s second aria (‘Recondita armonia’ had opened the
program), and he sounded even better at the end. It was an unforgettable
concert.
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