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Limelight, August 10, 2014 |
by Clive Paget |
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Konzert, Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House, 10. August 2014 |
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Jonas Kaufmann in concert (Opera Australia)
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Star tenor lives up to reputation and more in operatic night to remember.
Announced this time last year, Sydney has had plenty of time to get used to
the fact that the “hottest tenorial talent” on the planet was going to make
his Opera Australia debut this month. Since then, two new CDs (one of
heartfelt Verdi arias, the other a darkly brooding Winterreise) have whetted
our appetite for the real thing. No surprise then that the Opera House was
packed and buzzing for the first of the German tenor’s scheduled
appearances.
Jonas Kaufmann is a tall, good-looking 45-year-old with
a full, flexible voice (“long” he called it at his press conference). His
strong bottom register makes him well suited for singing his native
Wagnerian repertoire, while his exciting upper extension helps him embrace
French and Italian opera as well. Allied with a dramatic intelligence,
mastery of language and excellent diction, he’s what can easily be described
as the complete package. And I’m delighted to say the complete package was
what we got tonight.
Kaufmann made his Australian debut with Italian
and French arias, interspersed with orchestral preludes and interludes that
led naturally into the vocal numbers. Arriving onstage beaming from ear to
ear, the singer proceeded to thrill the crowd with his art, charm and
passion. He began with Recondita armonia from Tosca, allowing the
introduction to help him assume the character of the painter Cavaradossi – a
role that he’s made very much his own since 2010. His bronzed tone and
ardent delivery immediately demonstrated the special qualities of his
instrument – the middle so powerful, the top easy and potent with perfectly
judged gear-changes to get him up there. The climactic B was held just long
enough to make the heart skip a beat.
Un dì all’azzuro spazio from
Andrea Chénier followed, an object lesson in strength and passion. The
revolutionary poet Chénier is a role he will debut in shortly, and with its
combative energy it fits him like a glove. His ability to switch from piano
to mezzo forte to forte all within a single phrase was masterly – the ascent
to the top note on the word “amor” was both impressively secure and
emotionally thrilling.
Kaufmann arrived in Sydney following
performances of La Forza del Destino so it’s perhaps not surprising that his
singing of Alvaro’s final aria from that opera was rather special. The most
extended number on the program, it gave him the chance to show what a superb
vocal storyteller he is. The aria proper started daringly pianissimo, rising
to a heartrending “Leonora mia, soccorrimi” and a glorious “Pietà del mio
penar!” So beautiful was the crescendo from pianissimo to full voice on the
last note that the audience burst into applause, obliterating the orchestral
play out, after which Kaufmann charmingly apologised to his conductor.
Vesti la giubba ended the first half in style, Kaufmann finding a
telling bitterness in Canio’s hollow laughter rather than the self pity that
sometimes comes to the fore here. The sheer volume he managed on “Ridi
Pagliaccio” was a testament to Kaufmann’s impeccable vocal mechanics – not a
sign of upper body tension all night.
A word of praise too for the
Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra. Released from the confines of the
Joan Sutherland pit, they were on terrific form. How nice it was to see and
hear the excellent brass and percussion for once. Kaufmann’s regular
conductor Jochen Rieder took them through a list of showstoppers – from the
Forza del Destino Overture (with some ravishing clarinet playing), to the
Intermezzo from Manon Lescaut with a touching viola solo. The second half
saw concertmaster Laura Hamilton play a radiant Meditation from Thaïs, so
much so that on his return to the platform Mr Kaufmann gallantly plucked a
rose from one of the floral bouquets on stage and gifted it to her.
That second half got off to a rousingly vulgar start with the Bacchanale
from Samson et Dalila before Kaufmann assumed two of his signature roles –
Don José in Carmen (his Covent Garden breakthrough in 2007) and Werther, a
part he’s pretty much made his own in recent years. The Flower Song was
transfixing, especially the final pianissimo ascent on “Carmen, je t’aime”.
The Werther aria, Pourquoir me réveiller, was the perfect blend of German
head and French heart, and a master class in textual variety.
The
program ended with Mamma, quell vino è generoso from Cavalleria Rusticana,
another extended aria which allowed Kaufmann to demonstrate the exceptional
parlando quality he finds to put across these texts. And this, finally, was
all Italian passion! The 20-minute standing ovation that followed included
three encores (two pure schmaltz with an emphasis on the ‘pure’, one pure
emotion), putting a stop to some of the “short program” grumbles, and I
think surprised even Kaufmann himself. Let’s hope the rapturous, and
well-deserved reception encourages him to return to our shores sooner rather
than later.
Jonas Kaufmann sings for Opera Australia in Melbourne on
August 14 and again in Sydney on August 17.
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