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The Berkeley Daily Planet, November 03, 2021 |
Reviewed by James Roy MacBean |
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Liederabend, Berkeley, 25. Oktober 2021 |
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Tenor Jonas Kaufmann Celebrates German Lieder in Recital with Pianist Helmut Deutsch
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On a stormy Sunday, October 24, the audience at Zellerbach Hall was treated
to a remarkable celebration of German lieder, or art song, performed by
noted tenor Jonas Kaufmann accompanied by Helmut Deutsch on piano. Kaufmann,
who is surely among the leading tenors of this moment in history, has never
appeared with San Francisco Opera and recently canceled several engagements
with the Metropolitan Opera, citing his desire to spend more time in his
native Germany with his family. So Kaufmann’s appearance in Berkeley under
the auspices of Cal Performances offered local audiences a rare opportunity
to hear this great singer in a live recital setting.
What ensued was
a love feast between performers and audience. Jonas Kaufmann walked on stage
amidst thunderous applause and launched into extensive preliminary remarks
in fluent English. He noted that he and his accompanist, Helmut Deutsch, had
carefully planned this program in such a way that one song led into another
in a carefully chosen order. He therefore asked that the audience kindly
refrain from applause after each song, perhaps limiting themselves to
applause after a group of songs or one song that stood out as exceptional.
To this request the audience complied.
Opening the programs was a
set of songs by Franz Liszt. From the very first note of the opening song,
“Vergiftit sind meine Lieder” (“My songs are filled with poison”), the
singer’s burnished tone was evident. Jonas Kaufmann’s tenor is a deep, dark
voice with enormous power. Yet as became evident as the Liszt songs
proceeded, Kaufmann also sings with remarkable subtlety, and his mezza voce
delivery, as in the song, “Im Rhein, im schönen Strome” (“In the Rhein, the
beautiful river”), can be sweet and beguiling. The third Liszt song,
“Freudvoll und leidvoll” (“Joyful and sorrowful”), closed with a plea that
you return the love another bears for you. On hearing this lovely closing
wish, the audience responded with its first burst of spontaneous applause,
well earned.
In the song, “Die Drei Zigeuner” (“The Three Gypsies”),
Jonas Kaufmann infused his singing with subtle gestures that indicated a
sense of down-to-earth humor in this song about the simple pleasures of
sleeping, smoking, and making music in the face of poverty. Closing out the
set of Liszt songs was the lovely “Die Lorely” (“Lorely”), which closed with
an example of breathtaking vocal control as Jonas Kaufmann seemed to hold
his breath interminably as he navigated the final rising syllables of this
song’s poetry by Heinrich Heine. Throughout the Liszt songs, pianist Helmut
Deutsch was a consummate accompanist who beautifully rendered Liszt’s
writing for piano.
With no intermission and only a five-minute
pause, Kaufmann and Deutsch launched into the program’s second half. The
opening song was “Der Musensohn” (“The Son of the Muses”), by Franz
Schubert. Here Schubert’s remarkable felicity for melody was evident both in
the sung text and in the piano’s lyrical accompaniment. Next was a whimsical
yet poignant song by Mozart, “Die Veilchen” (“The Violet”), set to a poem by
Goethe. Following this was a Robert Schumann song dedicated to his wife,
Clara Schumann, celebrating her as the composer’s guardian angel and better
self. This lovely, heartfelt song was a highlight of the recital and
received generous applause from the appreciative audience.
Among
songs by various composers, including a second song by Franz Schubert, one
by Antonin Dvorák, and one by Chopin, the famous Lullaby by Johannes Brahms
stood out as particularly ingratiating. A song by Tchaikovsky, “Nur wer die
Sehnsucht kennt” (“Only he who knows longing,”) set to a text by Goethe,
laments being cut off and far from the loved one. Next came a song on a
similar theme by Richard Strauss, followed by a lovely, quiet song by
Alexander Zemlinsky, “Selige Stunde” (“Blessed Hour”), in which Jonas
Kaufmann’s mezza voce delivery was
eminently graceful. Closing out
the program’s printed portion was Gustav Mahler’s song from his Rückert
Lieder, the very moving “Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen” (“I am lost to
the world”). Fittingly, this song closes with the words, “Ich leb’ allein in
meinem Himmel, In meinem Lieben, In meinem Lied” (“I live alone in my
heaven, In my love, in my song”). And after these moving words are sung,
Mahler’s poignant writing for piano was beautifully rendered by Helmut
Deutsch.
Thunderous applause ensued. And Jonas Kaufmann and Helmut
Deutsch returned again and again to offer no less than eight encores! Among
the more familiar songs were Franz Schubert’s “Die Forelle” (“The trout”),
four of Richard Strauss’s lesser known songs, “Traume” (“Dream”), by Richard
Wagner, and, finally, “Dein ist mein Ganzes Herz” (“Yours is my entire
Heart” by Viennese operetta composer Franz Lehar, which closed with a
fortissimo high note sung gorgeously by Jonas Kaufmann to thunderous
applause. Thus ended one of the most magical concerts I have ever attended!
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