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Seen and Heard International, August 6, 2014 |
José Mª Irurzun |
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Konzert, Peralada, 3. August 2014 |
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Jonas Kauffman: Unrivalled in Wagner with the Best
Performances in His Encores
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Jonas Kaufmann’s concert had aroused huge interest in Spain: there are not
many opportunities to see him on stage in our country. There’s no doubt that
he is the tenor of the moment, especially because of his versatility which
enables him to cover a wide repertoire. The evening was a big success for
the Bavarian tenor, beginning with the fact that he was able to completely
fill the Perelada auditorium. But it’s worth going into some detail on the
concert to try to explain why the audience was not particularly warm until
the encores.
In my view,the program had some problems. Singing in an
opera house is not the same as performing in an outdoor auditorium with a
more festive audience. The conductor and orchestra were given too large a
role and went far beyond filling the time that the singer needs to rest
between arias. Jonas Kaufmann sang for exactly 41 minutes during the
official program, while the orchestral pieces went on for 50 minutes. In
addition, the Wagner works chosen by Kaufmann were very interesting for true
opera lovers, but not so much for the audience at Perelada. Hence during the
official concert there was little enthusiasm.
It was not until the
first two encores ̶ an excellent “Donna non vidi mai” and, above all,
Federico’s lament (“È la solita storia del pastore”), where Kaufmann was
particularly moving in his interpretation ̶ that the audience went wild.
Indeed, it was Federico who put Perelada at Kaufmann’s feet. The concert
came to an end with the audience cheering Mr. Kaufmann in his final encores
(from Lehár’s Paganini and The Land of Smiles).
In the first part of
the concert, Mr. Kaufmann sang the aria from Act I of Don Carlo, which went
almost unnoticed. He was much better in Trovatore’s “Ah, si ben mio,” which
he sang beautifully; and in Don Alvaro’s recitative and aria “O, tu che in
seno agli angeli,” which was superb although with some excess of mannerism.
He finished the first half with the aria from Le Cid, “O souverain, o juge,
o père,” which was rather short of emotion for my taste.
The second
part was dedicated to Wagner, and here Mr. Kaufmann proved that he is
unrivalled today in this repertoire. He was particularly excellent singing
“Amfortas! Die Wunde!” from Parsifal, although the audience did not show any
fervor.
Mr. Kaufmann was accompanied by the no-more-than-correct
Cadaqués Orchestra, conducted by the mediocre Jochen Rieder. He was at the
service of Mr. Kaufmann, as he should be, but he also had 50 minutes for
himself and proved not to be up to the task.
I hope we in Spain can
enjoy Jonas Kaufmann’s artistry again soon.
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