Romantic Arias - Jonas Kaufmann

[SHICOFF1]

@gaytenor I heard Kaufmann twice in house and had no problem hearing him in the big Chicago opera house, 3,600 seats! His Italian, French and German of course is excellent but even though he is not a favorite of mine I would never compare him to the more lyric Wunderlich. Kuafmann to me sounds like a Spinto but is singing lyric roles as he did three years ago in Chicago in Manon. I think he could easily do Otello, he has the top for it and the middle will only get better. He has a dark Spinto.

[pinkyshoes13]

I think this interview is brilliant :)

[japanesesen]

BRILLIANT!!! WOW!!!!

[moonlitstar21]

16 people don't have any taste.

[LyricalLynnette]

I just watched Jonas in the Met broadcast, Die Walkure. The man is a God!!! His vocal technique sustained him through some VERY difficult singing and his acting was superb! His vibrato was always even and centered on the pitch with a broad range of dynamics. His rich, manly, baritone-like quality of his voice is unusual yet welcome to find in a tenor.

[schevy56]

Just saw him in Die Walkure. WOW, the whole thing was amazing! The stage set was a real work of art and technology!

[TheKatchour]

Lieber Herr Kaufmann,interessieren Sie Sich,vielleicht für die Rolle Pollione"NORMA", dann hören Sie Video an und geben Sie ,bitte Bescheid .Ich Danke Ihnen.

[GERMANYFrankie]

his english is better than his singing

[maestrojimbo]

@GERMANYFrankie I hope your singing is better than your English. Jealous?

[GERMANYFrankie]

@maestrojimbo no, I'm not jealous. Only stupid people are jealous. Its my opinion only, and Youtube is a good way to say what you feel.

No, I'm just a bit sad, because get all this opportunities. The forgotten Wunderlich or Schmidt never had them.

Kaufmanns voice is far away from the quality of both of them.

K.'s voice is artificial, he has no overtones at all. Thats the reason, he cannot sing over or through the orchestra. You can hear this on live peformances here in youtube. part1

[maestrojimbo]

@GERMANYFrankie For me no one can surpass or match Wunderlich. I've heard the criticism that K's voice is "too dark", and "artificial" many times. What I LIKE is that he can act and he's very musical, shapes each phrase with great deatails and there's always a convincing overall concept and delivery. Anna Moffo also had a very dark, velvety sound. Like K, great looking and superb musicianship. I had no trouble hearing either of them with orchestra.

[GERMANYFrankie]

@maestrojimbo part 2: Actually, it is sad that people only eat what the media put on the plate. K. is not a good singer,he is a good loocking man, and this is important for them.Further he came from Germany. We have no good singers there at the moment. The reason is easy to explain.Listen to Quastoff, and you know in which way they teach. SAD!Remains to say something about my voice. I'm a amateur, singing since two years, and I'm a autodidact.

The day will come, and I'll reach my little target!

[tmtstudio1983]

@GERMANYFrankie I agree that Fritz Wunderlich is madly good, Jonas Kaufmann I think he is pretty good but nowhere close to bad. BUT, you mean Thomas Quasthoff not good? That's one of the biggest joke dude. He is one of the really really best singers I've ever heard in my life, he may not have a big or heavy voice but he has one of the most sentimental voice I've ever heard.

[gaytenor]

@GERMANYFrankie My my your totally tone deaf or green with envy. Kaufmann cannot be heard over the orchestra? What about the Die Walkure broadcast and telecast! Don't you get tired of making a total fool of yourself? At present Kaufmann is the greatest tenor in the world and he deserves the honor and, by the way his top notes are ringing, powerful, and full of overtones.

[dziady1]

his ego is bigger than his talent as a singer .

[GERMANYFrankie]

@dziady1 your comment is absolutely great! 5 stars for this *****.

[qwertyoop]

at first i didnt really like his voice, but it has grown on me. thankyou for posting this. Huw

[quagskag55]

Much more natural sound as a lyric baritone

I just feel uncomfortable when he hits the B flats

[classicalgal14]

God he is sooo sexy in voice and appearance! Sorry I'm a teen and I can't control myslef haha =D

[fourthgirl]

Yummy! Oh yeah, he can sing, too! He will be performing soon in my neck of the woods at UC Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall! Whoo-Hoo!

[johngotwalt]

has anyone heard his Lohengrin ?

[oshadak]

Kaufmann would make a fantastic Figaro!

[francoisvermeulen]

what a wonderful voice. he has a good understanding of what he is singing.

[EstelaLou]

I love his voice and this man

[clairpie1]

OMG I don't even know what to say! His Voice!!! His face!!!!! His accent!!!!

I need to go take a cold shower!!!!

[SlimbearNL]

He's simply the best

[dziady1]

The top tenor to sing the Martha bit was Kiepura

which shows up the inferior singing of Kaufmann in this

and many other arias .

[YoucefVincennes94]

It's hard to believe but I think that Jonas Kaufmann is the biggest Tenor NOW! Better admir that he is the new Pavarotti! The classification (Tenor/Baritone) is not scientific. Kaufmann can sing on the two levels. Beside, he is so sympathetic and humble! Youcef from France

[mattyslipp]

Kaufmann's just a baritone with high notes. Blahhh

[raigekimaru]

@mattyslipp

how is that a bad thing? baritones with good high notes are bad ass.

[mattyslipp]

Erm... I dunno! I think baritones singing high notes are unattractive. I mean, they should have high notes, however if a mans voice has the weight and color of a baritone, then he should be singing baritone rep. I think Kauffman would be a really awesome Barber. OR singing the heldontenor roles -- Siegfried, Siegmund, Tristan. When a voice has such heft like that, it only seems fitting.

[raigekimaru]

I agree with the second part. he is definitely heldentenor.

[raigekimaru]

@mattyslipp

I think Jonas's high notes are beautiful. certainly better than at least 95% of tenors out there.

[calafscena]

ma come canta? è molto naturale no? hahhahahahahahahha perchè non ingoliamo un pò di più?

[callastoujours]

I love his voice!!!

[The1620]

@callastoujours Yes. --- and he has such dear little fingers.........

[bigus]

hmmm i sketchy....

[bodiloto]

a me non piace affatto .

[MisterSoprano]

Would agree with you to some point, but also true Italy has no tenor today. Sad, but true.

[maxhansendk]

I prefer Ramon Vargas! But Kaufmann is very interesting. I will follow him closely from now on.

[mfmlamontagne]

Great tenor,

i like his paper of Don jose in La Scala, his voice is very very beautiful.

[LucaYune]

i heard the flower song by Jonas and I thought it was quite unique and attractive. however, many opera fans claim that he is far from the bencanto and over singing with extended nerve from this throat. what do you guys think of it? belcanto ..is it the standard ? is he singing in German style? what if German style is far from the Italian belcanto, is it strange? what if the German style is more attractive? is there German 'belcanto' way?

[jackylen57]

Moi aussi, j'adore Kaufmann et il est pour moi le plus grand ténor actuel !

[sebastien1chartry]

Non non.. il est un des plus grand mais il n'est pas LE plus grand.. beaucoup d'autre ténor domine.. Alagna,Florez,Brownlee,Cura et puis seulement Kauffman et bien sur Domingo,Alvarez.,Villazon. se sont LES plus grand du moment.C'est donc pour ça que je vais te donner un -3.. desolé :s

[isabelle070209]

Actuellement? oui sans hésitation et depuis longtemps. Par moment, dans Wagner, il me fait pen seer à Windgassen.

[jackylen57]

Merci de votre commentaire

[adalaire]

soooooooooooo looking foward to Don Carlo on Tuesday at ROH

[Lovelytenor1]

Want to hear him live. People keep saying they love the dramatic tone but that he cannot be heard.

I listened to the "letter" aria & he displayed a very poor technique. He simply could not manage it. The tone is swallowed & thus , he cannot be heard ,as they say.

Nonetheless it is a wonderful instrument & he, unlike many, does not distort the melodic line. Lets hope he works out the tech problems before the voice is reduced to doing only dramatic parts.

[medusaview]

schlecht!

[hotqueekboi]

I quite like his tone, mostly just because it is so unique. I can't think of any other singer that has the same sound as him.

I originally thought it wasn't nice to listen to him when he sings softly, almost in a falsetto-like tone. But now I think it's a really lovely technique that he uses.

I also love the song choices here... no "Nessun Dorma!!!" Thank you!!!!!!

[antovapo]

I love his deep voice... it gives a complete diferente feeling to the arias!!!

[gautama2009]

The best tenor in nowdays.

[jcbcn751]

Hay ver cómo grita este aficionado!

[joanabanyeres]

We cannot compare, the voices are very different... Fritz also Jussi were 2 Gods from Olympe.

[magus160]

No matter what technic he has, the MOST important is that he is making us enjoy is passion. GOOD JOB!

[sexyxander1807]

I love his voice...Heldentenor?

[sexyxander1807]

probably in the future

[btsg]

well, he is singing with a solid tech that lets him dim., mezzo voce, etc.

he has to work for the Bb and up, but that is not a negative, as maybe he started as a lyric baritone. he is not nasaling or throat grinding.

his tone and production is much more pleasing than VillaBean.

he kind of looks like josh groban's older, operatic brother...

[A7madeus]

listen to his high C it is quite good

[humpelberry]

lol Josh Groban is a bariton(- martin) this is a Tenor, but he must sing like 1. He sings a bit like a baritone, listen to his schubert, it's way ebtter.

SAme kind of voice like Domingo

[OettingerCroat]

dude how many languages does this marvelous tenor speak? at least 4... with almost no accents.

[khaderach19]

i generally find that all opera singers speak with very round tones when they talk. i think it has to do something with having to perfectly enunciate in so many languages that most local accents are lost. primes examples are leontyne price and jesse norman.

[OettingerCroat]

well yes but not only that, a lot of them simply study languages as they study music... to enhance understanding, and also because they're gonna be all over the world so much in their careers

[lingepizda]

As I have stated previously, his French is execrable!A real turn off!.

He sings M'appari in kraut , so that he could promote revanchismus!

[GBearcat]

M'apparì is SUPPOSED to be sung in German, ya ditz... as Ach so fromm. After all, "Martha" is hardly an Italian opera.

[otazay]

So who died and made you God? For someone who has no shame parading such a vulgar pseudonym in public, you certainly have a high opinion of yourself. Linge pizda indeed!

[Ronit38]

Admirable Voz.........Magia pura!!!!

[Ronit38]

Admirable..voz...Magia pura en ello!!!!!!!!

[zorrodelalirica]

este cantante es una mierda que un grupo de españoles maricones y sin gusto lo queiren comparar a kraus

no le llega ni por los cojones

es desafinado tiene toda la voz atras y una cara de atrasado mental que ni dios

al carajo kauffman!!a recoger tomates en alemania o de donde carajo salistes!!

[lingepizda]

Well, Kraus was the best and this kraut does not measure up.

But, then, few do with the great Kraus!

[aggelosagg]

The best tenor of the world, Jonas Kaufmann

[Gigglingatagas]

I always favor a tenor with a more baritonal quality in the low/middle voice, like Kaufmann. Gorgeous, smoky quality in the voice, and a seemingly intelligent man.

As an added bonus, he's sexy as hell.

[arteimagen1981]

love the accent

[Movzhuru]

I just came back from his concert, in Moscow, with Dmitry Hvorostovsky. Amazing! both of them

[cjondoran]

He will have a career like Neil Shicoff...Short.

He has no top. see how hard he is working??? brutal

[jdeslauriers]

grow some ears please

[Twilightsire]

That's simply intensity, without it it would be so boring.

[wuwubru]

Last month I saw Jonas Kaufmann live in Massenet's Manon at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, his aria in the third act was one of those magic moments in opera, it was sublime! What a voice! With my wife, we decided immediately to buy tickets for the next performance to relive again such a magic moment. I would only wish he had a bit more volume, but the singing was outstanding, he is no doubt one of the best tenors at this time. Danke, Herr Kaufmann!

[SamuelChoi73]

He reminds me of Jon Vickers...

What a great voice!!!

[3645200]

ma dove siamo!!!! Sta scoppiando!!! Jonas non imitare Cura...lui è l'unico tenore drammatico dell'ultimo secolo! Ma basta gonfiare le voci,sei un bravo tenore ma non di più...Che mondo di idioti!

[federic017]

@3645200 Cura l'unico tenore drammatico dell'ultimo secolo...Che mondo di idioti...se crediamo a questa frase saluti

[andyroma72]

@3645200 CURA ? MOLTO MEGLIO KAUFFMAN CURA NON SA CANTARE LO SANNO TUTTI

[bodiloto]

@andyroma72 ah ah ah,anche @andy lo sa...

ah ah ah

eh,@andy ascolta che cosa dice il critico,davvero commovente...ah ah ah

[scotto00]

@3645200

Cura ...iúnico tenore drammatico del,ùltimo secolo!??????

Si,si ..hai detto proprio bene....mondo di idioti!!!!

Mamma mia!!!!

[steffan6636]

Magnifique, splendide, une merveille. Bravo Jonas, tu nous emportes...

[WQA12345]

Un très bon tenor, mais un "Wunderlich" c'est trop demander...

Peut-être un jour...avec beaucoup, beaucoup de travail...

Mais encore, la touche divine, cela ne s'achete pas chez l'apotheke.Wunderlich l'avait, Kaufmann est très bon,c'est sur, mais dieu(s'il y en a, chuis pas sur...plutot non) dormait quand K.est apparu.

[princef3]

I enjoy Kaufman's voice. I have ordered this album and wish this artist every success in his career.

[rupepill]

Bravo! Well said. There is too often the claim that some singer is a 'new" Caruso or a "new" (insert the name of whatever singer). Surely every singer deserves to be listened to and hopefully enjoyed on his or her own merits. Those tired comparisons between one and the other are truly odious and serve no useful purpose.

[humpadihump]

thats a real KAUFMANN,

where is he from?

[tenorfourlife]

Dramatic quality he does need to open the top more!

[joanabanyeres]

Correct, but Jonas is smart and l imagine that he wants to wait a bit more. The colour is really dramatic and he sings with great musicality, We'll see.... and hope

[brooklynnite86]

shut up

[vivomusique]

Beautiful voice. Although, it sounds very familiar---that dramatic baritone color with the tenor range. Hmmm---Jose Cura to Jonas Kaufmann? Even their facial features are similar.

[uuubeut]

the voice is not interesting it's average

[chislehurstbat]

He might not have Villazon's marketing machine behind him but Kaufmann is certainly the real deal. Wonderful voice, technique and what a stage presence! If you can go and see him in Tosca at the ROH.

[shyZolomouc]

I saw Villazon at Wiener Staatsoper in January. His voice was very destroyed so any marketing machine can´t help him. I wish he could recover but I am not sure if it is possible... So I´d love Kaufman to replace him. I believe he is ready for a big career these days. So I cross my fingers to him.

[TheInquisitive4Ever]

Bezduz has great potential. I hope he works on his top more. He also needs a good publicist.

[TheInquisitive4Ever]

Kaufman is so refined in his singing. Unfortunately, he does not have the marketing machine behind him which generously supports Villazon. When the Villazon mob goes crazy when I comment on his singing, which is seriously flawed and tasteless.

[jschultz4]

Boring voice.

[tuttilabandutti]

Amazing album i love this guy thecnique...

[titanfan5]

WOW. I thought all these current opera singers sucked, but finally there's a good one. He has a fantastic voice. Tenors are one of my least favorite voice parts but he really makes me like them due to his dark color which sounds like a baritone. Bravo!

[mylittlepony34]

there are many others. they don't suck. my other favorites are alagna, terfel and villazon.

[lafotografia]

Good choices, uh, but Terfel is a baratone.. but he does have a great range. There are a lot of "new faces" on the block.. we just have to listen and keep our hearts open..

The best will remain for a long time.

[villyhartman]

A comming man!! he vill go to the top...though his voice is a bit dark and heavy...not a "pavorotti voice"!!, who has?-

but he will be a great singer!

[operabitch77]

not a pav voice but who cares!! this is the closet thing to vickers that we have. hope he keeps it up!!! let the voice sing jonas. dont push this aria, just ask rolando villazon!

[contediwarwick]

Closest thing to Vickers? Except that he doesnt have 1/10 of the voice size of Vickers.

[operabitch77]

have you ever heard vickers live?? 1/10?? ok. your right! i mean whatever.

[contediwarwick]

Yes, I have heard both of them live. This one gets drowned out by the orchestra in La Traviata. Vickers never got drowned out. Simple as that.

[bloydaage]

Why should he ask Villazon, when Villazon pushes in the middle register himself?! That said, I admire Rolando, but Kaufamann is more my taste.

[mtenor]

yeah i am sure he will take your advice...........

[colino72]

I can't listen to Villazon (way too pushed, and to watch him he looks like he is vomitting the whole time, which puts me off), but I like this guy much more. As for pushing, have you ever translated the word spinto?

[joanabanyeres]

very diferent both great

[ildico1]

He's adorable!!!

[fernandobicudo]

Excellent tenor: beautiful voice, great school of singing, excellent interpreter !

Really he sounds like a very good version of a young Jon Vickers - one of the tenors of all times. Keep going, Jonas!!!

I am looking forward to see him alive as Alfredo in La Traviata at the Met !

[joanabanyeres]

Alfredo is not his role.

[hotqueekboi]

So what? Many opera/operatic singers sing songs that are wrong for their voice type. This is most especially so when it comes to general "pop" released CDs becausethe singers want variety.

His CD would sound very very very bland if he only sang songs appropriate for his voice type. It's one of the better/more interpretative versions of Che Gelida Manina as well, I think.

[joanabanyeres]

ne vous fachez pas, moi j'adore Kaufmann , the best tenor nowadays.

[emilytransex]

bella voce e anke bono lui! ke bella cosa no????

[Musettaprof]

I believe you... OMG!

[hypnogirl49]

He's the bomb and sexier in person...trust me.

[levante83]

I like him very much, the voice is very authentic. And he is very sexy and passionate.

[frenchyfrench]

It seams obvious that he could be one of the best tenor in German style. He probably thinks that is a quicker way to succed with in a traditionnal way...Maybe the public will make him understand later.Fingers cross.

[Samurai9]

He sounds like a dramatic tenor to me, so I don't know why he is singing roles such as Alfredo in Traviata.

[shyZolomouc]

I think he shouldn´t hurry to sing a dramatic repertoir so quickly and as for me - Alfredo is a good choice to lighten his voice. We´ll see what´s going on in the furure.. Anyway I cross my fingers he can always choose the right characters and not destroy so nice young voice... Let him sing for pleasure with sence - not for money.... His technique is seemed good, everything under control... Good luck JONAS!!!!

[uwiger]

I agree. He has a very healthy, pleasantly full basic sound. It's going to be fun to watch him develop further. Very nice.

[Ragnaroekk]

I do not like him at all. But on his new album he sings the aria from Meistersinger in a very nice way. Everybody who can do that is a good singer, and everybody who does not know this, has no clue.

[jmahlon]

Yes! James King, exactly.

[TeeJay1625]

anyone seen him in carmen on boxing day! fabulous performance

[bastianinilavoce]

GREAT AT 40 YERS OLD!!! :)

[cleanears]

right now it sounds ok although a little pushed on the high notes. a little muscualr in the negative sense, but it is nice to hear a "new" voice, epecially inthe tenor category. let's see how he develops out there in operaland.

[bradleyjenks]

Actually he is already a well respected tenor who sings all over the place. This is his first solo CD so recording fans don't really know him well. As for his muscle-y singing. His voice is not particularly high. You honestly think it is any more muscle-y or strained than Domingo when he sings the same stuff? This guy's a damn fine singer.

[cleanears]

i don't particularly like domingo...

[bradleyjenks]

Well, you don't have to like him, but his longevity and frequency suggest that his singing is healthy. Same with this guy. Lower voices always sound like they are working harder to sing higher rep....because they are. But that doesn't denote flawed technique.

[BuryTone]

How could a pushed voice possibly produce pianos at any tessitura? It sounds so new to you because you obviously don't know the art of singing without reducing resonance and reducing any tone without the loss of resonance.

[N0bodyKnowsMe]

not only great voice, he's very hot also...mmm ;)

[mertsungu]

Sometimes has the flavour of Jose Cura.

[josiahgulden]

Maybe a little, but I hear Jon Vickers more than any. Kaufmann's legato is heads and shoulders above Cura's and his negotiation of the passaggi is much more refined. And he's got that baritonal heft up to the A which then shifts gears into that gorgeous, heady, full top like Vickers... can't wait till he starts singing more Calafs and Siegmunds... and eventually Otello and Tristan!!

[mertsungu]

He sure has verdi authority in his voice. I agree with you; He will be a great Calaf. I can imagine him singing ''Non piangere liu...''

[hightenor123]

I second that

[jmahlon]

Nothing like Vickers. Vickers had a very Bright pingy ring at the top of his sound. This guy has little ping, its a dark blunt voice. Vickers voice was sharp.

[tdp10gh]

Yes he's nothing like Vickers, but Vickers never 'pinged' at the top. He roared like a great big Harley. Amongst tenori da Forza, Corelli pings, del Monaco blasts and Cura (if he can be mentioned in such company) heaves. I'm reminded of a more subtle James King by Kaufmann and thats no bad thing.

[adeeo]

Then see Bulent Bezduz. A wonderfull tenor too, next superstar. You can find him on you-tube.

[Aegisth]

Bulent is also on MySpace

[Prolyrictenor]

don't forget Richard Tucker. :)

[TeeJay1625]

will definitely be buying this CD

[RagingSuccubus]

Oh my god, he sounds exactly like Carreras around 1:11! Beautiful!

[assaftenor]

it would be great!!! loved your voice in dammnation....