Nomination Golden Label – Perhaps, but certainly dramatic talent. Jonas Kaufmann, world star and one of the most beloved opera performers of the moment, is perhaps obliged by his popularity to sing a cd full of Viennese operetta melodies. Paradoxically, this is really not a recording to simply please a company with Viennese tunes. That can of course, but it would lower the intrinsic value of the recording.
The cd has been heard countless times on Klara, in all kinds of programs and at virtually all hours of the day. On first hearing, I was not at all enthusiastic about it. Kaufmann's voice sometimes sounds pinched and without lustre, lacks the typical "Schmelz" you expect for this kind of music. A world away from Fritz Wunderlich, to mention just him. A first judgment would be that Kaufmann makes a concession to popularity and wants to score mainly commercially. The luxury edition with trendy photos and even a map of the singer's favorite places in Vienna fit that framework.
Dramatic talent
But soon this superficial judgment must be corrected upon careful listening to what Kaufmann presents here! Yes, here and there the voice is dull and the baritonal sound sounds pinched. But what Kaufmann does with the interpretation of the texts testifies to his dramatic talent. His performance reveals the approach of the opera singer who gives every role he plays a personal interpretation and meaningful significance. And he enjoys "viel Vergnügen" in it! He sings now narrating, then yearning, whispering or sweetly. But also sometimes boldly and especially always with a sense of irony! So we hear a touch of nostalgia in the refrain of Wien, Wien nur du allein, we get a wonderful narrative with sustained tone in Wien in Robert Stolz' melody Im Prater blühn wieder die Bäume.
Delightful is the retardation at the phrase hast du's gehört in Johann Strauss Jr. Draussen im Sievering. In Zwei Märchenaugen by Emmerich Kálmán there is a tone of grimmness and sadness – also in the orchestra. The atmosphere of fairy tales is sometimes permeated with bitterness, parallel to the spirit of the times of Vienna around the turn of the century (1900). The lightly mocking irony makes you want to pay a visit to the kleine Cafe in Hernals (Hermann Leopold), where the English waltz plays and Kaufmann even whistles a tune! The joy of life gets every opportunity in Benatzky's Grinzing, while the cd ends with Viennese double meaning of the fin-de-siècle in Der Tod das muss ein Wiener sein. The Viennese accent is amusing and genuine. The cd Wien is an unambiguous statement by the intelligent interpreter Jonas Kaufmann. And the singer is fully supported in this by a beautifully Viennese orchestra without ostentation, but with chamber music refinement.
A cd to listen to with full attention more than once
Want to experience Jonas Kaufmann live on stage? That's possible at BOZAR on Sunday January 26, 2020 with PKF - Prague Philharmonia. Later this season he comes to Brussels again, then with opera arias from the French repertoire performed together with the National Orchestra of Belgium (June 2, 2020).
- WHAT: Wien
- WHO: Jonas Kaufmann (tenor) and Wiener Philharmoniker conducted by Adám Fischer
- RELEASE: Sony Classical 19075950412