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dailyclassicalmusic.com, March 23, 2011 |
MARIA NOCKIN |
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Recital, Los Angeles, 11 March 2011 |
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An Exciting Evening - Jonas Kaufmann's Los Angeles recital
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On
Friday evening 11 March 2011, Los Angeles Opera presented the tall and slim
German tenor, Jonas Kaufmann, in a lieder recital at the Dorothy Chandler
Pavilion. Kaufmann has a dark rather baritonal tenor sound with an amazing
trumpet-like top that can provide dramatic emphasis. Surprisingly, he has an
equal ability to produce silken high notes as needed. It is a distinctive
voice and one that the people who hear this artist in a live performance are
not likely to forget. In addition to a fascinating sound and a fine,
reliable technique, he has excellent German diction and the interpretive
ability to communicate the message of each song to his listeners. If you
believe great lieder singers no longer tread our stages, think again! The
Los Angeles public had listened to this oft-recorded singer and filled most
of the hall, knowing that this would be a most important recital.
Accompanied by the gifted veteran pianist, Helmut Deutsch, Kaufmann sang
four selections from the Schumann Opus 35 Kerner-Liedern, set to poetry by
Justius Kerner, and the sixteen songs of that form the composer's Opus 48
Dichterliebe ('A Poet's Love') before the intermission. With a voice that
has the ability to express tumultuous joy as well as sorrow and pain, the
singer painted sound pictures of blossoming spring, the hopes of new lovers
and the despair of love forever lost. A supremely intelligent artist, he
shed new light on these well-known songs.
The second half of the
program was devoted to songs by Richard Strauss. They included his Opus 21
songs, Schlichte Weisen ('Simple Melodies') composed to words by Felix Dahn.
These pieces are not intrinsically related to each other but allow the
artist to tell a new story with each. In Sehnsucht ('Yearning') and Ich
liebe dich ('I Love You'), which have texts by Detlev von Liliencron, he
showed his ability to make us weep with him, but he revived our spirits with
John Henry Mackay's lyrics for Heimliche Aufforderung ('Secret Invitation')
and Morgen ('Tomorrow'). With Nachtgang ('A Walk by Night') and Freundliche
Vision ('Friendly Vision'), written to poems by Otto Julius Bierbaum, we
remembered beloved trysts. He brought to life Ruhe, meine Seele ('Rest, my
Soul') by Karl Friedrich Henckell and the final song, Cäcilie, by Heinrich
Hart, and let us appreciate the depth of their meanings.
As with all
really great recitals, that was only the printed program. Lieder aficionados
know that the most exciting moments of a recital are the encores. The crowd
in Los Angeles was extremely demonstrative, calling out for certain pieces
and even snapping phone pictures. Thus, Kaufmann and Deutsch were called
back for five additional pieces. The encores were Richard Strauss' Breit
über mein Haupt dein schwarzes Haar ('Spread Over my Head Your Black Hair'),
Op 19 No 2, and Nichts ('Nothing'), Op 10 No 2, followed by Franz Lehar's
Dein ist mein ganzes Herz ('Yours is my Heart Alone'), from The Land of
Smiles. Because the voluminous applause did not stop, these were followed by
Strauss' Zueignung ('Dedication'), Op 10 No 1, and Robert Schumann's
Mondnacht ('Moonlit Night'), Op 39 No 5. Deutsch played the latter from an
iPad! This was an exciting evening and you can be sure that Los Angeles
hopes to have Jonas Kaufmann back in the near future.
Copyright © 23
March 2011 Maria Nockin, Arizona USA
Photos © 2011 Robert Millard.
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