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Broadway World, Jul. 19, 2020 |
by Richard Sasanow |
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Met in HD online: Polling, Opern-Recital, 18. Juli 2020 |
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The Met's Back, with a Live Concert Series Kicked Off by Jonas Kaufmann
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When was the last time you heard a concert at the Met for $20? It could have
been Saturday afternoon--with Jonas Kaufmann kicking off an online, live
concert series, MET STARS LIVE IN CONCERT.
It helped to remind us
what we're missing without live opera and stars worth going out of the way
for.
Of course, we weren't in the house, which remains locked tight
thanks to COVID, and only had to go as far as our phone, tablet or laptop
for a great seat. We were in the grand Polling Abbey outside Munich,
Kaufmann's home territory, and he showed up (hooray!).
The good news
is that he was in fine fettle--in marvelous voice for the dozen arias and
song he sang live, though a couple of the choice selections, for me at
least, were clips from staged performances, which proved what a stage animal
he is. (There was a look at his gorgeous Siegmund from the Met's DIE WALKURE
and a rarity, a work-in-progress that has progressed pretty far: his only
appearance to-date as Canio in I PAGLIACCI from Salzburg.)
Kaufmann's
voice is, of course, quite distinctive--like having a tenor and baritone in
one body. (It reminds me of all those mezzos who insist on not being pegged
as such, so they can dip into the soprano rep.) Maybe someday he'll be
Siegfried and Wotan in the Ring (simultaneously), but he certainly isn't
taking on any Scarpias or Pere Germonts right now--merely bringing that
reverberating tone to all those tenor arias on the program.
Indeed,
he doesn't skimp on the high side of his voice--not on this program, at
least, filled with plenty of familiar arias that audiences just love. There
was a plethora of Puccini on the bill, "Recondita armonia" and "E lucevan le
stelle" from TOSCA and "Nessun dorma" from TURANDOT, to which he brough his
most ardent, heart-felt singing, filled with plenty of shading. Other
verismo highlights, filled with passion, came thanks to Cilea's ADRIANA LE
COUVREUR and the lesser known L'ARLESIANA, and Giordano's ANDREA CHENIER.
He also included some wonderful arias in French, including two of my
favorite pieces in the concert, which that showed the elegance and power of
his voice: "O paradis sorti de l'onde" from Meyerbeer's L'AFRICAINE and "Ah!
Tout est bien fini ... O Souverain, ō juge, ō pčre!" from Massenet's LE CID.
(Naturally, he included "La fleur que tu m'avais jetée" from CARMEN, which
he does in the most sensual manner.) Kaufmann also included one wonderful
Italian song that's showed up in some of his concerts, Licinio Refice's
"Ombra di Nube," which certainly deserves a larger profile.
Surprisingly, there was nothing in German, except for the WALKURE
clip--surprising since he's been pretty vocal about how much he likes to
sing in his native tongue. But I was happy to settle for that clip from
WALKURE that makes you forget the problems with the Met's Ring production
and long to hear it live.
Last, but certainly not least was the
flawless work of Kaufmann's his longtime collaborator Helmut Deutsch at the
piano. Deutsch got some time in the spotlight himself, playing piano
transcriptions of the intermezzi from I PAGLIACCI and MANON LESCAUT.
The concert was a grand way to kick off the Met's new series--and can be
seen On Demand through July 29. The series of Met Stars in Concert is set to
run through December, until just before the Met is hoping to open its doors
again. For the complete rundown of performers, including Renee Fleming's
August 1 concert from the Dumbarton Oaks estate in Washington, DC, and
tickets, see the Met's website.
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