|
|
|
|
|
The New York Observer, November 3, 2011 |
By Sarah Hucal |
|
Recital, Metropolitan Opera, New York, 30. Oktober 2011 |
|
Can I Get a Hölle Ja? Jonas Kaufmann in His Solo Debut at the Metropolitan Opera
|
|
Eight hundred photographs of the world’s most celebrated opera stars
ceremoniously decorate the lobby concourse of the Metropolitan Opera. These
legends of the stage look on from behind their glass windows into the
hallowed Founder’s Hall. And there, framed among his peers is Bavarian-born,
lyric-dramatic tenor Jonas Kaufmann, most recently honored by being invited
to perform a solo concert, a grand gesture that recognizes the tremendous
contributions of a truly magnificent performer. Mr. Kaufmann, along with
long-time collaborator, pianist Helmut Deutsch, performed musical selections
from composers Strauss, Duparc, Mahler and Liszt, vocal repertoire which
deftly showcased Mr. Kaufmann’s beautiful timbre and breathtaking vocal
control.
Mr. Kaufmann walked out from behind the golden curtains this
past Sunday afternoon baring his signature ear-to-ear smile, before
beginning with Franz Liszt’s “Vergiftet sind meine Lieder” (“Poisoned Are My
Songs”), a dramatically woeful poem by Heinrich Heine set to an even more
tempestuous accompaniment. Kaufmann looked and sounded at ease on the
unadorned stage, a place certainly not unfamiliar to the famed tenor. In
2006, just five years after being brought into the spotlight by Alexander
Pereira, general director of the Zurich Opera, Mr. Kaufmann took his first
Metropolitan Opera bow after playing a dashing Alfredo opposite famed French
chanteuse Angela Gheorghiu in La Traviata. In the years since, Mr. Kaufmann
has oft returned to the Met, taking on roles such as Cavardossi in Tosca,
Don Jose in Carmen, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte and Siegmund in die Walküre.
Towards the end of this month, Mr. Kaufmann will play the title role of
McAnuff’s Faust. This coming spring he will return yet again as Siegmund.
Despite his globe-trotting schedule, Mr. Kaufmann has made it a top
priority to perform an annual concert series with Mr. Deutsch, a Viennese
pianist and composer, accomplished in his own right, having played for Diana
Damrau, Brigitte Fassbaender and Grace Bumbry among many others. Mr.
Kaufmann and Mr.Deutsch complemented each other once more on Sunday. Mr.
Deutsche’s beautiful interpretations of all four sets proved the challenge
to be masterfully surmountable, and his strong relationship with the tenor
was most obvious in songs such as Franz Liszt’s “Ihr Glocken von Marling”
(“Bells of Marling”) as they accompanied each other effortlessly. The
environment offered Mr. Kaufmann an opportunity to be himself, his own
personality vibrantly showcased while storytelling during pieces such as
Liszt’s “Three Gypsies” and “The King in Thule.” For the second set, Gustav
Mahler’s “Five Rükert-Lieder,” Mr. Kaufmann performed what is considered one
of Mahler’s most moving compositions, “Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen”
(“I am Lost to the World”), with near impossible pianissimi woven artfully
throughout:
“I am dead to the world’s tumult And I rest in a quiet
realm I live alone in my heaven In my love and in my song.”
During intermission, dozens of fur-laden elderly and middle-aged ladies
swarmed the merchandise table, grabbing like starstruck tweens at Mr.
Kaufmann’s recordings and DVDs. One could hardly blame them since The
Observer hadn’t seen a tenor this attractive since Franco Corelli or Mario
Del Monaco.
The bell chimed quietly to call the audience back to
their seats and the crowd clapped raucously as Mr. Kaufmann and Mr. Deutsch
returned to the stage. After another flash of his cheerful smile, Mr.
Kaufmann delivered Duparc’s “L’invitation au Voyage” (Invitation to a
Voyage) and “Chanson triste” (“Sad Song”), while deftly floating through
Deutsch’s arpeggios and proving his mastery of the French repertory.
In the fourth and final song set by Richard Strauss, Mr. Kaufmann was at his
most expressive yet, opening with the appropriately themed “Schlechtes
Wetter” (“Terrible Weather”). The final three songs belonged to Strauss’s
Opus 27, which are among the composer’s most beloved pieces; a fitting
choice for a tenor who has become one of the world’s most beloved singers.
Composed in 1894 as a wedding gift to his wife, singer Pauline de Ahna,
Strauss’s intimate composition allows for falsetto during “Morgen!”
(“Tomorrow!”), which Mr. Kauffman reached quite delicately, before finishing
on an unresolved chord, as if Strauss had intended the singer to drift
asleep mid-thought.
After closing the concert with Strauss’s
triumphant “Cäcilie,” the pair, all smiles, embraced in camaraderie before
exiting the stage, only to be called back by the enthusiastic audience who
hailed them with a standing ovation. Mr. Kaufmann and Mr. Deutsch returned
for five encore pieces, including “Zueignung” (“Dedication”) by Strauss and
“Dein ist mein ganzes Herz” (“Yours is My Entire Heart”), a sentimental
operetta piece written by Franz Lehar in the 1920s. Mr. Deutsch comically
led with a couple bars from “God Bless America,” provoking laughter and even
more applause from the exuberant audience.
At song’s end, Mr.
Kaufmann stood at the foot of the stage, looking beyond the bright lights
and out into the faces of his awestruck fans. Though his photograph in
Founder’s Hall had already marked him as a celebrated star, perhaps it
wasn’t until now that he felt as if he had truly arrived.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|