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Express, April 28, 2013 |
By: Clare Colvin |
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Konzert, Royal Festival Hall, London, 21. April 2013 |
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Opera review: Jonas Kaufmann, Royal Festival Hall
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TO SEE the two most acclaimed tenors of today in concert in one week is
cause for celebration. Even more so is the fact they are so different in
range that no easy comparisons can be made.
German Jonas Kaufmann is
a dramatic tenor whose voice is ideally suited to meaty Verdi and Wagner
roles, while Peruvian Juan Diego Flórez scales the dizzy heights of the "bel
canto" operas of Donizetti and Rossini.
Kaufmann's concert at the
South Bank marked this year's bicentenary of the birth of Verdi and Wagner.
He launched the first half with a set of Verdi arias from Luisa Miller,
Simon Boccanegra, Don Carlo and La Forza del Destino (The Force Of Destiny).
The four shared a similar theme, that of lost or betrayed love. Kaufmann
began with Rodolfo's devastation and fury when he believes that his love
Luisa Miller has betrayed him. It was a heady blend of Italianate lyricism,
musical technique of the highest order and coruscating emotion.
Kaufmann can use a half voice so that the softest note floats to the
farthest reach of the auditorium. Chunks of Wagner provided a contrasting
second half. After the Philharmonia Orchestra's opening Ride Of The
Valkyries, Kaufmann gave us Siegmund's rousing aria as he prepares for
battle, Ein Schwert Verhiess Mir Der Vater (My father promised me a sword).
Here, the voice was of clarion heroic tone, with superb breath control.
The succeeding arias included The Master Singers Of Nuremberg's reflective
Am Stillen Herd (At the quiet hearth) and Parsifal's cry of anguish "The
wound!" as he rejects the sorceress Kundry.
The arias were paced with
orchestral interludes from the Philharmonia Orchestra under Jochen Rieder.
Kaufmann may have felt seven arias in one evening short measure though,
and gave four encores, three from Wagner and the fourth Verdi. Encores and
applause added a half hour to the evening and the audience left clutching
glossy programmes filled with pin-up pictures of the photogenic tenor. Next
evening, there were more celebrations as Kaufmann was elected Male Singer of
the Year, in the inaugural International Opera Awards at London's Hilton
Hotel.
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