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Financial Times, 31.3.2022 |
Richard Fairman
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Liederabend, London, 29.3.2022 |
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Kaufmann and Damrau luxuriate in Lieder
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The day before, Jonas Kaufmann and Diana Damrau returned to the Barbican for
one of their duo recitals. Star pulling-power meant the hall looked fuller
than it has since lockdown, and an enthusiastic audience was rewarded with a
generous programme.
The pair’s previous visit in 2018 was for a
complete performance of Wolf’s Italienisches Liederbuch. A selection of love
songs by Schumann and Brahms this time looked less promising, but with some
high-quality singing and less of the irritating play-acting, it turned out
the more rewarding.
Two opera singers are not always so adept at
song. Kaufmann’s straightforward style is familiar now, the clarity of the
words and lack of intrusive interpretation coming across as distinct
virtues. He was especially fine here at the long line, patiently building to
climaxes of power and smouldering tone, as in Schumann’s “Stille Tränen”.
Damrau did not start so well, sounding intermittently thin or wobbly,
but her voice settled and she went on to some delightfully characterful
lighter songs. A bonus this time was duets by both composers, generally less
well known, plus some others turned into duets, such as Brahms’s “Von ewiger
Liebe” (not ideal, but these are not the first singers to do so).
Nothing should obscure the masterclass in accompanying that Helmut Deutsch
gave at the piano, expertly sifting the more dense romantic textures. This
was part of a European tour and six venues are still to come, from Paris to
Vienna via Germany and Spain.
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