Jonas Kaufmann – It's Christmas! is an album of two halves. Disc one a generous selection of mostly German carols, Kaufmann accompanied by the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg. He's in good voice. The arrangements are fine, and it's an agreeable listen. Disc 2 shakes things up a bit. Kaufmann singing Holst and Vaughan Williams is fun – the English pronunciation is good, piquing our curiosity as to how he'll tackle a bunch of cheesier Christmas standards. Naysayers will be disappointed, but Kaufmann does a decent job. Diction is clear, and the Cologne Studio Big Band offer fruity support. "Winter Wonderland" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" are both great. There's a nice vibraphone obligato in Mel Torme's "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire", and the Cologne rhythm section keep Kaufmann on his toes in "Let It Snow!". All fine by me, with Kaufmann audibly enjoying himself in a daft take on Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You". Improbably enjoyable, and handsomely produced to boot. If this isn't your bag, no-one's forcing you to buy it. SEE THE FULL theartsdesk PAGE

With concert halls, studios and airports closed the pandemic has forced Jonas Kauffman to downsize from belts and braces Otello and sumptuous Viennese tributes to something smaller and closer to home. So, he got in touch with his old mate pianist Helmut Deutsch and suggested they make a welcome return to their neglected Lieder repertoire. They put together a running order – "It's our own personal wish list, you might call it an album of encores," Kaufmann says. Kaufmann and Deutsch bounce like precisely synchronised trampolinists on Schubert's Der Musensohn, which opens the disc. And they manage a spacious sotto voce sense of wonder for Gustav Mahler's Ich Bin der Welt Abhanden Gekommen(I Am Lost to the World) to finish this lovely collection, most of which is on the gentler side, allowing the listener to enjoy Kaufmann's subtle nuances. Deutsch, predictably, never puts a foot wrong. READ THE FULL LIMELIGHT REVIEW

Sony Classical has announced a new recording of Verdi's "Otello" starring Jonas Kaufmann in the title role, and is set for release in March. The new recording is also set to star Carlos Alvarez as Iago and Federica Lombardi as Desdemonda with Antonio Pappano conducting the orchestra and choir Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. This album will mark Kaufmann's first CD recording of the role, which he has performed in London and Munich to great acclaim. Sony Classical previously released a DVD of his Royal Opera House appearance which OperaWire called, "One of History's Great Otellos." READ THE FULL OPERAWIRE ARTICLE

Hefty, handsome and strong, like a smoky, hand-crafted bourbon, the voice of tenor superstar Jonas Kaufmann, continues to thrill on his new album of French arias. He's got the brawn, and the baritone-like timbre, to sing the heavier Wagner and Verdi roles, but it's impressive to hear how well this generally lighter, French fare fits his voice. There's plenty of requisite muscle in Bizet's "Flower Song" (from Carmen), but he floats the final B-flat in a creamy pianissimo, which, sadly, is rarely attempted these days. In a role like Massenet's Werther, which Kaufmann practically owns today, one hears all the stifled rage and anguished release in a single phrase, ending on a velvety mezza voce. You needn't see him on stage. All the drama, and then some, is right there in the voice. SEE ALL NPR Music's Top 10 Classical Albums Of 2017 p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 11.0px Helvetica; min-height: 13.0px} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 11.0px Helvetica}

The German superstar tenor virtually owns the role of Massenet's lovesick Werther today. Jonas Kaufmann has both the brawn and the brains to portray the high-maintenance romantic who gradually goes nuts (and kills himself) by the time the final curtain falls. The voice, handsome and smoky with a baritone's timbre, is manly, and furnishes plenty of power to pour out Werther's anguish. But there's more than just muscle with Kaufmann. Listen to him float soft, pillowy, perfectly focused notes on the phrase "Ô souffle du printemps" (O breath of springtime). -Tom Huizenga   CLICK HERE FOR NPR PAGE p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px}

What does it take to be an opera superstar? Jonas Kaufmann should know. He's been called "the world's greatest tenor." Kaufmann has the voice. He's also got the onstage charisma, the movie-star good looks, the ambition, even a little controversy - and a brand new album. But actually, it's not that easy being the top tenor. Kaufmann, like all opera singers, is a vocal athlete, singing night after night, year after year - without a microphone. He's 48 now, riding the crest of a celebrated career. But there have been bumps along the way: like a total reboot of his approach to singing, a divorce and last fall, a four-month-long string of cancellations to rest the voice. But this spring Kaufmann returned to the recording studio sounding fresh as ever. His new album, L'Opéra, is a tribute to French opera. He includes a few hits but also a few rarities, like an aria from Le roi d'Ys, a long neglected work by Édouard Lalo. It's the first French piece Kaufmann ever sang, years ago as a student in his early 20s in his native Germany. That's after he made the switch from accounting to music. His voice has deepened and darkened since then, taking on a baritone-like burnished bronze, as in the "Flower Song" from Bizet's Carmen. Kaufmann has all kinds of heft, which allows him to sing heavier Wagner and Verdi roles. It's a voice with a handsome balance of muscle and mellow. He doesn't just "park and bark," to borrow a phrase from opera geeks. Just listen to what he does at the very end of Bizet's aria. Very few tenors are able to float the final B-flat in a soft pianissimo. And you can bet that golden thread of tone, perfectly supported by the diaphragm, makes it all the way to the upper balcony. Along with the voice, Kaufmann is a charismatic actor, which is what you need to play the lovelorn and suicidal Werther, the title role in Jules Massenet's 1892 masterwork. In the single line, "Pourquoi me réveiller, ô soufflé du printemps?" ("Why awaken me, oh breath of spring?") one hears Kaufmann's brawn and his tender caress – the colors of pent-up rage and regret for Werther. The popular tenor is at a point in his career when his voice is growing larger, duskier and heavier. This summer in London, he sang his first Otello, the punishing lead role in Verdi's opera. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Arial} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Arial; min-height: 11.0px} Why then would he make a generally lighter-weight album that frequently spotlights his soft, mezza-voce singing? Perhaps Jonas Kaufmann still has something to prove: that the world's top tenor can sing just about anything, any way he wants to. LISTEN TO THE NPR: All Things Considered SEGMENT

Jonas Kaufmann's L'Opera pays homage to a magnificent era of opera that defined musical splendor and elegance, in his new album of 19th-century French opera arias and duets. His selection of music for tenor spans this momentous period, starting with "Rachel, quand du Seigneur" from Halévy's La Juive (1835), through two of Bizet's greatest works, "La fleur que tu m'avais jetée" from Carmen (1875) and "Au fond du temple saint" from Les Pêcheurs de perles (1863), by way of Gounod's "Ah! lève-toi, soleil!" from Roméo et Juliette (1867) and ending with the latest aria "Pourquoi me réveiller" from Massenet's masterpiece Werther (1892). Plus many more along the way.  "The French operatic repertory is very close to my heart," says Kaufmann. "This fascinating music reflects a period in European culture. I didn't want to choose only highlights for this album but also works and roles that have been key experiences for me" Features - Jonas Kaufmann, tenor; Ludovic Tézier, baritone; Bavarian State Opera Orchestra / Bertrand de Billy SEE THE WFMT: Chicago POST p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Arial} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Arial; min-height: 11.0px}

Jonas Kaufmann receives the ECHO KLASSIK Award for Bestseller Of The Year. The ECHO KLASSIK trophies will be handed out on Sunday, 29 October 2017 during a gala event in the Elbphilharmonie Concert Hall in Hamburg. All of the artists receiving an ECHO KLASSIK this year have made outstanding contributions to Classical Music in the 2016/17 music year. Their performances have brought audiences closer to numerous works of traditional classical music, but also to so-called New Classics. Whether its brilliant solo artists, collaborating ensembles, global superstars or exciting young newcomers – each of these musicians has helped to foster the extraordinary diversity of classical music and ensured that it continues to reach and inspire people of all ages and social backgrounds on all possible distribution channels.  The ECHO KLASSIK Award ceremony will be held on 29th October in the Elbphilharmonie concert hall. The German public TV channel ZDF will broadcast the evening starting at 10 pm. Once again this year, popular television presenter Thomas Gottschalk will host the ECHO KLASSIK, marking the fourth time overall he acts as master of ceremonies for the event. The names of those award winners who will perform live that evening will be announced shortly.

The popular tenor Jonas Kaufmann is known for his diverse repertoire. From Puccini to Wagner to Bizet, he has achieved critical acclaim both for purity of voice and thoughtful interpretation. On this recording he sets himself a new challenge. The six songs that make up this song cycle, (Mahler himself called it a symphony), were originally written to be sung by two voices, a baritone and a tenor. Kaufmann who has a commanding range takes on both parts. The result is a consistency in approach that alters one's perception of this familiar staple of the canon. It also alters the chemistry with the orchestra as a balanced dialog emerges.  SEE ALL OF THIS WEEK's KUCI: IRVINE CA REVIEWS BY MD - HOBART TAYLOR

Today's output of classical albums is (pardon me while I scribble on the back of an envelope) something like triple what it was a generation ago. I won't vouch for that exact ratio, but I will for Anne Midgette's description of how it feels: "Keeping up with the stream of new releases is like trying to drink from a fire hose." Now imagine trying to capture a hose's jet-spray in a bucket, and you'll see why making a classical "best-of-year" list in 2015 struck many writers as a thankless task, even a hopeless one. Yet that didn't stop more of us than ever from trying - perhaps enough of us to be called a crowd. Could that crowd, taken together, have some kind of collective wisdom? That was more or less the premise behind my "Classical Mega-Meta-List" last year (inspired by economist /blogger Tyler Cowen). I tallied every "best of year" list I could find - a total of 36, comprising about 100 writers.  This year I found far more: 64 lists, with at least 160 contributors, which makes this year's meta-list 60-77% more mega. It's not surprising that almost twice as many releases made the final cut, defined by being chosen for more than three best-of-year lists. Last year, 28 albums reached that threshold; this year, 50 albums did. That's a 78% increase. Jonas Kaufmann's 'Nessun dorma - The Puccini Album' received 8-10 votes in this pole. Kaufmann made the news when he used his Facebook page to urge us not to buy a Puccini recycling effort put out by his former record company (Decca) to compete with this new recital. But he needn't have worried, as this new disc has thrilled critics around the world. Personally, I just plain love Kaufmann's voice, which is duskier than some famous tenors - it has been described as "mahogany" - and that is indeed a subjective thing, but wow, what an artist! READ THE FULL IOWA PUBLIC RADIO PAGE

Jonas Kaufmann has been around now long enough for any glaring faults to have appeared and been criticized; the best we've been able to do is accuse him of crooning occasionally and lacking squillo on top notes. His preparation always seems to be diligent, his use of dynamics, though occasionally exaggerated, is both musical and in character, his phrasing is utterly idiomatic, and the tone handsome and healthy. The problem with a recital such as this, which includes arias from all of Puccini's operas (except, of course, Suor Angelica), is that we realize that tenor heroes are rarely the most three dimensional folks in any opera, and so a sameness sets in. But Kaufmann is too intelligent to just slide by, and this, with a few minor protests, shows him to be unique among today's tenors. He is at his best in Puccini's more heroic music. As one might guess, his dark-hued tone is rich and full enough for grand statements. The Edgar and Villi excerpts, both beautiful arias, are in the exclamatory Verismo tradition of Giordano and Cilea, and Kaufmann is stunning in both. Luigi's aria from Il tabarro is similarly thrilling: it's a very hard, bitter sing that few tenors can cope with, but Kaufmann makes us hang on every word and every note. (He tries his best with Rinuccio's little aria, singing with great "face" and impeccable diction, and even keeping the vowels pure on the high B-flats, but he sounds as if he could beat the hell out of the whole Donati family, and if I were Schicchi I would keep him away from my daughter at all costs. READ THE FULL ClassicsToday REVIEW

After years of singing Giacomo Puccini's heroes on stage to vast critical and audience ac­claim, Jonas Kaufmann has finally recorded an album entirely devoted to the world's most-loved opera composer. 'Nessun dorma' on Sony Classical includes a selection of the composer's stupendous tenor arias drawn from Puc­cini's greatest operas, including Turandot, Manon Lescaut, Tosca, La Bohème, Madama Butterfly and La fanciulla del West, amongst others. Spanning the breadth of Puccini's output from the early operas Le Villi and Edgar, the album culminates in the mighty aria "Nessun dorma" from his final opera Turandot. Jonas Kaufmann is joined on this album by Maestro Antonio Pappano, the Orchestra dell' Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and soprano Kristīne Opolais. Watch the OperaNews.com EXCLUSIVE: Jonas Kaufmann steps into the studio with maestro Antonio Pappano and the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia to record "Nessun Dorma," the title track from the German tenor's new album on Sony Classical.

Described by The Daily Telegraph as "the world's greatest tenor", Jonas Kaufmann dedicates his new album to the most popular Italian opera composer of all time, Giacomo Puccini. It features the most loved aria of all time, ‘Nessun Dorma', alongside stunning pieces from Manon Lescaut, La Boheme, Tosca, and more. Together with Jonas Kaufmann, this album includes celebrated Royal Opera House conductor Antonio Pappano and his renowned orchestra and choir of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. Featured tracks are - Puccini: Donna non vidi mai from Manon Lescaut (2:28); and Nessun dorma from Turandot (3:07) on Sony Classical. Featuring Jonas Kaufmann - tenor; Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia Orchestra / Antonio Pappano    

Nessun Dorma, The Puccini Album, Jonas Kaufmann, tenor, Orchestra e Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Antonio Pappano, conductor (Sony). My dad used to say that the line separating Puccini and Broadway was faint, and listening to this disc I remembered his opinion and agreed with it. I cannot imagine anyone who loves "The Phantom of the Opera" not thrilling to the love duet from "La Boheme." This recording is especially enticing. Kaufmann puts a lot of himself into the music, bringing a fresh emotion even to music you may have heard 100 times. His singing is extremely masculine, projecting resonance and depth rather than delicacy. And somehow the whole approach works to bring back the idea of opera as popular entertainment. In real life, too, Kaufmann harks back attractively to the days when opera stars were real celebrities, figures of gossip and speculation. Rakishly handsome and tousled, he had to deny rumors earlier this year that he was having an affair with Madonna (who has reportedly expressed a desire to work with him). He and the assembled musical forces on this disc approach everything on all cylinders, from Cavaradossi's passionate "Recondita Armonia" ("Tosca") to "Addio, Fiorito Asil" from "Madame Butterfly." There is also a torrid excerpt from the seamy "Il Tabarro," which Nickel City Opera performed two hot nights on the USS Sullivans, remember? The fevered heat of this music could turn anyone into an opera fan. By the way, if you are a newcomer, the booklet has nice notes, texts and translations.  (Mary Kunz Goldman)  SEE Buffalo.com PAGE

LISTEN TO THE FULL ALBUM

Yes, this is the Jonas Kaufmann Puccini album that Kaufmann wants you to hear. Last month the opera star took to his Facebook page to discourage fans from purchasing a competing Puccini release newly recycled by his former record company. It's just one of the occupational hazards of being routinely labeled as "the greatest" and "most important" tenor of our day in papers like The Telegraph and the New York Times. These honorifics are not exactly exaggerations. While it's pointless to rank singers, Kaufmann's muscular, mahogany-colored voice and fine acting indeed place him near the top. His range of repertoire is exceptionally wide. His voice can scale down to a light and lyrical Nemorino (in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore) or, with its baritone-like foundation, beef up for the heft of Wagner's Parsifal. He's a fine recitalist as well. One critic, writing in Gramophone, says Kaufmann resists classification: "You can't put him in a box for the simple reason that there's no box big enough." As a measure of his celebrity, the 46-year-old Munich native will perform at the annual Last Night of the Proms mega-concert Sept. 12 at London's Royal Albert Hall. Over the years, Kaufmann has steadily added Puccini roles to his résumé. For this new album, released Sept. 11, he sings arias and duets, mostly in chronological order, from each of the composer's 12 operas (except the all-female Suor Angelica). That means the blockbuster "Nessun dorma" concludes the recording. While he may not project the thrilling Italianate muscle of Franco Corelli in Puccini's biggest hit, Kaufmann's brawny, burnished tone is gorgeous to behold. Too bad conductor Antonio Pappano's lustrous Santa Cecilia Orchestra - mixed too loud throughout the album - drowns out his final "vincerò." Even greater pleasures can be found in the lesser-known arias. "Torna ai felici dì," from Puccini's first opera, Le villi, is, despite its melancholy strains, redolent with the sun and scent of the Italian countryside. In the aria from Edgar, Kaufmann roars but also tapers his voice to the sweetest murmur. And the two selections from La fanciulla del West, Puccini's gunslinging western and perhaps his best score, find Kaufmann sounding born to the role. Opera geeks will undoubtedly squabble over Kaufmann's interpretation of the well-known arias from Bohème and Butterfly, Tosca and Turandot. Can he sing softly enough? Does he have enough squillo (ping)? Do the characters come alive? No matter what the answers are, there's no denying the red-blooded beauty of Kaufmann's voice in an album packed with some of opera's most soaring, irresistible melodies.

This disc is for fans of international superstar Jonas Kaufmann, fans of early twentieth-century stage and screen songs, and maybe fans of Romantic nostalgia as well.

German operatic singer Jonas Kaufmann says that the idea for the album You Mean the World to Me came to him at the end of a concert when he had finished singing a light number for a crowd of 20,000 delighted admirers. He thought, "Why should songs such as "You Are My Heart's Delight" and "You Mean the World to Me" be no more than encores? Why not make them and other perennial favourites the main programme?" Accordingly, we have an album that includes seventeen light songs by German, Austrian, Hungarian, Russian, and Bohemian composers, the songs presented in their original arrangements and written between 1925-1935 for the Berlin stage and screen. The tunes cover a turbulent era that included postwar economic strife, the establishment of the Weimar Republic, the close of the Roaring Twenties, the worldwide Great Depression, and the rise of Naziism. Yet through it all, people wrote and sang and listened to music: popular, folk, jazz, and classical. On the present album, Kaufmann sings for us some of his favorite popular songs of the period. READ THE FULL Classical Candor REVIEW.

Superstar tenor Jonas Kaufmann is the type of man your mother warned you about. His rock star looks are equal parts Antonio Banderas, George Clooney and Eric Bana – he has the Spaniard's gaze, Clooney's statesman-like poise and is an incredible Hulk in the high notes department. With a face that has graced Vogue, this tenor is the opera world's closest thing to a Hollywood heartthrob. But does he have more style than substance? After an evening with Kaufmann and 2500 other people at Sydney Opera House that hypothesis is challenged. Having played the tortured poet in Massenet's Werther at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in March, Kaufmann makes a consummate Sydney concert debut. The hall is dressed for royalty with garlands of flowers frosting the edge of the stage. It's the only embellishment of the evening – Kaufmann reinstates the power of the voice ungilded by costumes and stage pyrotechnics. Little context is given for the arias delivered; he lets Verdi, Leoncavallo and Mascagni do the talking. For much of his Australian audience, who have never heard him live, the collective question hangs in the air: will Kaufmann be as good as he is on YouTube? Puccini's Recondita Armonia from Tosca breaks the ice and after its final note the audience applaud in rapture, realising he is everything we have heard about and more. The response seems genuinely to move Kaufmann – the shared delight of discovery between an international artist and his antipodean audience. READ THE FULL Guardian REVIEW.

Jonas Kaufmann is almost certainly the greatest tenor in the world right now, a dashingly handsome German with an extraordinary voice, whose career is reaching new peaks with each year, even month that passes. In February, Kaufmann ­"provoked one of the greatest ovations in recent memory", according to the news agency Bloomberg, at New York's Metropolitan Opera House, for his interpretation of the tortured poet Werther in Massenet's opera of the same name. In April he sang Schubert's wonderful melancholic song cycle Winterreise to a full house at London's Covent Garden (the first singer to have been given a solo recital there in more than a decade; when he did the same concert at the Met it was the first time it had had a solo performer since Pavarotti in 1994). Covent Garden staged a new production of Manon Lescaut, an opera it hadn't done for 30 years, with Kaufmann as des Grieux – "the most difficult and challenging role for the tenor that Puccini ever wrote", according to Antonio Pappano, Covent Garden's musical director. And now he is preparing for his first appearance on our shores. What makes Kaufmann great is that his voice is not only beautiful but uniquely versatile, which means he can do both the lighter tenor roles of Verdi and Puccini and much of the big dramatic singing demanded by Wagner (and a lot else between). This is partly because he is a linguist, fluent in four languages: English, French, Italian and German. And it is partly because his voice has an exceptionally rich lower register – yet he can also sing amazing high notes that, in Pappano's words, "blossom and shoot out and are big and generous". His talent is ­comparable to Plácido Domingo's. "There's been no one since Plácido that has the freedom and breadth of repertoire that Jonas has," Pappano says. There is also the fact that, like Domingo, Kaufmann is an instinctive actor. "He brings a protean talent in that he can shift and change," director Jonathan Kent points out. "We were rehearsing a very difficult scene [in Manon ­Lescaut] where the two lovers know they are about to be trapped… I'd ask the performers to do the chaos of panic, with people running round not knowing how to escape. Jonas brings endless invention to that and he can do it while singing. He can think on his feet. He can throw himself around the room and still hit the notes.' READ THE FULL Australian INTERVIEW.

Jonas Kaufmann is certainly that rarity among tenors-one that can almost sing anything and come away from it unscathed, either critically or in audience reaction. The last 40 years has been so empty in terms of a bullpen of tenors who can tackle virtually every important role out there that when someone this good comes along we are allowed a little leeway in our googly-eyed musings. READ THE FULL Audiophile Audition REVIEW.

Jonas Kaufmann is sitting opposite me at a table on the terrace of London's Royal Opera House. The roofs of Covent Garden are spread out beneath us and in the distance the capital's spires, steeples and domes are lit up by July sunshine. The 45-year-old German tenor takes a sip of black tea and pushes a hand through the mop of greying curls his fans like to call Byronic. He is wearing silver-framed Ray Bans, a Rolex and rock-star stubble. His jeans are expensively deconstructed and a beautifully tailored beige jacket hangs open over his grey T-shirt. I've just asked him how he resists becoming a monster, a question that seems apposite given the steady diet of standing ovations and superlative reviews to which he has been subjected in recent years. Kaufmann, to use a term he would probably despise, is the total package. He has a stupendous voice – arguably the greatest tenor of his generation – that is rich and powerful in the lower register, but able to hit high notes, too. It allows him to sing the lighter tenor roles of Puccini and Verdi, but also summon the sturm und drang demanded by Wagner. He is darkly handsome, of course, and has the acting chops necessary to make a Don Jose or a Don Carlos seem like a real person experiencing real emotions. Oh, and he is also fluent in four languages. If a team of scientists was asked to devise the perfect tenor for the 21st century, the result would look … well, you get the idea. Jonas Kaufmann performs at the Sydney Opera House on August 10th and 17th. READ THE FULL Sydney Morning Herald INTERVIEW.

Jonas Kaufmann can remember the moment he knew he'd ‘made it', in almost filmic detail. It was the night of his Metropolitan Opera debut, and he was standing in the wings waiting to take his solo curtain call.

Singing Alfredo opposite Angela Gheorghiu in her signature role, Violetta in La Traviata, Kaufmann was vividly aware that everyone had come to see her. ‘At that time, I was a nobody in New York,' he says.

In the glare of the lights, he could see the audience rising to their feet to applaud him, and his heart slipped into his stomach. His knees buckled, and before he knew it he found himself kneeling. ‘I had to force myself to get back up. I remember thinking "Who, me?!" It may sound trite, but that's exactly how it felt.'

That was February of 2006, and since then, Kaufmann's fame – and pulling power – has sky-rocketed. He sings at the Metropolitan Opera New York, at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, at the Salzburg Festival and all through Europe. READ THE FULL Opera Blog INTERVIEW.

This is a gem of a performance, but one that bucks current trends. The bleak nature of Schubert's Winterreise, with two-thirds of its songs in minor keys, is often taken as an invitation to probe, analyze and even diagnose its protagonist. In the final song, "Der Leiermann" (The Hurdy-gurdy Man), the traveler, totally undone, will wind up identifying with the village idiot, a fate treated so indelibly by Schubert that it colors the whole cycle. Understandably, many singers are apt to seek clues to that decline earlier, even in the very first songs, and to keep emphasizing eccentricity, instability and other predictive symptoms. That is not Jonas Kaufmann's approach. Here, each step downward feels like an unexpected blow. His traveler resists, protests and struggles, at higher volume than many others. The performance maintains an urgent pulse throughout, amid rich rubato, with rock-solid support from veteran accompanist Helmut Deutsch. The singer's unusual warmth maintains tension between past and present: his timbre suggests a robust, somewhat naïve young man who's new to morbid reflection. READ THE FULL Opera News REVIEW.

Tenor Jonas Kaufmann, while an adventurous singer, brings a lot of low-key subtlety to this Winterreise. He is wise in not joining the legions of singers who always seem out to reinvent the wheel. Instead, though his delivery is free and he sometimes surprises you, he seems confident that his own lyricism and grace can carry the day, and they do. Helmut Deutsch, a veteran accompanist, mirrors his sensibilities. His cool allows you to marvel at the genius of the accompaniments. Schubert, though no virtuoso pianist, really knew how to use the instrument. Kaufmann and Deutsch are used to performing together this bleak but beautiful cycle. The result is a kind of eerie calm over the first song, with its magical shift to the major key, and the haunting final song about the hurdy-gurdy man in the snow. In the many more dramatic songs in between, they show fine control and unity of purpose. This is another reason to see Kaufmann as one of the most exciting singers around. 4 stars.

The first visit to Australia by the German tenor Jonas Kaufmann is one of the most anticipated events in this yearʼs performing arts calendar. Widely regarded as the finest tenor in the world today, Kaufmann, at 44, is in his prime. Many operatic tenors have enjoyed highly successful careers based largely on the brilliance of their vocal technique alone. The ability of these singers to inhabit a character and act a role is sometimes quite limited. For Kaufmann, who has the typical curiosity and creative instinct of a born actor, it is the most natural thing in the world. He believes passionately that opera is, above all, a theatrical art in which the drama is conveyed by a singer-actor. Read the full Limelight Magazine article and see Jonas Kaufmann sing in Sydney on August 10th and 17th and Melbourne on August 14th.

Jonas Kaufmann is rehearsing the death scene from Puccini's Manon Lescaut. In the interest of avoiding spoilers for those who don't know the French 18th-century story by the Abbé Prévost, I won't say whose death. But Manon Lescaut (which has formed the basis of a classical ballet and two 19th-century operas) is a tragic opera, and Kaufmann does operatic tragedy in a manner to rip your heart out. The 44-year-old is almost certainly the greatest tenor in the world right now, a dashingly handsome German with an extraordinary voice, whose career is reaching new peaks with each year, even month that passes. READ THE FULL Telegraph INTERVIEW.

Each week KDFC - San Francisco eNotes members can download a free mp3 from some of the biggest releases in the world of Classical music. This week's pick is from Jonas Kaufmann performing Schubert's Der Linerbaum from his album Winterreise. Superstar tenor Jonas Kaufmann could easily fill his performance calendar with Verdi, Wagner and Puccini. But, for Kaufmann, however much he loves opera, interpreting the classical lieder repertory is the highest order of singing. It demands far more detailed work than any other vocal discipline, more color, more nuances and a greater range of dynamics. On Kaufmann's new album, Schubert: Winterreise, the opera star tackles what is generally regarded as the pinnacle of lieder singing. It is considered the composer's greatest contribution to the Lied repertoire. The Winterreise (Winter Journey) song cycle is set to twenty-four poems by the poet Wilhelm Muller and was completed by Schubert in 1827.

This edition of Music Matters is given to an extended interview with Jonas Kaufmann, recently acclaimed by the New York Times as "currently the most in-demand, versatile and exciting tenor in opera". Tom Service met Kaufmann in London, after a day's rehearsals for Jonathan Kent's new production of Puccini's Manon Lescaut at the Royal Opera House. Since his last interview on Music Matters (2010), Kaufmann has released albums dedicated to two of the most prominent composers in his current operatic career, Verdi and Wagner, as well as a recent recording of Schubert's song-cycle Winterreise with pianist Helmut Deutsch, his former professor at the Munich Academy – music with which he recently transfixed an audience at Covent Garden. Kaufmann also talks openly about his early experiences in music, and explains the technique which gives his voice its recognisable depth and burnished quality. He discusses his future plans for the big roles in the operas of Verdi and Wagner and he and Tom debate the essential purpose of opera - how great operas connect with audiences, and the role of new productions in keeping the art form alive. LISTEN TO THE BBC Radio: Music Matters INTERVIEW.

The potential opera event of the year has moved up a gear today as Opera Australia has announced that superstar tenor, Jonas Kaufmann, will perform a second concert on August 17th at Sydney Opera House. The German tenor, probably the most sought after singer on the planet, will be making his Australian debut as the latest in the increasingly impressive roster of the great and the good heading down under to try their hands on our operatic stages, The concerts, announced last year, have been one of the hottest tickets around. "With a second and final concert at Sydney Opera House now on sale, I encourage anyone keen to see Kaufmann live, to hurry!" said OA Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini. Kaufmann will perform a selection of popular arias from operas including Puccini's Tosca, Verdi's La Forza del Destino and Massenet's Werther. The concerts will be conducted by Jochen Rieder and accompanied by the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra in Sydney and Orchestra Victoria in Melbourne. "Jonas Kaufmann is unrivalled in opera today," said Terracini. "He is quite simply, a contemporary opera superstar. His upcoming tour to Australia will be a thrilling opportunity for audiences in Sydney and Melbourne to see him live, performing the world's most loved tenor arias with full orchestra." Jonas Kaufmann plays Sydney Opera House on Sunday August 10 & 17 and Arts Centre Melbourne on August 14. READ THE FULL Limelight Magazine ARTICLE.

For the first time in his 20-year career, tenor Jonas Kaufmann has recorded Winterreise, a cycle of 24 songs by Franz Schubert. It's a setting of poems by Wilhelm Muller that tells the story of a young man wandering through a wintery landscape in despair after learning the woman he loves no longer loves him. Kaufmann says it's important to familiarize oneself with the subject matter before hearing the full cycle, because its impact can really be depressing. However, he adds, it's also similar to a Greek drama where the emotional experience purges the soul. "I think it's done in a way that you can totally understand what the circumstances are, what the feelings are, the misery, what this person is going through," Kaufmann says. "I don't want to say that everybody has suffered the way that he probably did, but in other circumstances, in different contexts. And I think it's presented in a way from Schubert that is so natural and so human - that's what strikes us so much. And when Schubert was playing it for his friends the first time, they were shocked because they said, 'This is so depressive! You cannot put this out in public because people will commit suicide when they hear it!' " Listen to Julie Amacher's interview with Jonas Kaufmann on Classical MPR: New Classical Tracks.

For Jonas Kaufmann, however much he loves opera, he considers interpreting the classical lieder repertory the highest order of singing. It demands far more detailed work than any other vocal discipline, more color, more nuances and a greater range of dynamics. Says Kaufmann, "I think thatWinterreise has the same sort of cathartic effect as a Greek drama: the emotional experience purges the soul. For me, the work has an almost meditative effect because Schubert expressed these emotional depths that allow me to regain my own inner balance." WFMT - Chicago 'New Release of the Week' is Kafmann's Schubert: Winterreise featuring Jonas Kaufmann, tenor; Helmut Deutsch, piano.

The astonishingly brilliant Jonas Kaufmann tells us in the notes to this release that he treats Winterreise in much the same way as an operatic role; it is easy for him to immerse himself in Schubert's character, to become him, and to feel things as the protagonist feels them. This is certainly something that comes across very well in this new recording, yet another in a long line of recent Winterreises that prove beyond a doubt that Schubert singing has never been better than it is now. Kaufmann is a tenor, and this cycle was conceived for a tenor even though it quickly was adapted for other ranges also; nevertheless one wonders how the original voicing affected Schubert's conception. Though most of the great recordings are probably baritones, it's nice to hear such a fine one in the higher range. But Kaufmann isn't your normal tenor; his voice is rich and rugged in many ways, with a baritonal veneer that allows him an extraordinary range of expression and coloring. Too often this work is performed with a rather lackluster "goodbye cruel world" tone that misses the very real and esoteric layers of emotion present in each bar. Kaufmann knows this, realizes the complexity of the subject matter as well as the unbelievably expressive nuances that Schubert puts into this music, and makes the most of every moment. Helmut Deutsch is no slouch either, with partnership that enlivens and compliments Kaufmann's instrument. This is, like so many others recently, highly recommended!-Steven Ritter

For the male classical singer, Franz Schubert's 1828 song cycle, Winterreise ("Winter Journey") is a tantalizing but elusive prize. Its 24 sections, telling the story of a rejected lover's torment, demand every skill in a singer's arsenal. In this 75-minute dramatic monologue, the performer must express minute gradations of emotion (anger, depression, false hope, death wishes), paying close attention to Wilhelm Müller's poetic texts and the composer's dynamic markings.There have been nearly 100 recordings of "Winterreise" over the years. Any new contender must inevitably be compared to the work's most lauded performer, German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, whose eight commercial recordings set the bar for subtlety and insight. German singer Jonas Kaufmann, arguably today's top operatic tenor, enters the field with high marks. The sheer beauty, clarity and size of his voice count for a lot here, along with his astounding range, from mere whisper to thundering cry, all produced without strain or compromise. READ THE FULL News & Observer REVIEW.

Jonas Kaufmann has become the Metropolitan Opera's go-to tenor for a wide variety of leading roles, and has consistently lived up to his reputation. In the more intimate realm of Schubert's song cycle "Winterreise," however, his artistry and the uniqueness of his dynamic sound are perhaps even more striking than they are onstage - or when he records arias with orchestra. Throughout the work, his voice takes on a viola-like quality - warm and plangent. He is well suited to the story of a traveler in icy conditions who has been burned by a failed love affair. The hooded character his tenor has sometimes taken on in other performances and recordings seems to be gone. There are times when he calls to mind a shout or a whisper, but he constantly maintains beautifully supported singing and polished, deliberate musicianship. READ THE FULL NJ.com REVIEW.

Having recently released a recording of the piece, Jonas Kaufmann is currently touring Schubert's great song-cycle Winterreise, partnered by pianist and regular recital partner Helmut Deutsch. The venues are large, including La Scala in Milan and the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris; in London, he sang the 80-minute sequence of 24 songs on the vast Covent Garden stage. Yet there was nothing excessive or scaled-up about the performance itself, either on the part of Kaufmann or the pianist with whom he is perfectly matched; instead, they drew you into an intimate world in which subtlety of gesture and a tender, interiorised lyricism informed their measured and finely attuned approach. READ THE FULL Guardian REVIEW.

Each month, WCLV's Program Director Bill O'Connell selects a series of special CDs to be featured on the air throughout the month. For April, Bill features Sony Classical's Franz Schubert: Winterreise - with Jonas Kaufmann, tenor; Helmut Deutsch, piano on Mon 4/7, Wed 4/16, Fri 4/25. Superstar tenor Jonas Kaufmann could easily fill his performance calendar with Verdi, Wagner and Puccini. But for Mr. Kaufmann, interpreting the classical Lieder repertory is the highest order of singing and Schubert's ‘Winterreise' is regarded as the composer's greatest contribution to the repertoire. Schubert's ‘Winter Journey' is set to twenty-four poems by Wilhelm Müller and was completed in 1827. After working together closely for more than twenty years and giving a number of recitals of Schubert's great song cycles, Jonas Kaufmann and Helmut Deutsch make their first recording of ‘Winterreise' documenting their special partnership. Listen to Jonas Kaufmann's conversation with WCLV's Angela Schmidt.     Tchaikovsky: Symphony #6 "Pathétique" & Romances, Opp. 6 & 73 - Rotterdam Philharmonic/Yannick Nézet-Séguin; Lisa Batiashvili, violin (DeutGram 4790835)  Yannick Nézet-Séguin first heard Tchaikovsky's ‘Pathétique' live in Montreal at the age of eight. It was the work he chose for his debut with both the Orchestre Métropolitaine du Grand Montréal and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Conducting Russian music with the Rotterdam Philharmonic acknowledges his predecessor on the podium, Valéry Gergiev, and showcases the depth and refinement of the Dutch orchestra. "The point for me," says the conductor, "is this work's pervasive lust for life, and the lack of faith in humanity which is the implicit message of the end." The symphony is accompanied by two sets of Tchaikovsky's songs, in arrangements for piano and violin featuring Lisa Batiashvili.  Featured Tue 4/8 Thu 4/17, Mon 4/28

Last February, the German tenor Jonas Kaufmann had a triumph at the Metropolitan Opera when he performed the title role of Wagner's "Parsifal" in the company's very bleak but theatrically riveting new production. On Tuesday night, a year later, Mr. Kaufmann was back at the Met in the title role of Massenet's "Werther" on the opening night of Richard Eyre's new production. It was another success for Mr. Kaufmann, currently the most in-demand, versatile and exciting tenor in opera. READ THE FULL New York Times review