Jonas Kaufmann Leads Lieder at La Scala

German h0ttie Tenor Jonas Kaufmann drew a small (but devoted) crowd at his Teatro alla Scala recital earlier this evening in Milan. The palchi were 1/3 full, and blocks of seats on the orchestra floor remained vacant, but for those that comprised the audience, Kaufmann seemed to deliver. For this Opera Chic, not so much. Full casual (thank gawd)…Paul Smith black embroidered blouse tucked into my vintage Levis (again), grey Repetto round-toe Victorian boots (although it was humid, it was kind of chilly today), and a matching grey Prada skinny belt. And the standby Louis Vuitton Speedy.

Kaufmann looked pretty good himself. omg teh hawt. He stepped-out in full frac, tailing pianist & "Lieder-Meister" Helmut Deutsch in the same. The tenor launched weakly into Schubert's Die Bürgschaft, and his small voice was worrisome. He couldn't seem to find the proper projection, and at first, the accompaniment played over him. Speaking of Deutsch, the man needs to lay off the damper pedal. His legato is insane (but as an outted legato junkie, it was strangely curious). His Schubert seemed a little sloppy, and dropping his place once, he left Kaufmann to sing a few measures in gaping silence.

Kaufmann undoubtedly creates a pleasant presence on stage (tall/dark/handsome), comes across as gentle/patient/cool, and has nailed plenty of his technique and training, but there's something strangled about his voice, and his color is just not my thang. Benjamin Britten's Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo Buonarroti was next...with a few haunting passages, but not enough to gather too much enthusiasm save the normal spectrum applause. The first half was rather boring, in all honesty. Even with Kaufmann's yummy appearance, OC found herself counting all the spent light bulbs of the centerpiece chandelier (at least a dozen on my visible side), counting all the completely empty palchi (I stopped at 35), and contemplating how different salons treat manicures here (short & rounded vs. nyc's long & squared). Interesting stuff.   

At la pausa, Opera Chic was considering leaving the recital, but something urged me to stay...and I'm glad I did. (btw, in the photo below, you can see just how empty La Scala was...during intermission.)

Any apprehension and uncomforting lapses that Kaufmann displayed in the first part of the recital had been chased away as he began Richard Strauss' Schlichte Weisen. It was almost immediate during "Du meines Herzens Krönelein" and the following "Ach Lieb', ich muss nun scheiden" that he channeled some sort of chocolaty Lieder goodness, drawing-out wild applause and bravi from the gallerie which was very much deserved. It all came to climax as he finished the last work of the evening, Strauss' Vier Lieder, which ended in the same rabid applause and praise.

The difference between the two segments was strange, but whatevs. It was a quick recital at an easy pace, and including the bis (and a twenty minute intermission), was less than two hours. Kaufmann took his calls, and gifted the audience with four encores: all various Lieder that OC can't place (considering the gigantic oeuvre of Lieder + my usual impatience for the art = all Lieder sounds the same to these ignorant ears). ok ha ha j/k.

As the recital ended, I was left with one question: I know that Kaufmann has done it before to good reviews, but I just can't imagine his Alfredo on the la Scala stage without getting swallowed whole by Maazel and the orchestra. Holy sh*t...Jonas(h) and the freaking whale. I love it. He's going to get swallowed on the 17th when he sings opposite Nucci "The Whale" Germont and Angela (if she bothers to show-up). Whatever happens, Opera Chic will be there blah blah blah.

Now before I jump, here's a blurry picture I took of Jonas' a$$:

Comments

[Micaela]

I didn't think Kaufmann was drowned out by La Angela (L'Angela?) when I saw them do Traviata at the Met. Or by the orchestra, for that matter. He doesn't seem to have all of his artistic pieces quite together yet but I think he could be really good in... something.

But with Nucci, well, that's a different story. He's not my favorite but I can't argue with his volume.

[Amanda White]

I live in NYC and I always request short and rounded. Don't get the whole squared thing- not to mention I play guitar so long is out!

[inter mezzo]

by the spooky magic of the internets, I am RIGHT NOW listening to the VERY SAME (nearly) concert as you did, live on Radio 3. Here it is, and you can listen again for up to 7 days if you can find the secret button:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/afternoonon3/pip/sjdcm/

A shame you didn't get good first half last night, but stripped of 'character', scenery and ghey pantaloons, forced to perform with nothing more than a bow tie and a pianist, the throat can close up in sheer terror. I've seen it happen to other singers - it just proves he is a human not a machine.

I haven't seen JKs Alfredo but his Don Jose at the Royal Opera House a few months back was sensational - no real projection problems, a bit light on the high notes maybe, but otherwise vocal and dramatic perfection. Angela is soooo not good enough for him

[Parsifal]

A big kiss from a military camp somewhere in southern Greece. And you can see for yourself the evolution of the Greek Air Forces! HABEMUS INTERNET!!!

[Jessica]

I agree with intermezzo about JK as Don Jose - he was absolutely stunning, and one thing I *loved* was his ability and willingness to create magical soft timbres esp in the Flower Song. He is doing Alfredo at the ROH in January, with Netrebko...and Hvorostovsky as his dad.

[Marion]

I don’t like to post in blogs, especially not with my real name, but I hate one-dimensional writing. The Scala was not as empty as it is described here. 400 seats were not sold and it may be that some abo ticket holders did not appear, but it was sure more than 2/3 filled. I was sitting in the 6th row of platea where it was plenty full. The audience loved his singing and not only his yummy looks from the beginning. It seems as if they understood the first part, the “Bürgschaft” and the Britten sonnets much better than I had expected. What you call weakness is the softness of a “Lieder-Singer”. The Bürgschaft is a not very operatic piece of music and I don’t wonder that some people have difficulties with it. Jonas Kaufmann is no singer who thinks “the louder the better”, no tenor who impresses the folks with showy effects, fortunately, because we have already enough yelling tenors who don’t care about interpretation. The last thing what he has is a small voice, his voice is rather big. I saw him live in several recitals, in 2 Carmens, in Traviata, in 2 Bartered Bride, in Fidelio, in Rigoletto, 4 times in Magic Flute, his Don Carlo debut. One of the Magic Flutes was at the Met and I was sitting really far off. There was never a moment of coverage by an orchestra or any other singer. His voice is much stronger than Villazon’s and I eagerly wait for the moment when he decides to add more Spinto roles to his repertory. So far he is (fortunately) very careful with adding heavier roles unlike some tenor-colleagues being less carefully (or less intelligent) as he.
I saw him backstage right after the recital and he seemed to be very happy with the success of the recital and that the Scala audience had greeted him in such an enthusiastic way.
You can easily recognize that I’m a big fan of him, so if you want a more objective meaning about him read the reviews of his performances and listen to the sound files which I have collected on my website

[coccodrillo]

> I saw him live in several recitals,
> in 2 Carmens, in Traviata, in 2
> Bartered Bride, in Fidelio, in Rigoletto,
> 4 times in Magic Flute, his Don Carlo debut

this dude's mom is posting on the Internets, I love this

[Alana]

I saw him at the Met in Die Zauberflote and Traviata and he was a sensation. Big voice with great timbre. The audience loved him. Me too. For lieder check out his album of Strauss songs. Wonderful. I am looking forward to broadcasts and recordings of this concert.

[Marion]

To coccodrillo: I wished I would be his mom. I have a friend in New York who has heard and seen any tenor who appeared at the Met over the past 40 years and he always complains that Jonas Kaufmann isn't his son.

[Sonetto]

If you dislike Jonas Kaufmann, why bother writing about him? We've heard what you have to say already.