# What's so special about Jonas Kaufmann?



## Herkku (Apr 18, 2010)

I watched Massenet's Werther with Jonas Kaufmann and Sophie Koch. I am not impressed. I thoyght of writing a review of it but I am afraid that it could lead to public stoning or other unpleasant things, because he is so celebrated. In addition to this I saw in TV a Tosca with Kaufmann, Mattila and Uusitalo. Well, he was the best of this trio, but that doesn't account for much. I don't know what to think of a singer who leaves me quite untouched in "Pourquoi me réveiller, ô souffle du printemps?"

So, tell me what all the fuss is about!


----------



## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Herkku said:


> I watched Massenet's Werther with Jonas Kaufmann and Sophie Koch. I am not impressed. I thoyght of writing a review of it but I am afraid that it could lead to public stoning or other unpleasant things, because he is so celebrated. In addition to this I saw in TV a Tosca with Kaufmann, Mattila and Uusitalo. Well, he was the best of this trio, but that doesn't account for much. I don't know what to think of a singer who leaves me quite untouched in "Pourquoi me réveiller, ô souffle du printemps?"
> 
> So, tell me what all the fuss is about!


Dunno, his looks maybe? Some of the ladies here are rather fond of him.


----------



## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Herkku said:


> I watched Massenet's Werther with Jonas Kaufmann and Sophie Koch. I am not impressed. I thoyght of writing a review of it but I am afraid that it could lead to public stoning or other unpleasant things, because he is so celebrated. In addition to this I saw in TV a Tosca with Kaufmann, Mattila and Uusitalo. Well, he was the best of this trio, but that doesn't account for much. I don't know what to think of a singer who leaves me quite untouched in "Pourquoi me réveiller, ô souffle du printemps?"
> 
> So, tell me what all the fuss is about!


You should consider yourself lucky that mamascarlatti is on safari & in an internet-free zone otherwise I think she'd be first in the stoning queue. 

I think his voice is amazing & he's gorgeous as well but maybe it's a woman thing.

What red-blooded female could resist these two?


----------



## violadamore2 (Mar 6, 2010)

*Color of the voice*

For me, and I'm no a woman, Kaufmann's appeal is the way he can color his voice from the full frontal forte to the mezza-voce caress. The light head voice gives me goosebumps.

The best sopranos use these techniques and I'm glad to hear them in a man's voice.

Thomas Hampson can do these things also.

Don't feel bad about not likeing Kaufmann. I can never stand to listen to Paverotti bleating along in mono-chrome.


----------



## Herkku (Apr 18, 2010)

I don't deny his fine technique. Especially, I like his piano-pianissimo singing - not many tenors bother to sing quietly. I like his voice in a general way. It's just that it touches my brain, not my heart. After watching his Werther I listened to Domingo in the same role (in my favourite recording with Fassbaender) and even in the first acts (where nothing much happens musically or dramatically) I felt my heart melting. I suppose it's a matter of personal taste, but even taste sounds something that you can decide upon, and this is something deeper, coming from the unconscious.


----------



## scytheavatar (Aug 27, 2009)

Uh.... there exists spinto/dramatic tenors at the moment that's better than Kaufmann? I can't think of any....


----------



## antoniolopes (Feb 28, 2010)

No way. José Cura has an even more dramatic, darker timbre, but his is a difficult voice, no match technically for Kaufmann.


----------



## antoniolopes (Feb 28, 2010)

scytheavatar said:


> Uh.... there exists spinto/dramatic tenors at the moment that's better than Kaufmann? I can't think of any....


No way. José Cura has an even more dramatic, darker timbre, but his is a difficult voice, no match technically for Kaufmann. The only recent tenor I can think of with that kind of sound and an incredible tessitura for a dramatic voice is James King.


----------



## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

He's plugging his new CD and it seems to be generating lots of interest


----------



## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

In addition to the power of his voice and his ability to color it, I've got to mention his acting. I saw him as Faust in the Met HD broadcast about three years ago, and he really is an exceptional actor. Also, I think he looks Romantic -- i.e. his looks recall those German Romantics like Beethoven -- which I think a lot of women find appealing (I do, anyway.).


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

A very fine singer. His voice is quite remarkable. His Florestan for Abaddo is the one reason I keep that Fidelio. He's also quite a fine actor with plenty of stage presence. I've got him on DVD in Tosca and in Carmen and acquits himself very well. I just wonder what these critics want from a singer?


----------



## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

sospiro said:


> You should consider yourself lucky that mamascarlatti is on safari & in an internet-free zone otherwise I think she'd be first in the stoning queue.
> 
> I think his voice is amazing & he's gorgeous as well but maybe it's a woman thing.
> 
> What red-blooded female could resist these two?


And that's why men rule the world.


----------



## gardibolt (May 22, 2015)

I'm really enjoying the Blu-ray of Parsifal starring him. He's quite talented. It should be no surprise that when you combine that with good looks there's a flurry of excitement about him. Worse ways to get someone interested in classical music.


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

DavidA said:


> A very fine singer. His voice is quite remarkable. His Florestan for Abaddo is the one reason I keep that Fidelio. He's also quite a fine actor with plenty of stage presence. I've got him on DVD in Tosca and in Carmen and acquits himself very well. I just wonder what these critics want from a singer?


For the ones who doesn't understand: listing and learn

.


----------



## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/classical-music/last-night-proms-review/

"Then came a Proms "first", as heart-throb German tenor Jonas Kaufmann was pelted with some rather classy lady's knickers, after his heroic, ringing performance of three Puccini arias. "


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Morimur said:


> And that's why men rule the world.


Why? To take revenge on women for preferring a handsome, intelligent, sensitive, articulate artist to the paunchy, grunting, beer-guzzling couch potatoes they married?


----------



## Diminuendo (May 5, 2015)

For me the best tenor we have today. I like his voice and his acting. I really liked the Met Werther with Koch. His piano singing is quite something. For me he does it a bit differently than others. If I get depressed on the state of singers today, I just listen some Kaufmann and remember that not all is lost.


----------



## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

I have to agree with the OP about Kaufmann's _Werther_. But I think it is because this mega talent was miscast as the simpering, weakling and it didn't become his usual hero roles.  What a waste of talent to offer him that part.
But you cannot go by this one production, a character I have to admit, annoys the hell out of me.
Everything else Kaufmann has done has been exemplary. His diminuendos are enviable and rare when it comes to tenors. (Offhand, though I am sure there are others, I can only think of Di Stefano and Corelli who shared this talent and they are now gone). 
His body language alone is a show in itself and his voice, though not of the spinto type I happen to prefer, is a tour de force in the dramatic tenor opera category. And he certainly is eye candy.
He'd make such a stunning Otello that I hope I am still standing upright to be able to appreciate his interpretation which will be fabulous.
We should all give thanks that this meg atalent came by in our lifetime.


----------



## liloloperaluv (Apr 10, 2015)

Belowpar said:


> http://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/classical-music/last-night-proms-review/
> 
> "Then came a Proms "first", as heart-throb German tenor Jonas Kaufmann was pelted with some rather classy lady's knickers, after his heroic, ringing performance of three Puccini arias. "


Kaufmann is not the first "classical" musician to receive such tributes...Franz Liszt is said to have inspired the ladies in the same way. Back then, those were substantial knickers compared to today. He might have had to duck and can't imagine twirling them about. LOL


----------



## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

nina foresti said:


> I have to agree with the OP about Kaufmann's _Werther_. But I think it is because this mega talent was miscast as the simpering, weakling and it didn't become his usual hero roles.


To call Werther a simpering weakling is to misunderstand both the role and the whole of the Romantic movement. Goethe's Werther in many ways sums up the Romantic age. Its subtitle is _Die Leiden des jungen Werther_ and please note the adjective "young". When we are young, we feel the pangs more deeply than when we do as we get older. Unrequited or unfulfilled first love can seem a pain too great to bear, and many of the German Romantic poets and composers reflect this pain. Just think of Schubert's settings of Wilhelm Muller's _Die schone Mullerin_ and _Winterreise_ (of which Kaufmann has made a very interesting recording, by the way) or Schumann's settings of Heine's _Dichterliebe_. These have a close affinity with Goethe's Werther, and Massenet's opera is one of the most successful French settings of Goethe, certainly one that the Germans respect more than, say Gounod's *Faust*, which they used to rechristen _Margarethe_ after the heroine.


----------



## LouisMasterMusic (Aug 28, 2013)

sospiro said:


> He's plugging his new CD and it seems to be generating lots of interest


Listened to it last Friday...pure bliss!


----------



## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

because he has a sexy, dark lower register like a baritone and a middle register which is...actually supported.


----------



## Annied (Apr 27, 2017)

As a lyric tenor lover, he's not one of my favourites, but I always enjoy watching documentaries featuring him. He pops up regularly on the ones on German television and comes across as a very down to earth likeable guy. Makes me quite sorry that his voice just doesn't do it for me personally.


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> because he has a sexy, dark lower register like a baritone and a middle register which is...actually supported.


And not forget he's drop dead gorgeous .


----------



## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

Pugg said:


> And not forget he's drop dead gorgeous .


I mean he's handsome for an opera singer, but let's not take it too far Pugg! Lol


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Bonetan said:


> I mean he's handsome for an opera singer, but let's not take it too far Pugg! Lol


I've seen worse, in and out the theatre.


----------



## Scopitone (Nov 22, 2015)

Watch him at the end, around 2:55-3:14. How can you not like the guy?


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Scopitone said:


> Watch him at the end, around 2:55-3:14. How can you not like the guy?


You mean the boxer shorts I presume?


----------



## Scopitone (Nov 22, 2015)

Pugg said:


> You mean the boxer shorts I presume?


Ummm, no. I just meant how proud he is of himself - in a good way. :lol:


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Scopitone said:


> Ummm, no. I just meant how proud he is of himself - in a good way. :lol:


If I could sing half way the way he does, I would be proud of myself.... 
( The boxer short is hilarious)


----------



## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Scopitone said:


> Watch him at the end, around 2:55-3:14. How can you not like the guy?


well, in this clip, because he's singing that dreadful aria.....


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

​
Happy Birthday Jonas .

​


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Buy it, stream it, steal it, must have!:angel:


----------

