Music : Romantic Arias

Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0028947599661
Label: Decca
Manufacturer: Decca
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Decca
Release Date: March 11, 2008
Studio: Decca
Sales Rank: 4059
MPN: 001083702

Disc 1:

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Editorial Review:

Product Description:
Jonas Kaufmann is without question the most versatile tenor of his generation, and his current repertoire includes an astonishing range of opera roles from Mozart to Wagner. He is also a celebrated Lieder interpreter, equally at home on the concert platform. His Decca Debut album celebrates a luscious range of Romantic opera arias, showcasing the astonishing diversity of his voice.

Jonas Kaufmann has made stunning debuts in many of the world's leading opera houses in recent seasons. For example, to fabulous acclaim he appeared as Alfredo in La Traviata at the Metropolitan Opera and Chicago Lyric Opera - "smoothly burnished, beautifully focused... and always disarmingly musical" (New York Magazine). He was Don Jose in the 2007 new production of Carmen at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden - "superb" (The Guardian).

Romantic Arias includes opera favorites by the Italian giants Verdi and Puccini, by French greats Berlioz and Bizet, and by Wagner, the epitome of German Romanticism. Kaufmann responds to each composer with seductive ease.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Tenor Arias for Mediocre Baritone
Some very distinguished tenors started out as baritones. Such was the case with the great Carlo Bergonzi who retained a warm Caruso like baritonal timbre in his voice while still hitting ringing, spinto high B-flats and singing in sweet head voice and mezza voce. Ramón Vinay also began his career as a baritone, becoming a gifted heroic tenor before returning to the baritone repetoire as his voice darkened with age.

Unfortunately, Kaufmann is not cut from the same cloth. With some ... Read More

Rating:

- A fine large-voiced tenor at work
Jonas Kaufmann is what I would call a big voiced tenor--along the lines of Franco Corelli or Richard Tucker (I'm not saying he's that good yet--but his voice is powerful!). The liner notes begin by noting that many of us want to compartmentalize tenors--"He's a Puccini tenor," He's a Mozart tenor," "He's a Wagnerian tenor." The notes then say that ". . .Jonas Kaufmann resists [this tendency], uncompromisingly maintaining his remarkable versatility." Versatile indeed! This CD ranges from Puccini to ... Read More

Rating:

- A Promising, Committed Artist with a wonderful Voice
Large-voiced tenors are in short supply today, a phenomenon that most likely traces its origin to the vocal education system that stresses importance on the purity of tone so favored in Mozart and Handel's operas that are in such a vogue in today's classical music scene. However beautiful and well-controlled many of today's tenor voices are, this does not produce the thrilling electricity that you can get from voices that once rang full and true in a manner similar to that of the singers from an earlier ... Read More

Rating:

- Well done
Mr. Kaufmann has a nice voice, the high registrer sounds different than the low, but any way he has his own style and as result it's a good interpretation!

Well Done!!

Rating:

- Unique voice
Some may not like Kaufmann's voice, but as an ex-baritone turned tenor, I really enjoy his voice. It will also be helpful to have a native German recording to share with my diction class.

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