Jonas Kaufmann Interview
Tom Service presents an extended interview with tenor Jonas Kaufmann. Tom meets Kaufmann as he starts rehearsals for Jonathan Kent's new staging of Puccini's Manon Lescaut.
Presented by Tom Service. This edition of Music Matters is given to an extended interview with Jonas Kaufmann, acclaimed by the New York Times as "currently the most in-demand, versatile and exciting tenor in opera". Tom meets Kaufmann in London, as he starts rehearsals for Jonathan Kent's new staging of Puccini's Manon Lescaut at Covent Garden.
Last on
Jonas Kaufmann
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 met Kaufmann in London, after a day鈥檚 rehearsals for Jonathan Kent's new production of Puccini's Manon Lescaut at the Royal Opera House.
听
Born in Munich in 1969 into a musical family, Kaufmann鈥檚 early memories include his grandfather playing Wagner at the piano, and listening with his older sister to his father鈥檚 LP collection of symphonic works by Mahler, Bruckner and Shostakovich. It was his childhood experiences in choirs though which started a love of singing, and after a spell studying mathematics at university he switched to vocal studies at the Music Academy in Munich. Unsure of his chances of success at the top level (the stages of La Scala and The Met seemed 鈥渁s remote as the moon鈥�), and struggling to come to terms with his voice, Kaufmann鈥檚 first big break came in the role of Jaquino in Beethoven鈥檚 Fidelio at La Scala in 1998. Since then he has conquered stages all over the world, and gathered legions of fans eager to catch his performances in the operas of Mozart, Giordano, Puccini, Bizet, Verdi and Wagner.
听
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鈥檚 song-cycle Winterreise with pianist Helmut Deutsch, his former professor at the Munich Academy 鈥� 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.
听
More information:
Credits
| Role | Contributor |
|---|---|
| Presenter | Tom Service |
| Interviewed Guest | Jonas Kaufmann |
Broadcast
- Sat 31 May 2014 12:15麻豆社 Radio 3
Featured in...
![]()
One-to-ones—Music Matters
In-depth interviews with leading figures in classical music.
![]()
Singers—Music Matters
Vocalists, from opera house to concert hall.
![]()
Music Matters Interviews—Music Matters
A collection of interviews from Music Matters on Radio 3
Knock on wood 鈥� six stunning wooden concert halls around the world
Steel and concrete can't beat good old wood to produce the best sounds for music.
The evolution of video game music
Tom Service traces the rise of an exciting new genre, from bleeps to responsive scores.
Why music can literally make us lose track of time
Try our psychoacoustic experiment to see how tempo can affect your timekeeping abilities.
Podcast
-
![]()
Music Matters
The stories that matter, the people that matter, the music that matters
