In the residence of the French Embassy in Austria, the Ambassador of the Republic of France, Prof. Dr. Gilles Pécout, presented Jonas Kaufmann with the Ordre de la Légion d’honneur with the rank of Knight on January 12, 2024. In his speech, Pécout said: “France honors a master of his craft who gives the French repertoire an important place on the world’s stages and is beloved by his French audience, who follow him enthusiastically to the world’s great concert halls. (…) It is a great pleasure for me to emphasize the importance of the relationship between Austria, Germany and France by honoring this singer.” Photo: Olivia Renaud
A number of important firsts
There have been some great recordings of Turandot in the past, but this one does not pale in the face of the competition, reads the final sentence of the Financial Times review. The latest studio recording of Turandot, Puccini's spectacular last opera, marks a number of important firsts: Antonio Pappano had never conducted the work before the March 2022 recording sessions in Rome, and neither Sondra Radvanovsky nor Jonas Kaufmann had sung their parts on stage before. This is also the first recording of Turandot to include the entire final scene, completed by Franco Alfano after Puccini's death in 1925. Radvanovsky and Kaufmann are joined by Ermonela Jaho (Liù), Michele Pertusi (Timur), Michael Spyres (Altoum), and the chorus & orchestra of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. The success of the entire project was confirmed by a concert performance that took place a few days after the recording was completed and received a standing ovation. The recording was recently released by Warner Classics. For the making-of video click here.
