On August 9th and 12th Jonas Kaufmann was heard at the Sydney Opera House in two concert performances of Ponchielli’s La Gioconda. This was his debut in the role of Enzo Grimaldi. His partners were Vitalij Kowaljow (Alvise), Agnieszka Rehlis (Laura), Saioa Hernández (Gioconda), the conductor Pinchas Steinberg (group photo from left to right). After the second performance, Kaufmann and Tézier gave a CD and book signing in the opera house.
For several months, I have been struggling with coughing and excessive mucus during my performances. This viscous secretion led to increased irritation when singing and to fatigue of the respiratory muscles. Various attempts to solve this issue were unfortunately unsuccessful, resulting in being repeatedly forced to cancel opera performances and concerts. Last week, I was diagnosed with a multi-resistant germ infection, and prescribed a high dosage of antibiotics with the corresponding possible side effects. The first concert after I started taking antibiotics (Waldbühne Berlin) went surprisingly well, but since Monday the side effects, which were initially only mild, have increased so much so that I’m not able to sing. Therefore, it will unfortunately not be possible for me to perform for the duration of the treatment, and so it is with a heavy heart that I have to cancel the performances in Paris, Aix-en-Provence and Regensburg. Although I am very disappointed, I am glad to have finally found the cause of this persistent issue, and now I only have to give my body the necessary rest to cope with this infection, in order to be completely healthy again.
Update from 24 July:
As I had very much hoped to be able to sing the recital on Tuesday, I met with Helmut Deutsch yesterday to go over our programme. Unfortunately, I came to the realization that I am not yet able to sing for an entire evening. The voice is fine, but I feel that my body has not yet recovered from the strong after-effects of the antibiotics and still needs rest. Therefore, unfortunately, I have no choice but to postpone the recital until next year.
Jonas Kaufmann
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