The remembrance service for star German soccer player Franz Beckenbauer was held at the Allianz Arena in Munich on Friday, January 19th. Jonas Kaufmann was invited to perform three pieces: Time to say Goodbye (in the Italian version Con te partiro) as well as E più ti penso and Nessun dorma. In a personal statement, Jonas Kaufmann added: “It is an honor for me to be able to contribute to the unique memorial service for Franz Beckenbauer. I grew up in Munich and have been a fan of FC Bayern since my childhood. In my eyes, Franz Beckenbauer is the greatest personality of the club and of German soccer as a whole; he is unrivaled as a sportsman and as a person.”
The service was broadcast live on ARD, BR, ZDF, RTL and ntv; the video can be watched in the ZDF Mediathek til February 19.
Arena di Verona Gala Concert
For the centenary of the Verona Opera Festival, Jonas Kaufmann gave a gala concert in the Arena on August 20th. With his colleagues Sonya Yoncheva and Ludovic Tézier and accompanied by the Orchestra della Fondazione Arena di Verona conducted by Jochen Rieder, he performed arias and duets from Tosca, Otello and Andrea Chenier in the first half, and evergreens by Franz Lehar and Leonard Bernstein as well as famous film songs such as "Nella fantasia" (Ennio Morricone, The Misson) "Nelle tue mani" (Hans Zimmer, Gladiator) in the second half. The concert was recorded and highlights were first shown on September 3rd on ZDF. This version is available in the ZDF mediathek until March next year. An extended version with scenes from Otello and Andrea Chenier will be presented on September 16th on 3sat. The full concert will be shown in many cinemas in UK on October 12th, and in over 180 cinemas in GSA on October 22nd. (c) EnneviPhoto
