Remembrance service for Franz Beckenbauer

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 […]

Ordre de la Légion d’honneur 

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 […]

New Year’s Eve concert online and live in many cinemas

Wagner on New Year’s Eve: In the first part of the concert, Kirill Petrenko and the Berliner Philharmoniker perform the overture and bacchanal from Tannhäuser, followed by the first act of Die Walküre, with Vida Miknevičiūtė (Sieginde), Jonas Kaufmann (Siegmund) and Tobias Kehrer, who has taken over the role of Hunding for Georg Zeppenfeld, who […]

Turandot on television and radio

Lots of bravos at the Vienna State Opera: Asmik Grigorian in the title role, Jonas Kaufmann as Calaf and Kristina Mkhitaryan as Liu as well as the chorus and orchestra of the Vienna State Opera under the direction of Marco Armiliato received rapturous applause at the premiere of the new production of Puccini’s Turandot (December […]

Doppelgänger

The world premiere of Doppelganger in New York’s Park Avenue Armory – a staged version of Schubert’s Schwanengesang with Jonas Kaufmann and Helmut Deutsch and directed by Claus Guth – has been enthusiastically received by public and press. Here are some voices: ’Doppelganger’ is awesome experimental theater on a grand scale … There’s really nothing […]

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 […]

Role debut “La Gioconda” in Sydney

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 Munich production of “Chenier” on DVD and Blu-ray

“This fast-paced narrative with its realistic dialogue between characters and its emotional arch almost gives one the impression that Giordano would have liked to make a feature film, yet did not yet have the necessary technology at his disposal. In fact, at the same time as this opera was being written and premiered, film was […]

Underlying cause found

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 […]

The Sound of Movies

Great songs from classic movies have been a passion of Jonas Kaufmann throughout his life. His new album The Sound of Movies reflects the singer’s fascination with a selection of popular hits, in a variety of languages, that spans from the Weimar-era Germany (“Ich küsse ihre Hand, Madame” from 1929) to “Bring Him Home” from […]