News

Tosca, live from Munich

As part of “Opera for All” the Bavarian State Opera will be broadcasting the performance of Puccini's Tosca on Saturday, July 27 from 7 pm, with Eleonora Buratto, Jonas Kaufmann and Ludovic Tézier in the leading roles and the Bavarian State Orchestra conducted by Andrea Battistoni. The production is by Kornél Mundruczó. Here is the link to the live stream on Staatsoper.tv
Photo: Wilfried Hösl

Insights: Conversation with Jonas Kaufmann and Antonio Pappano

After over 700 performances in 22 years as Music Director of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Sir Antonio Pappano will bid farewell with a series of performances of Giordano's Andrea Chenier, starring Jonas Kaufmann, Sondra Radvanovsky and Amartuvshin Enkhbat. During the rehearsal period, Pappano and Kaufmann met for another episode of the Insights discussion series. Here is the link to the recording of the event.

La Gioconda, radio broadcast

While Anna Netrebko and Jonas Kaufmann are preparing for the next production of Ponchielli's La Gioconda (at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples), ORF will broadcast the radio recording from the Salzburg Easter Festival production on Saturday, 6 April at 7:30pm. Antonio Pappano conducts the choir and orchestra of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.
Photo: Osterfestspiele Salzburg / Bernd Uhlig

Press reviews

A recording of eternal value
SWR Kultur

A recording that is amongst the finest Parsifals on disc.
The Guardian

Hard to imagine a better vocal cast … Jonas Kaufmann’s performance is breathtaking.
Télérama

Jonas Kaufmann's Parsifal is also unique and unforgettable. … His metamorphosis in Act 2, when he understands his mission and tears himself away from Kundry's voluptuousness, is so violent, so clear-cut, so abrupt, that it leaves an indelible mark on the work's most climactic moment.
Cult news

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 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.

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 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

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 is ill. The concert will be broadcast live in the Philharmoniker's Digital Concert Hall at 17:30, as well as in many cinemas in Europe, click here for the list.
Photo: Monika Rittershaus

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 7, directed by Claus Guth). The performance will be broadcast on tv: ORF 2 on December 16 at 20:15. The radio recording will follow on January 6 at 19:30 on Ö1. photo: Monika Rittershaus

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 like it in New York right now.”
Theatermania

“a rare treat … the theatrical ingenuity and visceral force was so strong that the audience let out an audible gasp of shock”
New York Times

"Park Avenue Armory once again confirms that its Wade Thompson Drill Hall is the most sensational performance space in New York City with the world premiere of Claus Guth’s bold and breathtaking Doppelganger ... Kaufmann is in terrific voice."
This week in New York

Photo (c) Monika Rittershaus