This is the highest profile treat to come my way
so far during the Wagner bicentenary year, and what a treat it is! Jonas
Kaufmann has thus far been fairly cautious in his forays into Wagner,
but they have been thrillingly exciting when they have come. His Wagner
on disc has come through his
Lohengrin
(Munich) and Siegmund (New York) on DVD, as well as some tantalising
passages from
Walküre,
Lohengrin and
Parsifal
on his
Sehnsucht
album. His stage forays into Wagner have been restricted to the more
lyrical heroes that suit his voice type so well. Truth be told, if he
wants to look after his instrument then that’s probably where
he should stay. However, this album gives us some even more tantalising
glimpses into some of those heroes, as well as others that Kaufmann
will probably never take further. It’s a real treat for the ears.
Kaufmann’s Siegmund has turned heads, not least my own in his
recent
recording with Gergiev, because he combines smouldering romantic
ardour with just the right element of heroism. He is hugely exciting
to listen to here. The dark, burnished quality to his voice is one
of the finest selling points of this disc as a whole, but it suits
Siegmund particularly well. The darkness of the voice makes Siegmund’s
long dark night of the soul sound all the more compelling, even dangerous.
The cries of
Wälse! are thrilling, both in their length
and in their tonal colour. Furthermore, he sounds completely desperate,
reminding us both that this character is at his wits’ end and
that Kaufmann is a great vocal actor. The rest of the excerpt, after
the
Wälse section, sounds much more tender and focused,
which makes sense because he is singing about Sieglinde, after all.
It subsides gently towards its end, making this monologue a powerful
journey all by itself. However, he then carries Siegmund’s romantic
ardour into the
Forest Murmurs, meaning that there is none
of the sense of innocence or excited discovery that should really
characterise this extract. It’s magnificently sung and it’s
beautiful to listen to, but it’s not Siegfried! However, the
orchestral playing is fantastic here, all the solos standing out brilliantly
against the shimmering bed of the strings.
Rienzi’s prayer also begins with some beautiful orchestral playing,
floating in gently on the winds. Kaufmann’s singing is superb
here too. He gets the scale of the aria - if you can call it that
- just right and it unfolds majestically before your ears. In this
he is undoubtedly helped by Runnicles who paces it perfectly. He keeps
the orchestra alongside Kaufmann so that he never overwhelms him.
Tannhäuser’s Rome narration is even finer. There is a real
sense of broken heroism to his portrayal of the knight, reminding
us again that this episode sees the character at breaking point. His
weariness at his unsuccessful pilgrimage is evident. At the same time,
however, there is a grandeur to it all, dignifying Tannhäuser’s
suffering. He goes into an almost half-voice when quoting the Pope’s
words of condemnation, which is great acting, but it does mean that
the climax on “verdammt”
is somewhat lost. After
that, however, a palpable sense of mania sets in when he begins to
fantasise about getting back into the Venusberg. The orchestra and
Runnicles seem to be egging him on all the time. It’s fantastic
- for me the finest thing on the disc.
Kaufmann’s Walter is lyrical and sweeping, an interpretation
that builds in waves. Just hearing the narration on its own without
the Prize Song is quite limiting - for that you’ll have to go
to
his
first solo recital disc - but it still sounds lovely. So does
Lohengrin’s Grail Narration, but the difference between this
and the one he gave us on
Sehnsucht
is that on this album we get the extended version with the section
telling us how he came to journey to Elsa’s aid. It hasn’t
been recorded often - only Leinsdorf, Barenboim and Bychkov include
it in their complete recordings - because it tends to hold up the
action. It somewhat dampens the climax after the revelation of his
name, but it’s still compelling to listen to because of the
sense of growth with which Kaufmann endows it.
The other novelty is the
Wesendonck Lieder, which are normally
assigned to a female voice. Kaufmann argues a convincing case that
they can suit the right tenor just as much. He shows the keen ear
for detail that you hear in his other lieder recitals, and he can
inflect a phrase with remarkable depth of meaning. My favourite was
Im Treibhaus, which treads the boundary between pain and beauty
very capably, but the ardour you find in the other songs is just as
compelling.
For me, it’s two thumbs up for this disc, then. I imagine that
many of these pieces Kaufmann will never touch again, but that doesn’t
make the disc any less wonderful musically. It stands as a reminder
of the greatness of both the singer and the composer.
Simon Thompson
See also reviews by Jim
Pritchard and Ralph
Moore
