Jonas Kaufmann
Mein Wien
A Concert Film and Documentary
Jonas Kaufmann (tenor)
Rachel Willis-Sørensen (soprano)
PKF-Prague Philharmonia/Jochen Reider
rec. live, Vienna Konzerthaus, October 14, 2019
DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1/PCM Stereo; Picture format 16:9
SONY CLASSICAL Blu-ray 19439734029 [97 mins]
As I write this, in December 2020, Jonas Kaufmann is giving music lovers a sugar high with a Christmas album so sweet it will make your teeth fall out. This film celebrating Vienna, while it might be made up of slightly higher brow material, is cut from a very similar cloth, which is not at all inappropriate for the city that invented schmaltz.
The cover advertises it as a “concert film and documentary”, though to call the disc’s spoken element a documentary rather flatters it. It basically shows Kaufmann on holiday, walking up the Kärntner Straße by night, eating sausage from the stall next to the Staatsoper, riding the Ferris wheel in the Prater, and having some white wine in a vineyard. He gives all of this a soupçon of respectability by sharing some random thoughts about operetta while having what looks like a wonderful time. I doubt you’ll learn much from it, beyond Kaufmann’s (hardly original) opinion that operetta isn’t taken nearly seriously enough by the decision makers in the world of music.
The music it the thing, though, and I’ll admit that, for all its sweetness, it rather won me over. After all, the repertoire is first rate music, and only the most self-flagellating musical snob could fail to fall in love with it. Furthermore, there’s variety. Yes, most of the vocal numbers are light-hearted frills in waltz time, but there is a quasi-Parisian raised eyebrow to the non-Strauss numbers, and there’s a touch of seriousness, even a hint of Canio’s “Vesti la giubba”, to the Kálmán song.
Kaufmann is, of course, the main attraction, and it’s fascinating to notice how he approaches this repertoire. For one thing, he throws himself into it, taking it as seriously as he wants others to. More interesting, though, is to notice how much his voice has darkened recently. Hearing him in Johann Strauss he sounds every inch like Hermann Prey, and throughout the concert you could easily imagine that it’s a baritone rather than a tenor singing. Importantly, this really suits his voice. While his facial acting can wear rather thin on film, he sounds fantastic, particularly in the overtly sentimental numbers like Leopoldi’s “In einem kleinen café in Hernals” or, particularly, Sieczyński’s “Wien, Wien nur du allein”. There’s suave sophistication disguised as artlessness, and while you’ll probably never seem him singing one of these complete roles on stage, it’s a special indulgent treat to hear him do them in recital like this.
He is gamely joined for a few numbers by American soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen, who sounds terrific, particularly in the lovely Wiener Blut duet. It’s to her credit, however, that she understands her role as second fiddle, never trying to upstage Kaufmann, and the audience go gratifyingly crazy for her “Vilja-Lied.”
The orchestra play delightfully, too, though there’s a delicious irony to having a Czech orchestra play for a celebration of Vienna. Jochen Rieder directs them with a marvellously persuasive lilt.
So if you still have room for some sugar after Christmas, or if you want to elongate the Viennese New Year, then this disc provides not only some lovely escapism, but a sympathetic window into the operetta tradition that we see opened only too rarely. Those beautiful melodies, so winningly sung and sympathetically played, should melt the heart of any cynic. After all, it worked on even me.
Simon Thompson
Contents:
J. Strauss II: "Draußen in Sievering blüht schon der Flieder" from Die Tänzerin Fanny Elssler
"Dieser Anstand, so manierlich" from Die Fledermaus;
Overtüre, "Sei mir gegrüsst , du holdes Venezia" & “Ach, wie so herrlich zu schaun" from Eine Nacht in Venedig
"Wiener Blut, Wiener Blut" from Wienerblut
Tik-Tak-Polka
Kalman: "Zwei Märchenaugen" from Die Zirkusprinzessin
Lehar: "Es lebt' eine Vilja, ein Waldmägdelein" & "Lippen schweigen" from Die lustige Witwe
Stolz: “Im Prater blühn wieder die Bäume”; Gruß aus Wien Marsch op. 898; “Wien wird bei Nacht erst schön”
Kreuder: “Sag beim Abschied leise Servus”
Kreisler: “Der Tod, das muss ein Wiener sein”
Leopoldi: “In einem kleinen Cafe in Hernals”
May: “Heut ist der schönste Tag in meinem Leben”
Zeller: Arie "Schenkt man sich Rosen in Tirol" from Der Vogelhändler
Sieczynski: Arie "Wien, du Stadt meiner Träume" (Wien, Wien, nur du allein)
