Jonas Kaufmann

Born in Munich, tenor Jonas Kaufmann is internationally recognized as one of the most important artists of our day, and has received the highest acclaim in the world’s greatest opera houses, on the concert platform, and in recital. Commanding an unusually wide repertoire of varying periods, styles and languages, his debuts as Lohengrin in Munich’s new production in 2009 as well as at the Bayreuth Festival in the same role in 2010 were met with the highest critical and public acclaim, as were his first performances of Massenet’s Werther in 2010 at the Paris Opera, and his debut as Cavaradossi in Tosca at the Royal Opera Covent Garden in 2008 under Antonio Pappano. He has since sung Tosca at the Metropolitan Opera, Vienna State Opera, La Scala, Milan, Deutsche Oper Berlin, as well as in Munich and Zurich. Kaufmann opened the 2009/2010 La Scala season in another one of his most famous roles, Don Jose in a new Carmen conducted by Daniel Barenboim. His first performances of the role had also taken place at the Royal Opera Covent Garden with Pappano and he has since been acclaimed as Jose internationally.

Jonas Kaufmann began his 2011/2012 season with his debut at the Royal Swedish Opera, Stockholm in a Gala honoring Jussi Bjoerling. After appearing with Daniel Barenboim in recital in Berlin and in a concert of Liszt’s Faust Symphony, Kaufmann returned to the Metropolitan Opera, first for a recital in October and then in the title role of a new production of Gounod’s Faust. He also appeared at Carnegie Hall in Opera Orchestra’s performance of Adriana Lecouvreur. In the spring of 2012 he will return for a revival of Die Walkuere. Kaufmann will make his debut as Enee in Berlioz’s Les Troyens in a new production of the work conducted by Antonio Pappano and staged by David McVicar at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden. He will also sing Don Carlos in his native Munich, Faust at the Vienna State Opera and stars at the Salzburg Easter Festival in a new production of Carmen under Sir Simon Rattle. Kaufmann will appear during the 2012 Salzburg Summer Festival in this role as well as in his debut as Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos. Kaufmann joins the Birmingham Symphony on tour with Andris Nelsons in concerts in Paris, Vienna, Baden Baden, Munich and Birmingham, and sings Das Lied von Der Erde under Rattle in Salzburg. At the end of the season he will join the orhcestra and chorus of La Scala under Daniel Barenboim for concerts of the Verdi Requiem in Salzburg and Luzern. Kaufmann will also sing operatic concerts in, London, Athens, San Juan, Brussels, La Perelada and Essen, and will be heard in recital in Berlin, Vienna, Paris, Munich , and at Baden- Baden .

In the 2010/2011 season Jonas Kaufmann added two roles to his already wide repertoire, appearing as Maurizio in Adriana Lecouvreur at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden and Deutsche Oper Berlin, and in his first Siegmund in the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Die Walkuere conducted by James Levine. Other highlights of the past season included a new production of Fidelio in Munich under Daniele Gatti and staged by Calixto Beito. He returned to both to the Royal Opera and La Scala in Tosca and to the Vienna State Opera in Werther, Kaufmann also sang Florestan in Fidelio for the Palau de les Arts in Valencia in June 2011 and then made his debut at the Mariinsky in St Petersburg in a concert of Die Walkuere under Valery Gergiev. During the course of the season, Kaufmann appeared in recital with Helmut Deutsch in Paris, Frankfurt, Seville, Vienna, Munich, London, Copenhagen, Zurich, Berkeley and Los Angeles. In the summer of 2011, he joined Anna Netrebko and Erwin Schrott for concerts in Munich, Vienna and at the Waldbuehne Berlin.

Jonas Kaufmann completed his musical studies in his native Munich where he participated in masterclasses with James King, Hans Hotter and Joseph Metternich. He subsequently continued his vocal training with American baritone, Michael Rhodes. He began his professional career at the Staatstheater Saarbruecken in 1994 and was soon invited to make debuts in important German theaters such as the Stuttgart Opera and Hamburg State Opera, as well as for international debuts at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Paris Opera, both as Cassio in Otello, and at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan as Jacquino in Fidelio under Riccardo Muti. He made his Salzburg Festival debut in 1999 in a new production of Busoni’s Dr. Faust and returned there in 2003 as Belmonte. His debut at the Theatre Royale de la Monnaie was in the same role, and he was subsequently heard there in the title role in Berlioz’s Damnation de Faust under Antonio Pappano. Kaufmann sang Tamino in Die Zauberfloete at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, Vienna State Opera and Metropolitan Opera; Wilhelm Meister in Thomas’s Mignon in Toulouse, and Jenik in The Bartered Bride in Frankfurt.

In 2001, Kaufmann began a close association with the Zurich Opera which proved very important for his artistic development. He appeared there in several new productions including Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea , Idomeneo, La Clemenza di Tito, Schubert’s Fierrabras, Humperdinck’s Koenigskinder, Carmen and Tosca , and also as Tamino in Die Zauberfloete, Ferrando in Cosi Fan Tutte a Belmonte, as well as the Duke in Rigoletto, the title role in Gounod’s Faust, and Florestan in Fidelio. These were followed in 2006 by his debut in Wagner’s Parsifal and first Don Carlos in 2007. In 2006 Kaufmann also sang his first Walther von Stolzing in a concert performance of Die Meistersinger at the Edinburgh Festival conducted by David Robertson. Hehad previously been heard in Edinburgh as Max in Der Freischuetz under Sir Charles Mackerras.

The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden has occupied an important place for Kaufmann. He first appeared there as Ruggero in La Rondine opposite Angela Gheorghiu and subsequently sang the title of Don Carlo in the fall of 2009 under Seymon Bychkov, as well as Alfredo in La Traviata with Anna Netrebko, in Tosca and in the new productions of Carmen and Adriana Lecouvreur. Kaufmann debuted at the Metropolitan Opera as Alfredo and has also sung this role at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Bavarian State Opera, Opera-Bastille, Teatro alla Scala, and the Zurich Opera. Kaufmann returned to Chicago to open the 2008 season with his first Des Grieux in Massenet’s Manon, where he was partnered by Natalie Dessay. He also sang this role in Vienna. Other notable productions in recent seasons have also included Fidelio for the Opera de Paris, the revival of Humperdinck’s rarely performed Koenigskinder in Zurich, Rodolfo in La Boheme at the Berlin State Opera under Gustav Dudamel and in Zurich, and appearances as the Italian Tenor in Der Rosenkavalier at Baden- Baden under Christian Thielemann. .In the summer of 2010 he joined Claudio Abbado and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra for concert performances of Fidelio at the 2010 Luzern festival.

Jonas Kaufmann has appeared with many of the world’s leading conductors and orchestras. Among these engagements are performances with the Berlin Philharmonic under both Sir Simon Rattle and Nikolaus Harnoncourt, the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra under Franz Welser-Möst and the Vienna Philharmonic under Helmut Rilling. In the summer of 2007, he sang Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 in Luzern under Claudio Abaddo and subsequently made his Carnegie Hall Debut in October of 2007 with the same work. In 2008, he also performed with the Cleveland Symphony in Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with Franz Welser-Möst In December of 2009, he performed Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Munich Philharmonic under Christian Thielemann He has sung Verdi’s Requiem under Daniel Barenboim with La Scala in Milan and Paris, with the Berlin Philharmonic at the Salzburg Easter Festival under Mariss Jansons, and in Zurich with Daniele Gatti. He also sang Brahm’s rarely performed Rinaldo with the Berlin Philharmonic under Claudio Abbado in May of 2010.. Kaufmann dedicates part of each season to appear in recital, partnered by Helmut Deutsch. His most recent recital tour included appearances in Paris, Vienna, Zurich, Copenhagen and at both the Munich and Salzburg Festivals. His solo concerts have taken him throughout Europe and also include his debut in concert with Dmitri Hvorostovsky in Moscow and a concert with Angela Gheorgiu in Abu Dhabi.

In January 2008, Jonas Kaufmann’s first solo album for DECCA titled Romantic Arias became an immediate international best seller. The release was followed in February of 2008 by solo operatic concerts in Munich and Hamburg and in 2009 in Paris, Athens, Berlin, and Moscow. His second solo album, Sehnsucht, a collection of German Opera Arias with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra conducted by Claudio Abbado has been acclaimed internationally. This was followed by Schubert’s Die Schoene Muellerin with Helmut Deutsch. His most recent release, Verismo Arias, was recorded with Antonio Pappano with the orchestra of the Santa Cecilia in Rome. Jonas Kaufmann’s discography also includes Madama Butterfly opposite Angela Gheorghiu and conducted by Antonio Pappano for EMI, Fidelio with Claudio Abbado for Decca , Weber’s Oberon on DGG under Sir John Eliot Gardiner, and a disc of Richard Strauss Lieder on Harmonia Mundi. He can also be seen in many other DVD’s including the Lohengrin from Munich, Werther from Paris, La Clemenza di Tito, Fierrabras, Fidelio, Paisiello’s Nina, and Tosca from the Zurich Opera and Carmen from the Royal Opera.

SEASON 2011/2012
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