Articles linked to Jonas Kaufmann

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Paris Opera, Lissner Season 2: the 2016/2017 Season

At the Opéra de Paris, Stéphane Lissner, like any new director making his ambitions known, was met by sceptics and naysayers lying in wait for him, along with all those who wished him less than well: the success of his first performances quickly swept away all the reservations and banana peels strewn in his path. His success was obvious, hailed by national and international critics and corroborated by the enthusiasm of the audiences filling the halls.This success is of course...


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La Damnation de Faust : genesis of a production with Stéphane Lissner

Early this December, the Opéra de Paris will present La Damnation de Faust, by Hector Berlioz, featuring Sophie Koch (in the role of Marguerite), Jonas Kaufmann (playing Faust) and Bryn Terfel (as Mephistopheles), in a new production designed by Alvis Hermanis. A much-anticipated production because of its prestigious casting, of course, but also because it is intended to be emblematic of the work of the newly appointed Stéphane Lissner, officially at the head of the Paris...


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La Damnation de Faust by Alvis Hermanis : A Fairy Tale and a Voyage of the Mind

Alvis Hermanis is a busy man. With 10 projects running concurrently, and knowing exactly what he will be doing until 2019, the Latvian director is very much in demand. On the operatic stage, he has already worked with the world’s top conductors and singers, and his new production of Hector Berlioz’s ‘‘La Damnation de Faust’’ (as both director and designer) at the Paris Opera, starting Dec, 8, is no different, with the house’s musical director,...


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Fidelio, confronting life’s great questions

Says Helga Rabl-Stadler, president of the Salzburg Festival: ‘‘My favorite part of ‘Fidelio’ is when Leonore comes down to the prison and does not recognize Florestan because he is so starved. Yet she says, ‘Whoever you are, I will rescue you.’ Not because this is her husband, but rather because everyone who has been unjustly imprisoned must be saved. I find this humanistic declaration fantastic.’’ Beethoven’s only opera, with its...


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Jonas Kaufmann: three operas, three roles, three styles

Jonas Kaufmann is probably one of the most solicited performer of the lyrical stages nowadays and after having interpreted recently Don Jose in Carmen in the Orange Choregies, the German tenor will personify Fidelio’s Florestan in a few days in a new production signed by Claus Guth in Salzburg festival, followed by Ramades’ role in Aida, next September in Munich. Three very distinct roles, interpreted in three languages, in three stylistically different iconic operas: a...


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Conversation about Carmen with Jonas Kaufmann and Inva Mula

They say that Carmen is the world’s most popular opera, especially because of its title role, a symbol of freedom and passion.And yet the role takes on meaning only as a counterpoint to those of Don José (the officer passionately smitten with the cigar girl) and Micaela (who tries to bring Don José back to his senses) both of whom are generally considered the representatives of a military order on one hand and a social or familial order on the other.More...