Review – Jonas Kaufmann at the Salzburg Festival: Love Songs and Gossip Lessons | News and criticism | BR CLASSIC
Review – Jonas Kaufmann at the Salzburg Festival
Love songs and gossip lessons
08/08/2022 by Bernhard Neuhoff
The art song has a hard time: recitals, 50 years ago still one of the most popular classical concert forms, have been selling sluggishly for a long time. It’s completely different when Jonas Kaufmann appears. At the Salzburg Festival, singers, accompanied by Helmut Deutsch, performed romantic love songs in front of a full house. Does he like it?
Bildquelle: SF / Marco Borrelli
Die Kritik zum Anhören
Das Große Festspielhaus hat 2.179 Sitzplätze und eine 30 Meter breite Bühne im CinemaScope-Breitwandformat. Ist dieser 900 Quadratmeter umfassende Riesensaal der richtige Ort für geflüsterte Liebesgeständnisse? Ein Liederabend ist etwas Intimes. Schließlich geht es um Lyrik, feinste Zwischentöne und Konzentration ohne Ablenkung. Und leider – aber das ist ein Missverständnis – hat diese Konzertform auch ein leicht elitäres Image. Jonas Kaufmann definiert sie etwas anders. Auf eine unangestrengte und absolut stimmige Weise macht er aus dem Liederabend – in diesem Fall müsste es eigentlich Liedernachmittag heißen – etwas im besten Sinne Populäres. Und das, ohne den Liedern, diesen empfindlichen Gebilden, irgendetwas zuzumuten, was ihnen unangemessen wäre.
Lieder sind keine Miniopern
Zusammen mit seinem langjährigen Liedbegleiter und Berater Helmut Deutsch hat er zwei Programmhälften mit romantischen Liebesliedern zusammengestellt. Die erste Hälfte ist bunt: Von Beethovens “Adelaide” geht es über Schumann, Brahms und Grieg bis Strauss. Nach der Pause gibt es dann ausschließlich Franz Liszt. Dessen Lieder sind relativ wenig bekannt, obwohl er in diesem Genre einige seiner schönsten und inspiriertesten Stücke komponiert hat. Von Opernsängern, die gelegentlich auch mal Liederabende geben, ohne dass sie sich darauf spezialisiert haben (und genau so einer ist Jonas Kaufmann), hört man manchmal die Behauptung, Lieder seien ja eigentlich kleine Miniopern. Das ist natürlich falsch. Opern erzählen Dramen mit verteilten Rollen. In Liedern geht es um etwas völlig anderes: um Lyrik, um Gedichte, nicht um Rollenspiel.
1/4
Jonas Kaufmann and Helmut Deutsch at a song recital together
Image source: SF / Marco Borrelli
2/4
Jonas Kaufmann gives a song recital in Salzburg
Image source: SF / Marco Borrelli
3/4
Jonas Kaufmann and Helmut Deutsch have been working together for years
Image source: SF / Marco Borrelli
4/4
Jonas Kaufmann teaches the audience when to clap.
Image source: SF / Marco Borrelli
Merchant, the communicator
Jonas Kaufmann occasionally uses his voice in an operatic way – but only if the composers intended it that way. But he always observes the limits of the genre with a fine feeling. Of course he stands there, without any trace of acting, he lets the music and poetry speak for themselves. Under he makes full use of his dynamic possibilities: he likes to impress with his mighty forte, which is perfectly fine with this repertoire – Liszt writes more extroverted and closer to the opera than Schubert. But Jonas Kaufmann also goes back to a breathtaking pianissimo – and forces the often quite restless audience to be as quiet as a mouse. What this does not always succeed. When latecomers noisily enter the hall between two songs, Kaufmann seizes the opportunity and addresses the audience. He thanks you for the many applause – and asks you not to clap after every song if possible. He says that very appreciatively, not in a lecturing manner. And soon it will be fine. Only a few enthusiastic fans clapped again at the beginning of the next song.
More from the Salzburg Festival?
Read here the BR-KLASSIK reviews of Puccini’s “Trittico”, Mozart’s “Magic Flute”, the concert with Daniil Trifonov and much more.
The text at Kaufmann is easy to understand
Which is really a pity, because Kaufmann still sings very cultivated. Of course you always know that this voice is actually made for the great Italian opera and the moderately difficult Wagner roles. But Kaufmann has a very well supported piano in the high register. Its head register sounds full and natural. However, there are certain problems in the high range at medium volume. Because then he takes his chest voice up, which costs energy and doesn’t always sound round and relaxed.
Helmut Deutsch has been one of the song accompanists for centuries. | Image Credit: Shirley Suarez
The ease of understanding the text is fantastic. Every word is present without the slightest consonant spitting, even over the considerable distances of this gigantic hall. Helmut Deutsch on the grand piano seems to anticipate every spontaneous movement of his singer – sometimes it seems as if he already knows a tenth of a second in advance what he is about to do. Yes, romantic art songs are one of the most beautiful and emotional forms of making music. And the concentration that this demands when singing, playing and listening is richly rewarded. Jonas Kaufmann manages in a convincing way to inspire a really large audience. For that alone he deserves his praise.
Broadcast: “Allegro” on August 8, 2022 from 6:05 a.m. on BR-KLASSIK.