Jonas Kaufmann, Tenor
Helmut Deutsch, Piano
Performers
Jonas Kaufmann, Tenor
Helmut Deutsch, Piano
Program
ALL-SCHUBERT PROGRAMDie schöne Müllerin
Encores:
"Der Jüngling an der Quelle," D. 300
"Der Musensohn," D. 764
"Die Forelle," D. 550
"Der Lindenbaum" from Winterreise, D. 911
Event Duration
The printed program will last approximately 90 minutes without intermission. Please note that there will be no late seating.At a Glance
In the poetry of Wilhelm Müller, Schubert found the ideal source for his songwriting. This concert presents the first fruits of this affiliation: the sublime song cycle Die schöne Müllerin of 1823. We should beware of thinking that the cycle is simply a pretty, pastoral love story with an unhappy ending. Schubert intended it to be much more than that: an almost mythical expression of the Romantic idea that true love cannot be realized on earth, but can only find its consummation in death. Wagner would later embrace this theme in Tristan und Isolde, but here, Schubert embodies it with music of more modest dimensions but at least equal profundity.
Bios
Jonas Kaufmann, Tenor
Since his sensational debut at New York’s Metropolitan Opera in La traviata in 2006, Jonas Kaufmann has numbered among the top stars on the operatic horizon. Insiders praise him as the most important German tenor since Fritz Wunderlich.
Mr. Kaufmann comes from Munich, where he completed his vocal studies at the Music Academy. He began his career at the opera houses of Saarbrücken and Stuttgart, and later became a member of the Zürich Opera. He now performs at the world’s leading opera houses, including the Paris Opera, La Scala, Vienna State Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, and Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
As much in demand for Italian and French repertoire as he is for German opera, Mr. Kaufmann’s intense characterizations of Don José in Bizet’s Carmen and the title role in Massenet’s Werther took opera fans by storm. Past performances in New York and London, and his highly acclaimed Puccini recital at La Scala, were broadcast in cinemas worldwide, as was his long-awaited role debut as Otello in Verdi’s opera of the same name at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in June 2017.
Mr. Kaufmann’s versatility is documented on a number of CDs and DVDs in performances of such works as Pagliacci, Cavalleria rusticana, Don Carlo, La forza del destino, Aida, Otello, Tosca, Adriana Lecouvreur, Werther, Carmen, Lohengrin, Die Walküre, Parsifal, Königskinder, and Ariadne auf Naxos. His solo albums are bestsellers only a few weeks after being released; his album Du bist die Welt für mich—which features classic popular tunes of the German Golden Era—even appeared on the pop charts. He has been selected as singer of the year several times by classical music magazines Opernwelt, The Diapason, and Musical America, and by the juries of ECHO Klassik and the inaugural International Opera Awards (London 2013).
Mr. Kaufmann is also a familiar figure worldwide on the concert and recital stage. His partnership with pianist Helmut Deutsch, with whom he worked as far back as his student days in Munich, has proven itself in countless concerts, including his 2011 recital at the Metropolitan Opera; it was the first solo recital given at the Met since Luciano Pavarotti’s in 1994.
Helmut Deutsch, Piano
Although he has performed with leading instrumentalists as a chamber musician, Mr. Deutsch has concentrated primarily on accompanying in song recitals. At the beginning of his career, he worked with soprano Irmgard Seefried and baritone Hermann Prey, whom he accompanied as a permanent partner for 12 years—the most significant collaboration of his early career. Subsequently, Mr. Deutsch has partnered with many of the most distinguished recital singers and performed in the world’s major music centers. His collaborations with Jonas Kaufmann, Diana Damrau, and Michael Volle are currently among his most celebrated.
Mr. Deutsch has recorded more than 100 CDs. In recent years, the development of young talent has been especially close to his heart. After concluding his professorship in Vienna, he continued teaching primarily in Munich at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater, where he worked as professor of song interpretation for 28 years. He serves as visiting professor at various other universities, and is increasingly sought-after for master classes in Europe and Asia.