Jonas Kaufmann – The Verdi Album (2013)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:11:24 minutes | 1,29 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Sony Classical
German tenor Jonas Kaufmann has been laying a strong claim to the legacy of the superstar tenors of the 1980s and 1990s, but until now it hasn’t been completely clear that Verdi, the tenor’s bread and butter, was a fully compelling part of his arsenal. With this release, Kaufmann puts any doubts to rest and steps up in a big way to his signing by the Sony Classical label and its attendant operatic muscle. The sheer ease of Kaufmann’s voice in its upper register is about to get to casual opera fans in a big way (and he’s a bit hipper than Pavarotti or even Domingo ever were), and right now the sky would seem to be the limit to his popularity. Yet there is plenty here for opera scorekeepers to dig their teeth into, and it seems likely that Kaufmann will come out very well with them, too. Consider the high C at the end of “Di quella pira” from Il trovatore: surely few tenors in history have hit it out of the park the way Kaufmann does. There is a good mix of hits from various parts of Verdi’s career and some lesser-known pieces, and the album is all newly performed, not a collection of things recorded at different times. It has a sense of confidence, purpose, and commitment to the text (no soulless technical perfection here), and it’s a joy for listeners at all levels. With recent Wagnerian (and Straussian) triumphs under his belt, Kaufmann seems to be entering a period where he can do pretty much anything and probably will.
Tracklist:
Operas by Giuseppe Verdi:
01. Rigoletto – Atto III, Canzone: “La donna è mobile” [02:21];
02. Aida – Atto I, Scena e romanza: “Se quel guerrier io fossi!… Celeste Aida” [04:43];
Un ballo in maschera:
03. Atto I, Canzone: “Di’ tu se fedele” (feat. Coro del Teatro Municipale di Piacenza) [03:29];
04. Atto III, Scena e romanza: “Forse la soglia attinse… Ma se m’è forza perderti” [05:41];
05. Il Trovatore – Parte III, Scena ed aria: “Ah! sì, ben mio… Di quella pira” (feat. Erika Grimaldi, soprano, as Leonora, Giovanni Gregnanin, tenor, as Ruiz, Coro del Teatro Municipale di Piacenza) [07:52];
06. Luisa Miller – Atto II, Scena ed aria: “Oh! fede negar potessi… Quando le sere al placido” [06:21];
07. Simon Boccanegra – Atto II, Scena ed aria: “O inferno! Amelia qui!… Sento avvampar nell’anima… Cielo pietoso, rendila” [05:56];
08. Don Carlo – Atto II, Scena e duetto: “È lui! desso, l’Infante!… Dio, che nell’alma infondere” (feat. Franco Vassallo, baritone, as Rodrigo and Daniele Cusari, bass, as un frate, Coro del Teatro Municipale di Piacenza) [08:26];
09. La Forza del Destino – Atto III, Scena e romanza: “La vita è inferno all’infelice…O tu, che in seno agli angeli” [10:41];
10. I Masnadieri – Atto III, Scena 2: “Destatevi, o pietre… Giuri ognun questo canuto” (feat. Coro del Teatro Municipale di Piacenza) [04:25];
Otello:
11. Atto III : “Dio! mi potevi scagliar” (feat. Franco Vassallo, baritone, as Jago) [05:14];
12. Atto IV: “Niun mi tema” [06:09];
13. Macbeth – Atto VI: ”O, figli, o figli miei!… Ah, la paterna mano” [04:12].
