Jonas Kaufmann brings intimacy of art songs, grandeur of opera

Ten years have passed since Jonas Kaufmann's triumphant Korea debut, a performance that garnered over 30 curtain calls and five encores. Next month, the celebrated tenor returns to Seoul, presenting two concerts -- one dedicated to German lieder, or art songs, and one focused on opera arias.

On March 4, Kaufmann will present a program that reflects his deep, decadeslong passion for German lieder, a genre he describes as having a unique status in the music world. Featuring works by Schumann, Brahms, Liszt and Richard Strauss, his performance will offer a journey through the Romantic era.

“The German song repertoire has a special status in the music world because it ideally combines great composers such as Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Liszt and Strauss with such important poets as Goethe, Heine and Eichendorff,” Kaufmann said in a recent e-mail interview.

As a native German speaker, Kaufmann possesses a distinct advantage in interpreting these works. “For me as a native speaker, it’s of course much easier to grasp the special colors and subtleties given by the poems and to 'translate' them into singing." However, he added that emotional connection transcends language, citing the numerous successful non-native German singers who have excelled in German lieder.

Kaufmann's emotional connection to lieder was ignited by pianist Helmut Deutsch, his teacher at the University of Music in Munich, who has been accompanying him on the piano for over 30 years.

Performing opera and lieder requires different mindsets. "As much as I love to perform opera, to transform myself into the character I have to portray, I must say that performing lieder is the ne plus ultra of singing," Kaufmann explained. He added that a full-length lieder recital is vocally and interpretively more challenging than an operatic role, demanding a constant shift of persona and detailed work with color, nuance and dynamics. "If everything works," he said, "then a lieder recital can time and again provide audiences with ‘the magic of the moment.'"

Kaufmann noted that opera has the power to change lives. "Opera certainly is the most elaborate art form existing," he said, "and at its best, it can have the power to change your life." He highlighted the emotional impact of climactic arias such as "Nessun Dorma" and asserted that opera singers hold the key to unlocking human hearts. "Opera is emotion in its most intense form. For this reason alone, we should try our very best to keep this form of art alive,” he added.

On March 7, Kaufmann will offer a selection of well-known arias from operas ranging from "Recondita Armonia" from Puccini's "Tosca" and "Nessun Dorma" from Puccini's "Turandot" to "La fleur que tu m'avais jetee" from Bizet's "Carmen" and "Un di all'azzurro spazio" from Giordano's "Andrea Chenier." He will be accompanied by the Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra, led by conductor Jochen Rieder.

Kaufmann, who has maintained his position as a top tenor throughout his 30-year career, emphasized "mindfulness -- not just in terms of vocal and physical health, but in general." This includes knowing when to say "no" to tempting roles and being one's own harshest critic, he said.

Asked about his artistic philosophy, he quoted Shakespeare: "To thine own self be true."