Is Jonas Kaufmann really an exceptional tenor?

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JKH
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RE: Is Jonas Kaufmann really an exceptional tenor?

I take your point, Parisboy. I should have made clear that it was mainly his operatic work that I was thinking of. I'll dig out some of his other non-operatic work, including the Mahler you mention, to see whether I'm still of the same opinion. It's been a while since I've played anything of his.

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Frank Einstein
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RE: Is Jonas Kaufmann really an exceptional tenor?

So it's wobble in a voice but vibrato on a violin, that sounds a bit unfair.

JKH
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RE: Is Jonas Kaufmann really an exceptional tenor?

Frank Einstein wrote:
So it's wobble in a voice but vibrato on a violin, that sounds a bit unfair.

They are two very different things as far as singing is concerned. I'm no expert on string playing, but can't imagine what 'wobble' would sound like in the context of a violin.

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Frank Einstein
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RE: Is Jonas Kaufmann really an exceptional tenor?

You can never trust the woodwind section. I bet they have a name for their wobble as well, trill or something !

parla
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RE: Is Jonas Kaufmann really an exceptional tenor?

Vibrato is a technic at the discretion of any performer, singer, string player, woodwind or brass player. Trill is a different technic applied also to any performer. Both intervene in the purity of tone, but at the "hands" of very capable artists, they are a weapon rather than a trouble and that's why they are used extensively.

As I have said before, Pavarotti would have been a different singer without his superb use of vibrato. Likewise, Kreisler as a violinst.

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JKH
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RE: Is Jonas Kaufmann really an exceptional tenor?

parla wrote:

Vibrato is a technic at the discretion of any performer, singer, string player, woodwind or brass player. Trill is a different technic applied also to any performer. Both intervene in the purity of tone, but at the "hands" of very capable artists, they are a weapon rather than a trouble and that's why they are used extensively.

As I have said before, Pavarotti would have been a different singer without his superb use of vibrato. Likewise, Kreisler as a violinst.

Parla

Absolutely correct.

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Frank Einstein
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RE: Is Jonas Kaufmann really an exceptional tenor?

Harpists who can't even keep their wobble to a couple of notes call it a Glissando, it's madness, utter madness.

tagalie
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RE: Is Jonas Kaufmann really an exceptional tenor?

JKH wrote:

Indeed they are. With  Ramey I think it is, as I say, age taking its toll. With Hampson (by whom I've never been convinced in anything) I've always thought he was trying to put artificial weight on his voice and trying to imitate a big Verdi baritone sound. It may be that this is a contributory factor to his rather early decline.

I think you're right. Hampson was OK as a lieder singer but always sounded forced in opera. What I've heard of Ramey lately makes me wish he'd call it a day and leave us with some great memories.

I listened to the old Pav/Sutherland/Milnes Rigoletto last night and was immediately struck by how different both tenor and baritone sounded in those days. Milnes much smoother, burnished and rather less histrionic, Pavarotti 'browner' in the lower and mid registers. Fact is, all singers' voices change over their careers. Whether that change is a deterioration or just an alteration of characteristics differs from one to another.

Adrian
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RE: Is Jonas Kaufmann really an exceptional tenor?

Read this: From the lady at Presto website!

I’ve almost exhausted my quiver of superlatives on Jonas Kaufmann, but
suffice it to say that he’s absolutely riveting as the caddish Maurizio:
the role showcases his almost superhuman diminuendi to perfection, and
his nuanced, ever-responsive acting fares beautifully under the close
scrutiny of the camera.

 

She is so right!

josselin
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RE: Is Jonas Kaufmann really an exceptional tenor?
Adrian
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RE: Is Jonas Kaufmann really an exceptional tenor?

And your point would be?

parla
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RE: Is Jonas Kaufmann really an exceptional tenor?

Silence, perhaps.

Since there is no more superlatives in the quiver, maybe it's time for some moderation, which is a virtue, by the way.

Parla

Anna11
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RE: Kaufman Hall

He came in Florida in Kaufman Hall and during his beginning profession Yankee Stadium he did much perform Fenway Park in the Med Resurgence Design which had become well-known then.

Petra01
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RE: Is Jonas Kaufmann really an exceptional tenor?

I've greatly enjoyed what few performances of his I've heard over the radio.

As for the Gigli's, Del Monaco's, etc., please let me know if you run across any singers that you feel fall into that category! :-(

Best wishes,

Petra