Browse content similar to Jonas Kaufmann: Tenor for the Ages. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
HE SINGS IN ITALIAN | 0:00:08 | 0:00:11 | |
I think Jonas is a one-off. | 0:00:57 | 0:00:59 | |
His voice has a power and a beauty combined. | 0:00:59 | 0:01:03 | |
And he's so musical and speaks all these languages, and he's like... | 0:01:03 | 0:01:07 | |
-He has it all. -The thing about Jonas Kaufmann is that he's a | 0:01:07 | 0:01:11 | |
phenomenally intelligent guy. | 0:01:11 | 0:01:13 | |
He thinks about everything. | 0:01:13 | 0:01:15 | |
I mean, of course he's a good-looking, very handsome tenor. | 0:01:15 | 0:01:17 | |
Very often, they are fat or ugly | 0:01:17 | 0:01:19 | |
not so good looking, and he has everything. | 0:01:19 | 0:01:23 | |
Jonas has gone through a rough patch. | 0:01:23 | 0:01:25 | |
I mean, he's not been well. | 0:01:25 | 0:01:27 | |
So, there's a lot of expectation and we're all rooting for him, you know. | 0:01:27 | 0:01:32 | |
Where he fits in the pantheon of the great tenors... | 0:01:32 | 0:01:35 | |
..certainly he's one for the ages. No question. | 0:01:35 | 0:01:38 | |
HE SINGS IN ITALIAN | 0:01:38 | 0:01:41 | |
Jonas Kaufmann is arguably the greatest singer of his generation. | 0:02:28 | 0:02:33 | |
At the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, | 0:02:33 | 0:02:35 | |
he's been tackling one of the most taxing roles in Italian opera. | 0:02:35 | 0:02:39 | |
Verdi's Otello. | 0:02:39 | 0:02:41 | |
In the final hour before going on stage, | 0:02:41 | 0:02:43 | |
there was little peace in his dressing room. | 0:02:43 | 0:02:46 | |
One thing in the fourth act... | 0:02:46 | 0:02:47 | |
HE SINGS IN ITALIAN | 0:02:47 | 0:02:50 | |
Yes, two times... | 0:02:50 | 0:02:52 | |
Yeah, it just surprises you. | 0:02:52 | 0:02:54 | |
It comes right... It comes right up-tempo... | 0:02:54 | 0:02:57 | |
HE SINGS A NOTE | 0:02:57 | 0:02:58 | |
-We've got to find a way to make that work. OK? -Yeah. | 0:02:58 | 0:03:02 | |
-Wah. -Wah. | 0:03:02 | 0:03:04 | |
HE SINGS SCALES | 0:03:04 | 0:03:07 | |
HE GARGLES | 0:03:09 | 0:03:12 | |
Hey, Jonas. | 0:03:12 | 0:03:13 | |
Just try not to breathe. | 0:03:13 | 0:03:15 | |
HE CLEARS HIS THROAT | 0:03:15 | 0:03:16 | |
All this powder. | 0:03:16 | 0:03:17 | |
HE SINGS IN ITALIAN | 0:03:17 | 0:03:19 | |
That's dead easy. And I think these guys are correct. | 0:03:19 | 0:03:23 | |
HE SPEAKS IN ITALIAN | 0:03:23 | 0:03:25 | |
Yes, yes, yes. | 0:03:27 | 0:03:29 | |
I started late. | 0:03:29 | 0:03:30 | |
-I don't know why. -You terrible man. | 0:03:30 | 0:03:32 | |
I asked whether he can really... | 0:03:32 | 0:03:34 | |
-Come in sooner? -No, where it's supposed to be. | 0:03:34 | 0:03:36 | |
Tony's encouraging him to come sooner. | 0:03:36 | 0:03:39 | |
Oh, why? | 0:03:39 | 0:03:41 | |
Otello is seen as the Everest. | 0:03:44 | 0:03:46 | |
A role that requires a certain amount of self-torture | 0:03:46 | 0:03:51 | |
and, of course, physically, that can cramp you up. | 0:03:51 | 0:03:54 | |
HE CLEARS HIS THROAT | 0:03:54 | 0:03:55 | |
It is lots of fun to play. | 0:03:55 | 0:03:58 | |
Once you know how to deal with it vocally and how to somehow control | 0:03:58 | 0:04:03 | |
your emotions, then it's fantastic. | 0:04:03 | 0:04:06 | |
Well, have fun. | 0:04:06 | 0:04:08 | |
-Yes. -Have fun. I mean it. | 0:04:08 | 0:04:09 | |
-Fun. -Have fun. Well... | 0:04:09 | 0:04:11 | |
Don't tell Maria! | 0:04:11 | 0:04:13 | |
THEY LAUGH | 0:04:13 | 0:04:14 | |
You always have fun with Maria. | 0:04:14 | 0:04:16 | |
-PA: -Calling for Otello. | 0:04:20 | 0:04:22 | |
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, | 0:04:22 | 0:04:24 | |
this is your call for this evening's performance. | 0:04:24 | 0:04:27 | |
No, no... | 0:04:27 | 0:04:29 | |
Mr Atkins, Mr Kaufmann... | 0:04:29 | 0:04:32 | |
..ladies and gentlemen of the chorus, actors, children, | 0:04:32 | 0:04:36 | |
ladies and gentlemen of the orchestra, organ player, | 0:04:36 | 0:04:39 | |
offstage trumpets and drums... | 0:04:39 | 0:04:41 | |
..trap and balcony operators, | 0:04:43 | 0:04:45 | |
wardrobe and wig staff for the actors' quick change. | 0:04:45 | 0:04:47 | |
This is your act one call, thank you. | 0:04:47 | 0:04:50 | |
-Vamos. -Yep. | 0:04:51 | 0:04:53 | |
Four minutes before the opera is due to start, | 0:04:55 | 0:04:57 | |
Otello sets off for the stage. | 0:04:57 | 0:04:59 | |
Nothing can be left to chance. | 0:04:59 | 0:05:01 | |
HE LAUGHS | 0:05:01 | 0:05:03 | |
His arrival as the victorious general will be precisely | 0:05:03 | 0:05:06 | |
four minutes into the opera, | 0:05:06 | 0:05:08 | |
with his song of triumph, Esultate - Rejoice. | 0:05:08 | 0:05:11 | |
But the performance can't begin until he's in position in the wings. | 0:05:11 | 0:05:15 | |
Only then can Shakespeare's arch manipulator, Iago, | 0:05:15 | 0:05:19 | |
launch the evening's drama with the tumult of a storm at sea. | 0:05:19 | 0:05:23 | |
CRASHING SCORE | 0:05:23 | 0:05:26 | |
Backstage, one minute, 20 seconds after the start, | 0:05:30 | 0:05:33 | |
the door from the wings flew open and Kaufmann in full costume | 0:05:33 | 0:05:37 | |
sprinted away from the stage, | 0:05:37 | 0:05:39 | |
all the way back to his dressing room. | 0:05:39 | 0:05:41 | |
He had forgotten his sword. | 0:05:41 | 0:05:43 | |
I said, "I'll be back in a sec," and they were under shock. | 0:05:43 | 0:05:46 | |
I mean, everyone, the dresser, | 0:05:46 | 0:05:48 | |
the make-up lady, | 0:05:48 | 0:05:50 | |
the stagehands, the stage managers, they just thought, | 0:05:50 | 0:05:54 | |
"He's never going to make it." | 0:05:54 | 0:05:58 | |
THEY SING: | 0:05:58 | 0:06:00 | |
I mean, I know the opera well enough to know that if I really run up and | 0:06:05 | 0:06:09 | |
run down, I'm going to make it in time. | 0:06:09 | 0:06:12 | |
Maybe with a little sweat on the forehead, | 0:06:14 | 0:06:16 | |
but no-one will notice that. | 0:06:16 | 0:06:18 | |
You come from a battlefield, obviously you can be out of breath. | 0:06:18 | 0:06:22 | |
Why not? | 0:06:22 | 0:06:24 | |
THEY SING IN ITALIAN | 0:06:24 | 0:06:26 | |
HE SINGS IN ITALIAN | 0:06:32 | 0:06:35 | |
You missed me in the dressing room. | 0:07:24 | 0:07:26 | |
I went back upstairs because I forgot the sword. | 0:07:26 | 0:07:28 | |
I just rushed up, got it and went directly on stage. | 0:07:28 | 0:07:32 | |
How many seconds did you have before you had to start singing? | 0:07:32 | 0:07:35 | |
I don't know. I mean, I didn't have to stop at all, | 0:07:35 | 0:07:38 | |
I could just easily go in and... | 0:07:38 | 0:07:39 | |
..start! | 0:07:39 | 0:07:42 | |
Kaufmann is not a man to lose his nerve, unlike some other singers. | 0:07:44 | 0:07:48 | |
Neil Shicoff, he has this habit to just go... | 0:07:48 | 0:07:54 | |
Not stopping from the dressing room and just goes straight on stage | 0:07:54 | 0:07:58 | |
because it stresses him out to be on the wings waiting too long. | 0:07:58 | 0:08:01 | |
That is actually not my problem but... | 0:08:01 | 0:08:04 | |
..laziness obviously is. | 0:08:04 | 0:08:06 | |
-It was stupid. -Why didn't you go on without it? | 0:08:08 | 0:08:11 | |
No, I cannot go on without the sword. | 0:08:11 | 0:08:13 | |
I mean, Esultate without the sword... | 0:08:13 | 0:08:15 | |
Few in his home city of Munich would accuse Jonas Kaufmann of being lazy. | 0:08:17 | 0:08:22 | |
Across 18 months, | 0:08:22 | 0:08:24 | |
he recently chalked up 13 different operas around the world. | 0:08:24 | 0:08:27 | |
As well as dozens of concerts and song recitals. | 0:08:27 | 0:08:30 | |
He is stopped by fans wherever he goes. | 0:08:30 | 0:08:33 | |
He knows all about their mind-set because he is one himself. | 0:08:33 | 0:08:36 | |
Mein Name ist Kaufmann. | 0:08:36 | 0:08:38 | |
Ever since he was a boy, he has backed his home team Bayern Munich. | 0:08:38 | 0:08:41 | |
-Das ist perfekt. -On this occasion, he reckoned their opponents, | 0:08:41 | 0:08:44 | |
Hamburg SV, were in for a roasting. | 0:08:44 | 0:08:47 | |
Oh, here they are. | 0:08:47 | 0:08:49 | |
HE LAUGHS | 0:08:49 | 0:08:52 | |
And he was proud to show off the Bayern stadium. | 0:08:55 | 0:08:57 | |
It is not bad, huh? Is it? | 0:08:57 | 0:09:00 | |
A place most singers would run a mile from. | 0:09:00 | 0:09:02 | |
Even if you come and you think, "Oh, I have to save some voice | 0:09:02 | 0:09:06 | |
"because I have a rehearsal tomorrow," or whatever, | 0:09:06 | 0:09:08 | |
you can't. I mean, you simply can't. | 0:09:08 | 0:09:10 | |
I mean, everybody who is into football knows that this sport... | 0:09:10 | 0:09:13 | |
You cannot stand still, you cannot just silently watch a game. | 0:09:13 | 0:09:18 | |
Ja! | 0:09:18 | 0:09:20 | |
Of course, I see myself screaming and shouting, | 0:09:22 | 0:09:25 | |
and all those wrong decisions that you see from here much better than | 0:09:25 | 0:09:28 | |
the referee sees. | 0:09:28 | 0:09:29 | |
Hamburg played very bad. | 0:09:35 | 0:09:37 | |
I mean, really, really bad. | 0:09:37 | 0:09:39 | |
When you go to Hamburg for your recital in May... | 0:09:39 | 0:09:41 | |
-Yeah. -..perhaps they will hold that against you. | 0:09:41 | 0:09:43 | |
Yeah. | 0:09:43 | 0:09:45 | |
Possible. But I mean, come on. | 0:09:45 | 0:09:47 | |
Just find a better team. | 0:09:47 | 0:09:49 | |
In this game, the roasting by Bayern Munich was relentless. | 0:09:54 | 0:09:58 | |
One more goal and their triumph was complete. | 0:10:05 | 0:10:09 | |
HE LAUGHS | 0:10:09 | 0:10:11 | |
Not bad. Well, even the most optimistic | 0:10:11 | 0:10:14 | |
probably wouldn't have guessed on eight goals. | 0:10:14 | 0:10:16 | |
I mean, they could have scored even more. | 0:10:16 | 0:10:19 | |
They demolished them completely. | 0:10:19 | 0:10:21 | |
Compared with the 75,000 fans in the stadium, | 0:10:26 | 0:10:30 | |
the Royal Albert Hall in London boasts a mere 5,500. | 0:10:30 | 0:10:34 | |
But on television and radio, | 0:10:34 | 0:10:36 | |
millions more across the world were waiting for Jonas Kaufmann's | 0:10:36 | 0:10:39 | |
star turn at the Last Night of the Proms, | 0:10:39 | 0:10:42 | |
the first time a German singer had been booked for Rule, Britannia. | 0:10:42 | 0:10:46 | |
Yeah, of course I know the melody. | 0:10:46 | 0:10:48 | |
Of course, everybody knows Rule, Britannia, | 0:10:48 | 0:10:50 | |
but I had no clue about the text. Honestly! | 0:10:50 | 0:10:53 | |
All the other nations are not worthy and they shall fall to a tyrant, | 0:10:53 | 0:10:58 | |
that is quite, yeah, strong! | 0:10:58 | 0:11:02 | |
Well, I mean, some hundred years ago. Come on. | 0:11:02 | 0:11:05 | |
He was very particular about the drive to the hall, | 0:11:07 | 0:11:10 | |
to be sure he arrived after the audience were safely inside. | 0:11:10 | 0:11:14 | |
Good evening. | 0:11:14 | 0:11:16 | |
Hello. How are you? | 0:11:16 | 0:11:19 | |
My goodness, they haven't even started and they're cheering. | 0:11:19 | 0:11:22 | |
He always has fan mail waiting for him in his dressing room. | 0:11:22 | 0:11:25 | |
But this time, a Rule, Britannia veteran had left him a present | 0:11:25 | 0:11:29 | |
to set the tone of the evening. | 0:11:29 | 0:11:31 | |
Get out of here! | 0:11:31 | 0:11:32 | |
Boxers. This is perfect. | 0:11:32 | 0:11:35 | |
Yeah, well, next time. | 0:11:40 | 0:11:41 | |
The previous year, when I had been at the Last Night of the Proms, | 0:11:41 | 0:11:45 | |
my wife had given me a pair of Union Jack boxer shorts, to give me | 0:11:45 | 0:11:49 | |
inspiration for the evening. | 0:11:49 | 0:11:52 | |
So I thought it might be a nice idea to continue this tradition. | 0:11:53 | 0:11:57 | |
"I realise that these may not be the only underwear you receive from | 0:11:57 | 0:12:00 | |
"strangers this evening." | 0:12:00 | 0:12:03 | |
Excuse me. | 0:12:03 | 0:12:05 | |
-Ha! -I thought I'd start things off for him and just give him something | 0:12:05 | 0:12:09 | |
to remember the UK by. | 0:12:09 | 0:12:12 | |
"I just wanted to wish you all the very best for this evening. | 0:12:12 | 0:12:15 | |
"Even if you tripped and fell flat on your face, | 0:12:15 | 0:12:19 | |
"the audience will still love you." | 0:12:19 | 0:12:23 | |
-That's nice. -He must know, by this point, | 0:12:23 | 0:12:26 | |
that his fans can get to him anywhere, | 0:12:26 | 0:12:28 | |
so I hope it wouldn't spook him out too much. | 0:12:28 | 0:12:31 | |
This is a very straightforward person but we have people that give | 0:12:31 | 0:12:34 | |
you the impression that we know each other for ever. | 0:12:34 | 0:12:37 | |
Because they've known me for many years and they've seen many | 0:12:37 | 0:12:39 | |
performances, and I'm present in their living room when they put in | 0:12:39 | 0:12:43 | |
the DVDs and everything, and suddenly, I don't know, | 0:12:43 | 0:12:46 | |
they forget that I actually have no clue who they are. | 0:12:46 | 0:12:48 | |
But, well, come on, | 0:12:48 | 0:12:50 | |
this is an interesting effect that you have on people. | 0:12:50 | 0:12:53 | |
Yeah, they keep forgetting that it's not real. | 0:12:53 | 0:12:57 | |
Good colour. | 0:12:59 | 0:13:01 | |
Lovely curls! | 0:13:06 | 0:13:08 | |
Jonas. Zero five minute, four minute. | 0:13:10 | 0:13:13 | |
-Thank you. -Thank you. | 0:13:13 | 0:13:15 | |
No, actually, something hardwood or something. | 0:13:15 | 0:13:19 | |
But there's nothing like this. | 0:13:19 | 0:13:20 | |
No, this is plastic, too. | 0:13:21 | 0:13:24 | |
That's always dangerous, that you slip. | 0:13:24 | 0:13:28 | |
I need some scratches on my shoes. | 0:13:30 | 0:13:32 | |
Oh, yeah, that helped a little bit. | 0:13:32 | 0:13:34 | |
KNOCK ON DOOR | 0:13:39 | 0:13:41 | |
-Yes? -Three minutes. | 0:13:41 | 0:13:42 | |
All right. | 0:13:43 | 0:13:44 | |
HE SINGS SOME NOTES | 0:13:44 | 0:13:46 | |
Ready. | 0:13:46 | 0:13:47 | |
HE SINGS IN ITALIAN | 0:13:54 | 0:13:57 | |
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE | 0:14:32 | 0:14:34 | |
It's amazing to have all these people standing just right next to | 0:14:40 | 0:14:43 | |
the edge of the stage. It's fantastic. | 0:14:43 | 0:14:45 | |
Is it intimidating? | 0:14:45 | 0:14:47 | |
Not at all. There's a barrier! | 0:14:47 | 0:14:48 | |
So they can't climb up. | 0:14:52 | 0:14:54 | |
No. No, it's not. | 0:14:55 | 0:14:57 | |
If an audience would be intimidating, | 0:14:57 | 0:15:00 | |
I think you shouldn't be a performer. | 0:15:00 | 0:15:02 | |
You unfold in front of an audience. | 0:15:02 | 0:15:05 | |
It's very boring to sing in your dressing room. | 0:15:06 | 0:15:08 | |
It's quite tough to do those arias one after the other like that. | 0:15:10 | 0:15:12 | |
It's true. Yes. Talking about that, I probably have to go right... | 0:15:12 | 0:15:17 | |
Have you checked your face? | 0:15:17 | 0:15:19 | |
It was just a three-minute break and then he was back on stage. | 0:15:19 | 0:15:22 | |
CHORUS SINGS | 0:15:22 | 0:15:25 | |
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE | 0:16:40 | 0:16:42 | |
-All right... -Wow. | 0:16:56 | 0:16:58 | |
I love the way you grinned at the end because you get such a kick out | 0:17:01 | 0:17:04 | |
-of it. -Absolutely. | 0:17:04 | 0:17:06 | |
Absolutely. And I was really amazed that they all waited for the end | 0:17:06 | 0:17:11 | |
because it is so often that some start to clap because they can't | 0:17:11 | 0:17:14 | |
wait for it, then it all falls apart. | 0:17:14 | 0:17:17 | |
But this time, they really held it. | 0:17:17 | 0:17:18 | |
They kept it till the very last note and then, vam! | 0:17:18 | 0:17:22 | |
This is probably how you feel when... | 0:17:23 | 0:17:25 | |
..as a...I don't know... | 0:17:25 | 0:17:28 | |
..a ski jumper or something, | 0:17:28 | 0:17:30 | |
when you fly down to the stadium and you see all | 0:17:30 | 0:17:33 | |
the crowd there, and then they see on the leaderboard that you have | 0:17:33 | 0:17:37 | |
done the new record and then they are all like, "Wow!" | 0:17:37 | 0:17:41 | |
What makes somebody stand out is ultimately, ultimately, | 0:17:43 | 0:17:46 | |
is the quality of the voice. | 0:17:46 | 0:17:48 | |
But what is the quality of the voice? | 0:17:48 | 0:17:51 | |
Is it just what you're given by the guy upstairs? | 0:17:51 | 0:17:54 | |
Or is it something that is raw potential | 0:17:54 | 0:17:58 | |
that you then develop and hone? | 0:17:58 | 0:18:00 | |
Ah! | 0:18:00 | 0:18:01 | |
THEY LAUGH | 0:18:01 | 0:18:03 | |
Because I think that's what it really is. | 0:18:03 | 0:18:06 | |
And it is the personality behind the voice that is projected. | 0:18:06 | 0:18:10 | |
-Would you be able to sign the programme? -Of course. | 0:18:10 | 0:18:12 | |
Thank you so much. | 0:18:12 | 0:18:14 | |
That was fab. Thank you so much. | 0:18:14 | 0:18:16 | |
-Brilliant. -That was fabulous. | 0:18:16 | 0:18:19 | |
The opera world has a certain stake in his success. | 0:18:19 | 0:18:23 | |
You know, all the big opera houses certainly do, and you want somebody | 0:18:23 | 0:18:27 | |
like that to succeed. | 0:18:27 | 0:18:29 | |
At the peak of his success, Kaufmann and his partner, | 0:18:29 | 0:18:32 | |
the opera director Christiane Lutz, live in Munich. | 0:18:32 | 0:18:36 | |
It's where he was born. | 0:18:36 | 0:18:38 | |
In his student singing days, the Cafe Luitpold was a regular haunt. | 0:18:38 | 0:18:43 | |
But for years, he was a prophet without honour in his own city. | 0:18:43 | 0:18:47 | |
Or his own opera house. | 0:18:47 | 0:18:49 | |
I sang a total of four performances. | 0:18:49 | 0:18:51 | |
Four performances in 15 years. | 0:18:51 | 0:18:55 | |
So, obviously, | 0:18:55 | 0:18:57 | |
it was not a good idea to live in Munich at that time because | 0:18:57 | 0:19:00 | |
if you anyway have to travel so much, | 0:19:00 | 0:19:03 | |
at least one of the places you're performing should be home. | 0:19:03 | 0:19:07 | |
When I met Klaus Buchner in Munich, he said to me, | 0:19:07 | 0:19:10 | |
"Why is it that you don't want to sing in Munich?" | 0:19:10 | 0:19:14 | |
I said, "Who said I don't want to? "I don't get any jobs here." | 0:19:14 | 0:19:17 | |
-They missed a trick. -I mean, | 0:19:17 | 0:19:19 | |
they really missed it because I debuted in 2004 at the | 0:19:19 | 0:19:23 | |
Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, | 0:19:23 | 0:19:26 | |
2006 at the Met, and that was it. | 0:19:26 | 0:19:29 | |
Long before, La Scala and so on. | 0:19:29 | 0:19:32 | |
So, every major house. | 0:19:32 | 0:19:34 | |
Vienna, and so on. They all realised it except for Munich. | 0:19:34 | 0:19:38 | |
THUNDER RUMBLES | 0:19:38 | 0:19:41 | |
Eventually, the Munich opera house woke up to its mistake. | 0:19:44 | 0:19:48 | |
He's now a regular and recently took the title role there in | 0:19:48 | 0:19:51 | |
Umberto Giordano's opera about the French Revolution - Andrea Chenier. | 0:19:51 | 0:19:56 | |
In rehearsals, Kaufmann took an interest in the working of the | 0:19:57 | 0:20:00 | |
onstage guillotine. Not surprising, as he was the one to be executed. | 0:20:00 | 0:20:04 | |
TRANSLATED FROM GERMAN: | 0:20:04 | 0:20:07 | |
I hope the theatre's insurance policy is good. | 0:20:13 | 0:20:16 | |
Well, I tried it the day before yesterday already. | 0:20:16 | 0:20:19 | |
We had a first try and they showed me the whole system, | 0:20:19 | 0:20:23 | |
and I'm very much into tools and technique, | 0:20:23 | 0:20:25 | |
so I know that nothing can happen, and still it feels odd. | 0:20:25 | 0:20:29 | |
When you turn around, actually, head up, | 0:20:29 | 0:20:32 | |
and you see that thing coming towards you, | 0:20:32 | 0:20:34 | |
it's really frightening. | 0:20:34 | 0:20:36 | |
Even with all the precautions and all the security, knowing exactly | 0:20:40 | 0:20:44 | |
nothing will happen, it is worrisome, very much worrisome. | 0:20:44 | 0:20:49 | |
OK. | 0:20:49 | 0:20:51 | |
Thank God I had a turtleneck. | 0:20:53 | 0:20:54 | |
The main issue was what should happen | 0:20:56 | 0:20:58 | |
in the final bars of the opera, after his execution. | 0:20:58 | 0:21:01 | |
The original idea was to make a perfect copy of my head and | 0:21:01 | 0:21:05 | |
show that to the audience. And first, they said, | 0:21:05 | 0:21:09 | |
"Maybe it looks ridiculous because it's not perfect." | 0:21:09 | 0:21:12 | |
Then they assured them that they are really capable in doing | 0:21:12 | 0:21:15 | |
an absolute impeccable copy, which then worried them even more | 0:21:15 | 0:21:19 | |
because then it means if they show the head to the audience, | 0:21:19 | 0:21:23 | |
will the elderly ladies faint | 0:21:23 | 0:21:25 | |
because they believe it really did happen? | 0:21:25 | 0:21:28 | |
So then they called it off. | 0:21:28 | 0:21:30 | |
They said, "No, no, we're not going to do it. | 0:21:30 | 0:21:32 | |
"The guillotine's going to fall down at the very last second and then the | 0:21:32 | 0:21:35 | |
"curtain comes." And then I think number four was, then they say, | 0:21:35 | 0:21:39 | |
"OK, we'll do a head but we will only show the back, | 0:21:39 | 0:21:42 | |
"so you can see the hair - this is enough." | 0:21:42 | 0:21:45 | |
And now we're on version five, where again they are talking about the | 0:21:45 | 0:21:48 | |
head being shown to the audience. | 0:21:48 | 0:21:49 | |
I don't know what ultimately is going to happen. | 0:21:49 | 0:21:52 | |
THEY SING IN ITALIAN | 0:21:52 | 0:21:55 | |
It wasn't the only risk to Jonas Kaufmann's health in the past year. | 0:22:28 | 0:22:32 | |
-Welcome. -In early February, | 0:22:39 | 0:22:41 | |
he arrived at the Barbican Centre in London for what they called | 0:22:41 | 0:22:45 | |
the Kaufmann Residency - | 0:22:45 | 0:22:47 | |
two orchestral concerts, | 0:22:47 | 0:22:48 | |
a public discussion with young singers and, first up, | 0:22:48 | 0:22:51 | |
a song recital that very evening with his pianist Helmut Deutsch. | 0:22:51 | 0:22:55 | |
So, do you guys want to rehearse straightaway? | 0:22:55 | 0:22:57 | |
Because at some stage, it would be good to just sit down and have a | 0:22:57 | 0:23:00 | |
-quick chat with you. -Yeah, we can chat. | 0:23:00 | 0:23:02 | |
You see, I'm not intending to rehearse now for three hours. | 0:23:02 | 0:23:05 | |
I mean, why would I? | 0:23:05 | 0:23:07 | |
For the Barbican and for him, it was a high-wire act, | 0:23:08 | 0:23:12 | |
especially since he'd been out of action for several months | 0:23:12 | 0:23:15 | |
with a vocal injury. He had returned only two weeks before | 0:23:15 | 0:23:18 | |
with performances of Wagner's Lohengrin in Paris. | 0:23:18 | 0:23:22 | |
Lohengrin, you were singing lying down, | 0:23:22 | 0:23:25 | |
looking up stage, on the floor, upside down. | 0:23:25 | 0:23:27 | |
Yeah, this is the perfect start. | 0:23:27 | 0:23:29 | |
I mean, it was really funny because the audience was like, | 0:23:29 | 0:23:32 | |
"Is that really him? I mean, this is it? | 0:23:32 | 0:23:35 | |
"Yeah, OK." | 0:23:35 | 0:23:36 | |
And then I turned round and they said, "OK, it's him - he's back!" | 0:23:36 | 0:23:39 | |
There's a tremendous air of expectation around tonight | 0:23:41 | 0:23:44 | |
and I have to say, I have spent the last couple of weeks | 0:23:44 | 0:23:47 | |
fretting and watching what's happening in Paris with Lohengrin, | 0:23:47 | 0:23:50 | |
trying to get a sense of, "Is this going to happen or not?" | 0:23:50 | 0:23:54 | |
Here it makes noises. | 0:23:54 | 0:23:55 | |
And so, that's why we moved a little bit to that side. | 0:23:55 | 0:23:58 | |
The alternative would be to move to the other side, | 0:23:58 | 0:24:00 | |
which is fine with me, too. | 0:24:00 | 0:24:01 | |
Anything can happen. It's now five o'clock. | 0:24:01 | 0:24:04 | |
We've got another couple of hours. | 0:24:04 | 0:24:06 | |
And indeed, tonight is only the first of a number of events. | 0:24:06 | 0:24:09 | |
Anything can happen. That's our business. | 0:24:09 | 0:24:11 | |
You saw what happened with the piano. | 0:24:11 | 0:24:14 | |
PIANO NOTES PLAY | 0:24:14 | 0:24:16 | |
Let me try...let me try... | 0:24:18 | 0:24:21 | |
Give me five minutes or four minutes, is that OK? | 0:24:21 | 0:24:25 | |
I think I can change this. | 0:24:25 | 0:24:27 | |
First time in this hall, | 0:24:27 | 0:24:29 | |
first time with this piano and Kaufmann didn't stand back. | 0:24:29 | 0:24:32 | |
I mean, how complicated is this, to get this other piano up here? | 0:24:32 | 0:24:35 | |
It's not complicated but... | 0:24:35 | 0:24:37 | |
So, why don't we do that first? | 0:24:37 | 0:24:38 | |
-15 minutes or so. -OK. -Let's do that... | 0:24:38 | 0:24:41 | |
While you're doing this, I will do what I want to do. | 0:24:41 | 0:24:43 | |
Yeah, OK, you do what you want. | 0:24:43 | 0:24:45 | |
Exactly. So, in order to bring in the other one, | 0:24:45 | 0:24:47 | |
you need to clean this space? | 0:24:47 | 0:24:49 | |
Where is the lift? Oh, here, OK. | 0:24:49 | 0:24:51 | |
I didn't see it, that's why I've thought, "Wait, wait!" | 0:24:51 | 0:24:54 | |
-THEY LAUGH -Wow, huh? | 0:24:54 | 0:24:56 | |
Let's say it's uneven and sharp. | 0:25:08 | 0:25:10 | |
The piano is new. It's not an old piano. | 0:25:10 | 0:25:13 | |
It's maybe four years old. | 0:25:13 | 0:25:14 | |
But still, you have to constantly keep it in shape. | 0:25:14 | 0:25:17 | |
Piano tuning, piano voicing is a dark art. | 0:25:18 | 0:25:22 | |
There is always a degree of subjectivity. | 0:25:22 | 0:25:25 | |
I've heard...one night, one pianist will say to me, | 0:25:25 | 0:25:28 | |
"Oh, that's a fabulous piano!" | 0:25:28 | 0:25:29 | |
The next night, a different pianist will say, | 0:25:29 | 0:25:32 | |
"That is a disgusting piano, I never want to touch it again." | 0:25:32 | 0:25:35 | |
I could live with both but, for me, this is the better piano. | 0:25:35 | 0:25:39 | |
OK. Fine. Decision made. | 0:25:39 | 0:25:40 | |
Excellent. | 0:25:40 | 0:25:42 | |
Sometimes, the very last note you have to hit | 0:25:42 | 0:25:44 | |
is one that doesn't sound nice. | 0:25:44 | 0:25:46 | |
It's just a shame because it can destroy the whole atmosphere. | 0:25:46 | 0:25:49 | |
But not in this case, hopefully. | 0:25:49 | 0:25:51 | |
HE SINGS | 0:25:53 | 0:25:55 | |
Helmut Deutsch has been Kaufmann's regular accompanist since his | 0:27:05 | 0:27:08 | |
student days in Munich. | 0:27:08 | 0:27:11 | |
The voice was light and very, very bright. | 0:27:24 | 0:27:27 | |
This famous baritone colour did not exist at all. | 0:27:27 | 0:27:30 | |
Very, very musical but the voice itself was not so impressive. | 0:27:44 | 0:27:49 | |
I wouldn't have given £1 for a huge career, not at all. | 0:27:49 | 0:27:53 | |
The young Jonas wanted lessons about German lieder and really grabbed his | 0:27:53 | 0:27:58 | |
attention with the song you brought from Schumann's Dichterliebe. | 0:27:58 | 0:28:02 | |
In my long, long career as a teacher, I had so many students, | 0:28:02 | 0:28:06 | |
I don't remember most of them when they came first but this, | 0:28:06 | 0:28:09 | |
I never forget because it was extraordinary. | 0:28:09 | 0:28:13 | |
I knew lots of opera, my grandfather was a big, | 0:28:13 | 0:28:17 | |
big Wagnerian, so I was listening a lot to Wagner, for instance, | 0:28:17 | 0:28:21 | |
and to Bruckner and to lots of symphonies and stuff like that. | 0:28:21 | 0:28:25 | |
But lied, classical lied, I didn't know that repertoire very well. | 0:28:25 | 0:28:30 | |
So I just picked a songbook that was at home, | 0:28:30 | 0:28:35 | |
probably 100 years old. | 0:28:35 | 0:28:37 | |
He chose one song from Dichterliebe, which was Ich Grolle Nicht, | 0:28:37 | 0:28:41 | |
which many tenors are... | 0:28:41 | 0:28:44 | |
..baritones even more, but tenors | 0:28:44 | 0:28:46 | |
are scared of because it has a high A. | 0:28:46 | 0:28:49 | |
HE SINGS IN GERMAN | 0:28:49 | 0:28:51 | |
And he gave this. | 0:28:53 | 0:28:55 | |
"That, please. I would like to sing Ich Grolle Nicht." | 0:28:55 | 0:28:58 | |
But it was a third higher. | 0:28:58 | 0:29:00 | |
He said, "What on earth is that? | 0:29:00 | 0:29:02 | |
"Where did you get that music from?" | 0:29:02 | 0:29:04 | |
He couldn't believe it. | 0:29:04 | 0:29:06 | |
So, he reached, in the end, a high C. | 0:29:06 | 0:29:09 | |
I sang a high C. | 0:29:14 | 0:29:15 | |
You know, I was completely innocent. | 0:29:15 | 0:29:17 | |
It was written maybe for high soprano. | 0:29:17 | 0:29:19 | |
Whatever. I didn't know. I just took it, I said, | 0:29:19 | 0:29:22 | |
"This is a nice song, I'm a tenor, let's do it." | 0:29:22 | 0:29:26 | |
What a crazy man. | 0:29:26 | 0:29:27 | |
But to have the courage to sing something a third higher than the | 0:29:27 | 0:29:31 | |
original, just to show off with the high C, was impressive. | 0:29:31 | 0:29:36 | |
JONAS SINGS SCALES | 0:29:36 | 0:29:38 | |
With the partnership of Helmut Deutsch, | 0:29:38 | 0:29:41 | |
Kaufmann likes to switch from the heroic roles of grand opera to the | 0:29:41 | 0:29:44 | |
intimacy of the song recital. | 0:29:44 | 0:29:46 | |
This is torture... | 0:29:49 | 0:29:50 | |
..around the neck. I always wonder | 0:29:51 | 0:29:55 | |
when singers will stop doing that. | 0:29:55 | 0:29:58 | |
Have you stopped? Ever? | 0:29:58 | 0:29:59 | |
No. | 0:29:59 | 0:30:01 | |
-Why not? -If you have tails then you have to have tie. | 0:30:01 | 0:30:05 | |
He's so fantastic and he's coming tonight. | 0:30:05 | 0:30:09 | |
He hasn't cancelled. | 0:30:09 | 0:30:10 | |
That's a miracle. | 0:30:10 | 0:30:12 | |
He's fabulously handsome, wonderful on stage. | 0:30:12 | 0:30:15 | |
He looks like Jesus Christ, I always think. | 0:30:15 | 0:30:18 | |
It's really exciting that he's actually here singing tonight. | 0:30:18 | 0:30:21 | |
-KNOCK ON DOOR -Yeah. | 0:30:21 | 0:30:23 | |
Hi, Jonas, ready to go when you are. | 0:30:23 | 0:30:25 | |
Yeah, good, good, good. | 0:30:25 | 0:30:26 | |
-Coming. -At this moment, are you excited? | 0:30:26 | 0:30:29 | |
Are you looking forward to it, or do you get nervous? | 0:30:29 | 0:30:32 | |
No, it's not real nervousness. It's just a little bit of, yeah, | 0:30:32 | 0:30:36 | |
excitement, and the blood pressure goes up a bit, which helps you to be | 0:30:36 | 0:30:42 | |
right in character | 0:30:42 | 0:30:45 | |
for the...for the performance. | 0:30:45 | 0:30:48 | |
It's nothing to be worried about, usually. | 0:30:48 | 0:30:52 | |
There's a big gap between his age and my age, | 0:30:52 | 0:30:54 | |
and I'm honoured that I'm still his number one as a partner, | 0:30:54 | 0:30:59 | |
because he could be my son. | 0:30:59 | 0:31:03 | |
TRANSLATED FROM GERMAN: | 0:31:03 | 0:31:05 | |
Everybody is waiting to see whether he still deserves that title, | 0:31:09 | 0:31:13 | |
the world's greatest tenor. | 0:31:13 | 0:31:15 | |
He had no need to get the audience on his side, | 0:31:18 | 0:31:21 | |
but he certainly knew how to do it. | 0:31:21 | 0:31:23 | |
Hello, good evening, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Barbican. | 0:31:25 | 0:31:28 | |
Thank you so much for coming. | 0:31:28 | 0:31:30 | |
It's my first recital of a, well, | 0:31:30 | 0:31:32 | |
too-long gap that I had now and I just thought, | 0:31:32 | 0:31:36 | |
let's play it safe, so this will hopefully help me to not make | 0:31:36 | 0:31:40 | |
any, any, any mistakes ever and... | 0:31:40 | 0:31:43 | |
LAUGHTER | 0:31:43 | 0:31:44 | |
..if you wonder why I'm not standing dead centre, | 0:31:44 | 0:31:46 | |
there's also a reason for this. | 0:31:46 | 0:31:48 | |
We realised that the floor makes terrible noises just here. | 0:31:48 | 0:31:51 | |
LAUGHTER | 0:31:51 | 0:31:53 | |
Which is the dead centre. | 0:31:53 | 0:31:55 | |
And I said, probably too much sweat has been spilled here. | 0:31:55 | 0:31:58 | |
So we decided to go just a bit off-centre. | 0:31:58 | 0:32:03 | |
I hope you don't mind. | 0:32:03 | 0:32:04 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:32:04 | 0:32:06 | |
HE SINGS IN GERMAN | 0:32:12 | 0:32:15 | |
The last time Kaufmann and Deutsch had performed together was in | 0:34:15 | 0:34:19 | |
South America the previous August. | 0:34:19 | 0:34:21 | |
That was where Kaufmann noticed a vocal problem. | 0:34:21 | 0:34:24 | |
At first there was no cause for alarm, | 0:34:26 | 0:34:28 | |
but it turned out to be serious. | 0:34:28 | 0:34:30 | |
We had a recital in Sao Paulo, which went pretty well | 0:34:30 | 0:34:34 | |
and very, very good and the next one was in Lima, | 0:34:34 | 0:34:39 | |
and he didn't feel comfortable. | 0:34:39 | 0:34:41 | |
He said, "I don't know what... What's wrong?" | 0:34:41 | 0:34:43 | |
And two days later, it was Buenos Aires and it was up again | 0:34:43 | 0:34:46 | |
and it was very, very good, and then it was down again, | 0:34:46 | 0:34:49 | |
and then his doctor found the reason for this - Machu Picchu | 0:34:49 | 0:34:53 | |
in Peru. | 0:34:53 | 0:34:55 | |
After journeying to high altitude in the Andes, | 0:35:00 | 0:35:03 | |
Machu Picchu itself is 2,500 metres above sea-level, | 0:35:03 | 0:35:07 | |
the trouble with his voice began. | 0:35:07 | 0:35:10 | |
It ruled out all performances for a period | 0:35:10 | 0:35:13 | |
that, in the end, lasted five months. | 0:35:13 | 0:35:15 | |
It's very simple. | 0:35:15 | 0:35:17 | |
A tiny little blood vessel popped open, and vocal cords vibrate | 0:35:17 | 0:35:22 | |
so many times per minute | 0:35:22 | 0:35:24 | |
and they touch each other, each and every time, | 0:35:24 | 0:35:26 | |
and if something goes wrong there, it cannot heal on its own | 0:35:26 | 0:35:33 | |
when you don't know it and you don't leave it alone, | 0:35:33 | 0:35:36 | |
meaning when you don't shut up completely. | 0:35:36 | 0:35:38 | |
It was, step wise, it was not, OK, you have to rest three months. | 0:35:49 | 0:35:54 | |
It was OK, two weeks, maybe a little bit more, then another two weeks, | 0:35:54 | 0:35:59 | |
and then three weeks and then, no. | 0:35:59 | 0:36:01 | |
It was just | 0:36:13 | 0:36:15 | |
popping open several times and also, there, I wasn't singing at all. | 0:36:15 | 0:36:20 | |
You sit at the dinner table and talk to friends and from one second | 0:36:20 | 0:36:24 | |
to the other, you think, "Oh, what happened?" | 0:36:24 | 0:36:26 | |
It's just constantly... in this...treadmill, | 0:36:34 | 0:36:39 | |
waiting to finally find the exit. | 0:36:39 | 0:36:42 | |
Well, the one positive thing obviously was I was home | 0:37:14 | 0:37:18 | |
and I saw my kids much more than the last couple of years, | 0:37:18 | 0:37:21 | |
so it was a nice side effect, | 0:37:21 | 0:37:23 | |
but still, I preferred to have performed, I must say. | 0:37:23 | 0:37:27 | |
The repeated cancellations upset some of his fans, | 0:37:29 | 0:37:33 | |
who took to Twitter and online blogs to complain, | 0:37:33 | 0:37:35 | |
often in patronising terms. | 0:37:35 | 0:37:38 | |
You probably were aware of some of the social media, | 0:37:38 | 0:37:41 | |
which was quite unpleasant. | 0:37:41 | 0:37:43 | |
People who think singers should just battle on, they shouldn't cancel, | 0:37:43 | 0:37:48 | |
and people saying you hadn't learned the part, | 0:37:48 | 0:37:51 | |
or you didn't feel like singing. | 0:37:51 | 0:37:53 | |
What do you think when you read this sort of stuff? | 0:37:53 | 0:37:57 | |
Mind your own business, to be very frank. | 0:37:57 | 0:38:00 | |
How can somebody else, who never talked to me, | 0:38:02 | 0:38:05 | |
never saw me and doesn't know what my status is, | 0:38:05 | 0:38:10 | |
think they know better than myself or my doctors? | 0:38:10 | 0:38:14 | |
Of course people are disappointed and I totally understand, | 0:38:14 | 0:38:17 | |
but don't they think that I'm disappointed, too? | 0:38:17 | 0:38:21 | |
I mean, you do it because it's your passion, | 0:38:21 | 0:38:23 | |
and I did it because it's my passion. It's still my passion, | 0:38:23 | 0:38:26 | |
so why would I want to cancel something if I could do it? | 0:38:26 | 0:38:31 | |
Drei, zwei, eins! | 0:38:31 | 0:38:33 | |
CHEERING | 0:38:33 | 0:38:35 | |
With two of the four Barbican events safely navigated, | 0:38:37 | 0:38:41 | |
it was time for reinforcements. | 0:38:41 | 0:38:44 | |
Well, what does a singer do on a free day? | 0:38:44 | 0:38:46 | |
He goes to his supplier | 0:38:46 | 0:38:49 | |
to get some more junk food, to get going. | 0:38:49 | 0:38:54 | |
No, in my case, Fortnum & Mason's, for shortbread. | 0:38:54 | 0:39:00 | |
It's either gummy bears or shortbread. | 0:39:00 | 0:39:03 | |
Wow, that's what I call a selection of honey. | 0:39:05 | 0:39:08 | |
The buckwheat honey is one of the best...mucous relievers. | 0:39:10 | 0:39:15 | |
Stir it in some tea in the morning, you get rid of everything. | 0:39:15 | 0:39:19 | |
Shortbread. Mmm! | 0:39:20 | 0:39:22 | |
This is the traditional one that I know and this is called demerara, | 0:39:22 | 0:39:27 | |
and I have no clue what that means. | 0:39:27 | 0:39:29 | |
-Brown sugar. -Brown sugar? | 0:39:29 | 0:39:31 | |
Ah. | 0:39:31 | 0:39:33 | |
Why don't they write "brown sugar"? | 0:39:33 | 0:39:35 | |
I didn't know. That's the one. | 0:39:37 | 0:39:39 | |
Mocha shortbread, amazing. | 0:39:40 | 0:39:44 | |
That should be enough for the next couple of concerts. | 0:39:44 | 0:39:47 | |
Yeah, come on, you have to be reasonable. | 0:39:47 | 0:39:50 | |
You can't just eat day and night. | 0:39:50 | 0:39:53 | |
I mean, I could, but... | 0:39:53 | 0:39:55 | |
It's just for performing. | 0:39:56 | 0:39:58 | |
Are you the great tenor, Jonas Kaufmann? | 0:39:58 | 0:40:01 | |
Yeah, I'm Jonas Kaufmann. | 0:40:01 | 0:40:04 | |
Could you take a photo? | 0:40:04 | 0:40:05 | |
Yes, of course we could. | 0:40:05 | 0:40:06 | |
Oh, thank you, thank you very much. | 0:40:06 | 0:40:07 | |
-Sure. -Do you want to take the picture? -Yeah. OK. | 0:40:07 | 0:40:10 | |
Press here. | 0:40:10 | 0:40:11 | |
-So then I probably turn it around, otherwise I can't... -Yeah. | 0:40:11 | 0:40:14 | |
-Another one. -Oh, thank you, thank you very much. | 0:40:18 | 0:40:20 | |
You are most welcome, sure. | 0:40:20 | 0:40:22 | |
Thank you... | 0:40:22 | 0:40:24 | |
Thank you, merci beaucoup. | 0:40:24 | 0:40:26 | |
The path to the top hasn't been easy. | 0:40:26 | 0:40:29 | |
20 years ago, with a punishing schedule as a young opera singer | 0:40:29 | 0:40:32 | |
in Germany, he found he was horribly in trouble. | 0:40:32 | 0:40:37 | |
I lost confidence, everything. | 0:40:37 | 0:40:39 | |
I even lost my voice on stage during a performance, I couldn't sing. | 0:40:39 | 0:40:43 | |
The conductor looked at me, like, "Hey, what's going on?" | 0:40:43 | 0:40:46 | |
I can't, I couldn't. | 0:40:47 | 0:40:49 | |
Kaufmann found a new teacher, | 0:40:49 | 0:40:51 | |
who showed him how to avoid vocal stress | 0:40:51 | 0:40:54 | |
by relaxing the root of his tongue and keeping his larynx down. | 0:40:54 | 0:40:58 | |
It was the making of him. | 0:40:58 | 0:41:00 | |
For the first time ever, probably, I had a reliable instrument, | 0:41:00 | 0:41:04 | |
even though it was still edgy and it was not round at all, | 0:41:04 | 0:41:08 | |
I could sing on and on and on and it wouldn't get tired. | 0:41:08 | 0:41:12 | |
The day after the second Barbican concert, all Wagner, | 0:41:12 | 0:41:15 | |
he had the opportunity for some maintenance. | 0:41:15 | 0:41:18 | |
OK, Jonas, tongue against your teeth. | 0:41:18 | 0:41:21 | |
Pushing through, perfect. | 0:41:21 | 0:41:23 | |
Good. | 0:41:23 | 0:41:24 | |
A little stretch there, you feel the pull round the corner of the jaw. | 0:41:24 | 0:41:28 | |
-Uh-huh. -Sitting up. | 0:41:28 | 0:41:30 | |
Looking up for me. | 0:41:30 | 0:41:32 | |
Open wide. | 0:41:32 | 0:41:33 | |
It's an incredibly physical pursuit. | 0:41:33 | 0:41:36 | |
And, you know, the muscular work is enormous. | 0:41:36 | 0:41:40 | |
Like a sportsman, Kaufmann is alert to any hint of a physical problem. | 0:41:40 | 0:41:44 | |
Next one is Monday. So, I mean...quite some, yeah. | 0:41:44 | 0:41:48 | |
-The lung is a little bit... -OK. | 0:41:48 | 0:41:50 | |
But it's also weather and everything. | 0:41:50 | 0:41:53 | |
Jonas is perceptive enough to realise that the larynx isn't moving | 0:41:53 | 0:41:58 | |
as freely as he would like. | 0:41:58 | 0:42:00 | |
Probably the best analogy is a sports car where the handbrake is on | 0:42:00 | 0:42:04 | |
slightly and you're just not getting the performance you would expect out | 0:42:04 | 0:42:08 | |
of the vehicle. It will still get you from A to B, | 0:42:08 | 0:42:10 | |
but what you're expecting | 0:42:10 | 0:42:12 | |
is something that is far more responsive. | 0:42:12 | 0:42:14 | |
Now, as soon as we release those tight muscles, | 0:42:14 | 0:42:17 | |
then the performance returns to the voice box. | 0:42:17 | 0:42:19 | |
Ah, wonderful, yes. | 0:42:19 | 0:42:22 | |
By pushing his tongue out, he's anchoring one end of his tongue, | 0:42:22 | 0:42:27 | |
which allows me then to stretch the base of the tongue, | 0:42:27 | 0:42:30 | |
which restores the mobility that we were talking about. | 0:42:30 | 0:42:33 | |
OK, good. | 0:42:33 | 0:42:35 | |
Right, lying on your back. | 0:42:35 | 0:42:37 | |
His reward, afternoon tea at his Westminster hotel, | 0:42:37 | 0:42:41 | |
where he briefed his press agent, Thomas Voigt, | 0:42:41 | 0:42:44 | |
ahead of the third Barbican event the following day. | 0:42:44 | 0:42:47 | |
Christiane was there, she watched it. | 0:42:47 | 0:42:49 | |
And I told her, just watch carefully, you can do it next time. | 0:42:49 | 0:42:52 | |
And she said afterwards in the cab, | 0:42:52 | 0:42:55 | |
"No, actually, I wasn't expecting it so close to the voice." | 0:42:55 | 0:42:58 | |
So I'm scared. I don't want to do it. | 0:42:58 | 0:43:01 | |
And that's obviously the reason why I go to this guy. | 0:43:01 | 0:43:04 | |
TRANSLATED: | 0:43:04 | 0:43:06 | |
This is clotted cream. | 0:43:16 | 0:43:19 | |
Cream? | 0:43:19 | 0:43:20 | |
-Divine. -And honey? | 0:43:20 | 0:43:22 | |
Ay-ay-ay! Now we're talking. That's nice. | 0:43:23 | 0:43:26 | |
Wonderful. Fresh scones with clotted cream. | 0:43:27 | 0:43:31 | |
-Oh, yes. -And strawberry jam. | 0:43:31 | 0:43:33 | |
That's the thing. | 0:43:33 | 0:43:34 | |
HE CHUCKLES | 0:43:34 | 0:43:36 | |
-Enjoy, sir. -Thank you so much. | 0:43:36 | 0:43:38 | |
-If there's anything else, let me know. -Thank you. | 0:43:38 | 0:43:40 | |
It's the healthy choice, I have to say, | 0:43:40 | 0:43:42 | |
but if I would allow myself to eat those every day... | 0:43:42 | 0:43:45 | |
..hell would break loose. | 0:43:48 | 0:43:51 | |
This is chicken curry. | 0:43:57 | 0:43:59 | |
This is egg salad. | 0:43:59 | 0:44:01 | |
This is tuna, this is cucumber. | 0:44:01 | 0:44:03 | |
And that's salmon. | 0:44:03 | 0:44:05 | |
Traditional. Dig in. | 0:44:05 | 0:44:07 | |
Clotted cream for everyone. | 0:44:07 | 0:44:09 | |
Yummy. | 0:44:09 | 0:44:10 | |
Next afternoon was his conversation | 0:44:12 | 0:44:14 | |
with students from the Guildhall School of Music, | 0:44:14 | 0:44:17 | |
but the morning brought unwelcome news for the audience. | 0:44:17 | 0:44:21 | |
We were a little anxious about today, | 0:44:21 | 0:44:23 | |
because we did wonder on Wednesday | 0:44:23 | 0:44:24 | |
whether there was a cold in the offing... | 0:44:24 | 0:44:27 | |
-Did you? -There seemed to be a slight... | 0:44:27 | 0:44:28 | |
Well, we've been following his health online for months. | 0:44:28 | 0:44:31 | |
Also, we were sitting very close to the stage. | 0:44:31 | 0:44:34 | |
-How far have you come? -How far? | 0:44:34 | 0:44:35 | |
From the South of France. | 0:44:35 | 0:44:38 | |
And we were really looking forward to this discussion. | 0:44:38 | 0:44:41 | |
Obviously, we're gutted, | 0:44:41 | 0:44:43 | |
not least because it's been extraordinary so far, I have to say, | 0:44:43 | 0:44:46 | |
as I thought it would be. | 0:44:46 | 0:44:48 | |
HE SIGHS | 0:44:48 | 0:44:49 | |
Singers are such delicate creatures. | 0:44:49 | 0:44:51 | |
Have you seen Jonas Kaufmann before? | 0:44:51 | 0:44:53 | |
-Yes. -Where? | 0:44:53 | 0:44:55 | |
-A lot. -All over Europe. | 0:44:55 | 0:44:58 | |
Switzerland, Germany. | 0:44:59 | 0:45:01 | |
Last time in Paris. | 0:45:01 | 0:45:02 | |
Last time in Paris. | 0:45:02 | 0:45:04 | |
London. Vienna. | 0:45:04 | 0:45:07 | |
The issue now is just to pray that Jonas is well | 0:45:07 | 0:45:11 | |
for the Strauss Four Last Songs on Monday. | 0:45:11 | 0:45:14 | |
Monday's concert was planned as the climax of the Kaufmann season. | 0:45:14 | 0:45:17 | |
The Four Last Songs by Richard Strauss | 0:45:19 | 0:45:21 | |
are a cornerstone of the soprano repertoire. | 0:45:21 | 0:45:24 | |
Nobody can remember them being tackled by a tenor before. | 0:45:24 | 0:45:27 | |
But at the start of the rehearsal on the Saturday, | 0:45:29 | 0:45:31 | |
it became clear that Kaufmann's health was still in doubt. | 0:45:31 | 0:45:35 | |
So I shall say hello from Jonas. | 0:45:35 | 0:45:37 | |
He just told me in e-mail, with a few marks, | 0:45:37 | 0:45:40 | |
which we can already put into score in our parts. | 0:45:40 | 0:45:43 | |
Where he takes breaths, where he wants to go on. | 0:45:43 | 0:45:45 | |
So I think it's a good sign for tomorrow | 0:45:45 | 0:45:47 | |
that he will be here at least... | 0:45:47 | 0:45:49 | |
Or at least on Monday evening. | 0:45:49 | 0:45:53 | |
I rehearse very often without Jonas. | 0:45:55 | 0:45:57 | |
And he comes just at the last moment. | 0:45:57 | 0:45:59 | |
So he just can arrive and sing and knows everything's prepared. | 0:45:59 | 0:46:03 | |
And I will do the same today. | 0:46:03 | 0:46:04 | |
And if he only can come on Monday night without a general rehearsal, | 0:46:04 | 0:46:08 | |
it's fine. | 0:46:08 | 0:46:10 | |
And again. | 0:46:10 | 0:46:11 | |
I think he's always cancelled quite a lot. | 0:46:13 | 0:46:16 | |
Singers have to look after their voices. | 0:46:16 | 0:46:18 | |
It's an instrument, it's their instrument. | 0:46:18 | 0:46:20 | |
It's the only one they've got. | 0:46:20 | 0:46:21 | |
He, I think, takes care of his to a huge extent. | 0:46:21 | 0:46:26 | |
If he's sick or if he really has no voice, I mean, to replace him... | 0:46:26 | 0:46:31 | |
With who? | 0:46:31 | 0:46:33 | |
I've heard some people say, isn't there enough tenor music? | 0:46:41 | 0:46:45 | |
Why does he need to steal the soprano music? | 0:46:45 | 0:46:47 | |
Well, first of all, it is not a soprano music. | 0:46:47 | 0:46:50 | |
It is a mistake. | 0:46:50 | 0:46:52 | |
OK. | 0:46:52 | 0:46:54 | |
In the first moment, I had no words for it, honestly. | 0:46:54 | 0:46:57 | |
Second, I'm not stealing. | 0:46:57 | 0:46:59 | |
It's not that sopranos are no longer allowed to sing that. | 0:46:59 | 0:47:02 | |
I don't have any exclusive rights on it. | 0:47:02 | 0:47:05 | |
It's written on the score for high voice and orchestra. | 0:47:05 | 0:47:09 | |
It's not written for soprano. | 0:47:09 | 0:47:11 | |
I'm capable in doing it all as written. | 0:47:11 | 0:47:13 | |
And I hope I can present that to you on Monday, as well. | 0:47:13 | 0:47:18 | |
Listen, it's his way of staying curious | 0:47:18 | 0:47:22 | |
and doing things that are unexpected, | 0:47:22 | 0:47:25 | |
you know? He's not just going to go down the same path | 0:47:25 | 0:47:28 | |
that everybody's gone down. And good for him. | 0:47:28 | 0:47:30 | |
Kaufmann did go to the Sunday rehearsal, | 0:47:30 | 0:47:33 | |
but by the time Jochen Rieder arrived on the Monday, | 0:47:33 | 0:47:36 | |
the cold had turned into bronchitis, and the bronchitis won. | 0:47:36 | 0:47:41 | |
So, where do we have to go? | 0:47:41 | 0:47:43 | |
Most difficult situation is for Jonas himself now. | 0:47:43 | 0:47:47 | |
Yeah. He so wanted to do it. | 0:47:47 | 0:47:49 | |
-I know. -I actually thought he might sort of finally almost force himself | 0:47:49 | 0:47:52 | |
-to do it, which wouldn't have been good. -OK, next time, | 0:47:52 | 0:47:55 | |
we have to be sure that he won't hug people. | 0:47:55 | 0:47:58 | |
I mean, fans or, you know... | 0:47:58 | 0:48:01 | |
I always compare that to sports. | 0:48:01 | 0:48:03 | |
Since singing is sport, because we do it with our body, | 0:48:03 | 0:48:08 | |
so what else would it be? | 0:48:08 | 0:48:10 | |
If I buy tickets for my favourite club and my players, I don't know, | 0:48:10 | 0:48:15 | |
whether it's Ribery or Robben or Muller or whoever, is injured, | 0:48:15 | 0:48:20 | |
you really think that I want my money back? | 0:48:20 | 0:48:23 | |
No. On the contrary, people say, "Ah, that poor creature, come on, | 0:48:23 | 0:48:27 | |
"six months now he has to go on rehab and it's just such a disaster, | 0:48:27 | 0:48:33 | |
"that poor guy." | 0:48:33 | 0:48:35 | |
No-one says, "Ah, why was he so stupid to get injured?" | 0:48:35 | 0:48:40 | |
The Guildhall's singers, | 0:48:40 | 0:48:42 | |
who'd volunteered for the conversation with Kaufmann, | 0:48:42 | 0:48:45 | |
were still bubbling about what they'd wanted to ask him. | 0:48:45 | 0:48:47 | |
You'd start with, "Oh, my goodness, it's you." | 0:48:47 | 0:48:50 | |
-And then... -I'd probably ask for a selfie. | 0:48:50 | 0:48:53 | |
Oh, yeah, of course. That's good. | 0:48:53 | 0:48:55 | |
-Can I buy you a drink? -Yeah, exactly. | 0:48:55 | 0:48:57 | |
He's someone who seems to have this raw emotion in his performances, | 0:48:57 | 0:49:01 | |
but it never, from the point of view of the audience or the listener, | 0:49:01 | 0:49:05 | |
it never seems strained for him, yet it's so powerful. | 0:49:05 | 0:49:08 | |
And I wanted to know whether that comes from the text and the words | 0:49:08 | 0:49:12 | |
or whether he draws from his own personal experiences. | 0:49:12 | 0:49:14 | |
We're constantly being told, you know, as a matter of fact, | 0:49:14 | 0:49:18 | |
for good technique, you should take the weight out of the top, right? | 0:49:18 | 0:49:21 | |
Or you should sing the top gently. | 0:49:21 | 0:49:24 | |
But he has such colossal high notes. | 0:49:24 | 0:49:27 | |
He has an incredible top, right? | 0:49:27 | 0:49:30 | |
How does he do this? | 0:49:30 | 0:49:31 | |
I'm really interested in how he's managed to keep | 0:49:31 | 0:49:36 | |
the tenorial qualities whilst having this dark sound. | 0:49:36 | 0:49:42 | |
The moment you overpower | 0:49:42 | 0:49:44 | |
a high note by putting too much pressure from the lungs, | 0:49:44 | 0:49:48 | |
to support it, it will make the sound smaller | 0:49:48 | 0:49:53 | |
and less beautiful. | 0:49:53 | 0:49:55 | |
And less rich in high frequencies. | 0:49:56 | 0:50:00 | |
And the dark side comes from the vocal cords, | 0:50:00 | 0:50:04 | |
and the brilliance in it comes from the right amount of air. | 0:50:04 | 0:50:09 | |
His breath control is something of wonder. | 0:50:10 | 0:50:14 | |
You know, singers need to use very, very little air but constant. | 0:50:14 | 0:50:19 | |
And the problem is, singers who get into trouble are using too much air | 0:50:19 | 0:50:24 | |
too quickly. | 0:50:24 | 0:50:25 | |
I wanted to know if he has a particular routine, | 0:50:36 | 0:50:38 | |
something that he does before he performs. | 0:50:38 | 0:50:40 | |
What would he usually do in the daytime? | 0:50:40 | 0:50:42 | |
Is it completely think of something else or is it looking over the score | 0:50:42 | 0:50:46 | |
-again? -Do they want to take you for tea before the performance and you | 0:50:46 | 0:50:49 | |
don't have any time to, like, think of anything? | 0:50:49 | 0:50:51 | |
You're just chatting away to someone, like, you know, | 0:50:51 | 0:50:53 | |
how do you deal with that? | 0:50:53 | 0:50:55 | |
You see, the important thing is, | 0:50:55 | 0:50:57 | |
you should never be dependent on any routine, | 0:50:57 | 0:51:01 | |
meaning I cannot perform if I haven't done this and this and this. | 0:51:01 | 0:51:05 | |
I think that is wrong. Actually, the day of a show, | 0:51:05 | 0:51:08 | |
they all leave me alone, because they know I have a performance. | 0:51:08 | 0:51:11 | |
And it's a free day for me, | 0:51:11 | 0:51:13 | |
so I go for a swim, I walk, I go sightseeing. | 0:51:13 | 0:51:16 | |
In a way, being distracted is not a bad thing. | 0:51:16 | 0:51:19 | |
A few years ago, friends invited us on the boat and he wanted to swim... | 0:51:19 | 0:51:24 | |
I don't know how cold it was. ..in the sea, but it was not warm. | 0:51:24 | 0:51:28 | |
Of course not. He wanted to swim and he enjoyed it so much. | 0:51:28 | 0:51:32 | |
And three hours later, he was on stage. | 0:51:32 | 0:51:35 | |
But I know there's so many other singers, they never would do it. | 0:51:35 | 0:51:38 | |
At Covent Garden in the summer, | 0:51:41 | 0:51:43 | |
Jonas Kaufmann embarked on the title role of Verdi's opera Otello. | 0:51:43 | 0:51:47 | |
HE SINGS IN ITALIAN | 0:51:47 | 0:51:49 | |
Five weeks of intense rehearsal, | 0:51:51 | 0:51:53 | |
a major psychological challenge, as well as a musical one, | 0:51:53 | 0:51:56 | |
guided by the conductor Antonio Pappano | 0:51:56 | 0:51:59 | |
and the director Keith Warner. | 0:51:59 | 0:52:01 | |
Otello spars with his evil nemesis Iago, sung here by Marco Vratogna. | 0:52:04 | 0:52:09 | |
The challenge is to pace the drama without too much happening too soon. | 0:52:11 | 0:52:15 | |
Question - if that is loud already, what should... | 0:52:15 | 0:52:17 | |
I think, yeah... | 0:52:17 | 0:52:19 | |
HE SPEAKS IN ITALIAN | 0:52:19 | 0:52:21 | |
HE SINGS IN ITALIAN | 0:52:21 | 0:52:25 | |
Yes. | 0:52:26 | 0:52:28 | |
MARCO SINGS | 0:52:28 | 0:52:30 | |
And then you mock him. | 0:52:30 | 0:52:33 | |
JONAS SINGS | 0:52:33 | 0:52:36 | |
-OK. -The problem is, | 0:52:50 | 0:52:52 | |
if we get too physical too soon, I mean, that's why... | 0:52:52 | 0:52:55 | |
Yeah, you shouldn't get physical. It's about words. | 0:52:55 | 0:52:58 | |
It's words at the moment, yeah. | 0:52:58 | 0:53:00 | |
I think it's important to keep Jonas stimulated musically, | 0:53:00 | 0:53:05 | |
dramatically, because he can take that little bit of information | 0:53:05 | 0:53:09 | |
and then build a house out of it. | 0:53:09 | 0:53:11 | |
THEY SPEAK ITALIAN | 0:53:11 | 0:53:14 | |
Iago professes his loyalty. | 0:53:18 | 0:53:20 | |
But Otello has to decide whether he's friend or foe. | 0:53:22 | 0:53:25 | |
Yeah, OK, good. OK, good. | 0:53:25 | 0:53:27 | |
TRANSLATED FROM ITALIAN: | 0:53:27 | 0:53:29 | |
Good. | 0:54:01 | 0:54:03 | |
-And I think what you... -Jealousy is exactly what Iago is planting in | 0:54:05 | 0:54:08 | |
Otello's mind. | 0:54:08 | 0:54:10 | |
And let us see it work on you | 0:54:10 | 0:54:11 | |
step by step by step. | 0:54:11 | 0:54:14 | |
The suggestion is that Otello's new wife Desdemona is having an affair. | 0:54:14 | 0:54:19 | |
Yeah, exactly. | 0:54:19 | 0:54:20 | |
Becomes more and more horrible. | 0:54:23 | 0:54:26 | |
Otello is torn, but demands proof. | 0:54:34 | 0:54:38 | |
Yeah, very good. If you've done that, you should notice Desdemona, | 0:54:52 | 0:54:55 | |
come there and then turn him round on the "yoom-ploom". | 0:54:55 | 0:54:58 | |
She walks down stage looking beautiful. | 0:54:58 | 0:55:01 | |
And you just hold him there and if he tries to resist it, you know, | 0:55:01 | 0:55:04 | |
just hold him and whisper all this shit into his ear. | 0:55:04 | 0:55:07 | |
This dirt. Yeah. | 0:55:07 | 0:55:10 | |
It's OK. | 0:55:10 | 0:55:11 | |
This is the first big production we've done together and it's | 0:55:41 | 0:55:46 | |
extraordinary, the extent to which he's given to this, actually. | 0:55:46 | 0:55:49 | |
Time, a lot of care and a lot of good spirit. | 0:55:49 | 0:55:53 | |
I mean, he's also somebody in the room | 0:55:53 | 0:55:56 | |
that is sort of generous with other people. | 0:55:56 | 0:55:58 | |
The other day he was fixing one of the doors on the set. | 0:55:58 | 0:56:01 | |
I think this hinge is... broken a little bit. | 0:56:01 | 0:56:04 | |
It's just loose. | 0:56:04 | 0:56:06 | |
He seems to be interested in every aspect. | 0:56:06 | 0:56:09 | |
Stop, stop, stop. | 0:56:09 | 0:56:11 | |
Up there. It gets stuck. | 0:56:11 | 0:56:13 | |
In rehearsals, Kaufmann will often speak direct to the orchestra. | 0:56:16 | 0:56:20 | |
It can be a surprise for players | 0:56:20 | 0:56:22 | |
to find him trespassing on the conductor's turf. | 0:56:22 | 0:56:24 | |
Yeah. And then in good time. | 0:56:24 | 0:56:26 | |
Sorry. Be careful, everybody who has the... | 0:56:26 | 0:56:29 | |
Oh, God, semi-quavers? 16th? | 0:56:29 | 0:56:31 | |
-Yep. -Each one is really individual. | 0:56:31 | 0:56:34 | |
So don't rush, don't be too early on the one end. | 0:56:34 | 0:56:38 | |
Because I also have to sing it, so I would do... | 0:56:38 | 0:56:41 | |
HE SINGS | 0:56:41 | 0:56:43 | |
So it's always very rubato. | 0:56:46 | 0:56:49 | |
But if you start too fast, then we're da-dee-da-dee-da-dee-da. | 0:56:49 | 0:56:52 | |
He's obviously very specific about what he | 0:56:52 | 0:56:54 | |
wants the orchestra to sound like. I don't think that's a bad thing. | 0:56:54 | 0:56:58 | |
It's good to have... As long as the conductor and him can agree. | 0:56:58 | 0:57:02 | |
Yeah, I'm not shy. | 0:57:02 | 0:57:03 | |
You see, I remember when I did that | 0:57:03 | 0:57:05 | |
the first couple of times with Jochen Rieder. | 0:57:05 | 0:57:07 | |
He was quite upset, because he said, "What are you doing? | 0:57:07 | 0:57:10 | |
"It's my rehearsal. And you tell me?" | 0:57:10 | 0:57:11 | |
And I said, yeah, OK. And I whisper it into your ears and you tell them | 0:57:11 | 0:57:15 | |
and then they don't understand, and we do it again and we do it again. | 0:57:15 | 0:57:18 | |
Maybe I'm impatient. | 0:57:18 | 0:57:20 | |
But I think it helps if you give them the right explanation. | 0:57:20 | 0:57:23 | |
It feels hesitant. | 0:57:23 | 0:57:25 | |
Has to be quite clear, the structure, otherwise it's like, | 0:57:25 | 0:57:30 | |
what's going on? | 0:57:30 | 0:57:31 | |
But once he saw me rehearsing with Tony Pappano, who he admires, | 0:57:34 | 0:57:38 | |
and I did the same thing, | 0:57:38 | 0:57:40 | |
he said, "OK, now I'm safe. | 0:57:40 | 0:57:42 | |
"If you do it with him, it means it's not only me." | 0:57:42 | 0:57:46 | |
OK, good. Thank you. If he's happy, we're all happy. | 0:57:49 | 0:57:52 | |
Amazing concentration, he has. | 0:57:52 | 0:57:55 | |
Amazing concentration on everything | 0:57:55 | 0:57:57 | |
and that's why I think this is one of his big powers, | 0:57:57 | 0:58:01 | |
this power to concentrate, it's almost like Zen Buddhism, I think. | 0:58:01 | 0:58:04 | |
Kaufmann and Eva-Maria Westbroek | 0:58:04 | 0:58:07 | |
were rehearsing for a concert in Amsterdam. | 0:58:07 | 0:58:10 | |
One of the highlights was the great love duet from Otello. | 0:58:10 | 0:58:14 | |
It came two weeks before the opera's opening night at Covent Garden, | 0:58:14 | 0:58:17 | |
with a different soprano. | 0:58:17 | 0:58:19 | |
TRANSLATED FROM ITALIAN: | 0:58:30 | 0:58:32 | |
This has to be quite surprising, this... | 0:59:07 | 0:59:10 | |
"Tuo" has to come out of nowhere. | 0:59:10 | 0:59:12 | |
I don't know. It's still not to scare her off, you know what I mean. | 0:59:12 | 0:59:15 | |
-Oh, no. -That's why. | 0:59:15 | 0:59:17 | |
-We discussed it. -It's the cor fremebondo. -Yeah. | 0:59:17 | 0:59:19 | |
And these people, these people make trouble all the time. | 0:59:19 | 0:59:22 | |
Absolutely fabulous, Jonas. | 0:59:43 | 0:59:45 | |
At Covent Garden, Otello's bride | 0:59:58 | 1:00:00 | |
is being played by the Italian soprano Maria Agresta. | 1:00:00 | 1:00:03 | |
Jonas, she says, "Tell me the story," | 1:00:40 | 1:00:42 | |
and then you remember the story. | 1:00:42 | 1:00:44 | |
And, "Yes, I'm a soldier," so that's one thing, | 1:00:44 | 1:00:47 | |
and you get into it in a positive way. | 1:00:47 | 1:00:50 | |
Here, and you "ingentilia", you beautified my story somehow. | 1:00:50 | 1:00:57 | |
You made them human, you made... | 1:00:57 | 1:00:59 | |
And this phrase is the deepest part of you somehow, | 1:00:59 | 1:01:04 | |
it's so beautifully written. | 1:01:04 | 1:01:06 | |
And so, take your time, is what I'm trying to say, OK? | 1:01:06 | 1:01:10 | |
THEY SING IN ITALIAN | 1:01:10 | 1:01:12 | |
Yeah, yeah, I need to take a breath before. | 1:01:47 | 1:01:49 | |
Yes. | 1:01:49 | 1:01:50 | |
HE SINGS IN ITALIAN | 1:01:50 | 1:01:52 | |
And then it's fine for the rest of the phrase. | 1:01:55 | 1:01:57 | |
It's not beautiful, though. | 1:01:58 | 1:02:00 | |
Yeah, but otherwise I have to breathe somewhere. | 1:02:00 | 1:02:02 | |
Why don't you say... | 1:02:02 | 1:02:03 | |
HE SINGS IN ITALIAN | 1:02:03 | 1:02:05 | |
Instead of going... | 1:02:09 | 1:02:11 | |
HE SINGS IN ITALIAN | 1:02:11 | 1:02:12 | |
Yeah, yeah, but I wouldn't do it that obvious. | 1:02:12 | 1:02:15 | |
THEY LAUGH | 1:02:15 | 1:02:18 | |
You can always cover it up with an emotional something. | 1:02:18 | 1:02:21 | |
Yeah. | 1:02:21 | 1:02:22 | |
HE SINGS IN ITALIAN | 1:02:22 | 1:02:24 | |
OK. | 1:02:27 | 1:02:29 | |
No, no. | 1:02:30 | 1:02:31 | |
I did two Ls! | 1:02:31 | 1:02:34 | |
To be discussed... | 1:02:34 | 1:02:35 | |
Jonas, a little portamento... | 1:02:35 | 1:02:38 | |
HE SINGS IN ITALIAN | 1:02:38 | 1:02:39 | |
The second one, Jonas, come on. | 1:02:40 | 1:02:42 | |
Thank you. | 1:02:59 | 1:03:01 | |
Wonderful. | 1:03:17 | 1:03:19 | |
Star. | 1:03:29 | 1:03:31 | |
Another star. | 1:03:46 | 1:03:48 | |
He tickles you... | 1:04:26 | 1:04:28 | |
LAUGHTER | 1:04:28 | 1:04:31 | |
Of course. | 1:04:31 | 1:04:32 | |
Yeah, yeah. | 1:04:32 | 1:04:34 | |
You know, isn't it funny that, Jonas, when you sing Peter Grimes, | 1:04:36 | 1:04:39 | |
and he says the Great Bear and the Pleiades, he talks about... | 1:04:39 | 1:04:43 | |
-Yeah. -..same notes, same words, same key. | 1:04:43 | 1:04:47 | |
Yeah. | 1:04:49 | 1:04:50 | |
The part of Peter Grimes in Benjamin Britten's opera, | 1:05:06 | 1:05:10 | |
originally sung by Peter Pears, | 1:05:10 | 1:05:12 | |
is one that Kaufmann has had his eye on for some while. | 1:05:12 | 1:05:15 | |
In the thick of his Otello performances, | 1:05:16 | 1:05:19 | |
he travelled for the first time to the seafront at Britten's hometown, | 1:05:19 | 1:05:22 | |
Aldeburgh in Suffolk, and with Christiane, | 1:05:22 | 1:05:25 | |
visited the composer's house. | 1:05:25 | 1:05:27 | |
I think Peter Grimes is similar to Otello. | 1:05:30 | 1:05:32 | |
It's psychologically very dark. | 1:05:32 | 1:05:35 | |
It has many layers, it's an outsider. | 1:05:35 | 1:05:38 | |
You see, you have pieces | 1:05:38 | 1:05:40 | |
where you just want to do it because of the music, | 1:05:40 | 1:05:43 | |
because of the beautiful melodies and they have a crap plot. | 1:05:43 | 1:05:47 | |
Um, and... | 1:05:47 | 1:05:49 | |
..and you have parts where you know that the music is just not good, | 1:05:49 | 1:05:54 | |
but it would be an interesting part to play, | 1:05:54 | 1:05:56 | |
and then you have parts like Otello and, I think, Peter Grimes. | 1:05:56 | 1:06:01 | |
I mean, I haven't sung it so far, | 1:06:01 | 1:06:03 | |
I'm only looking at it all the time, | 1:06:03 | 1:06:05 | |
where you have both and I think that's fantastic. | 1:06:05 | 1:06:07 | |
So on here, Great Bear, Pleiades. | 1:06:07 | 1:06:12 | |
Sticking on one note for a very long time | 1:06:12 | 1:06:16 | |
and it's this famous E just as... | 1:06:16 | 1:06:18 | |
HE SINGS IN ITALIAN | 1:06:18 | 1:06:20 | |
Untypically for Verdi. | 1:06:24 | 1:06:26 | |
And here we have the same key and the same subject | 1:06:26 | 1:06:29 | |
so it can't be a coincidence, I think. | 1:06:29 | 1:06:32 | |
But also he wrote for Pears in mind, | 1:06:33 | 1:06:35 | |
so Pears had a very distinctive, I think, range. | 1:06:35 | 1:06:38 | |
Yes, that is true. | 1:06:38 | 1:06:39 | |
And I understand | 1:06:39 | 1:06:41 | |
-that for some tenors it can be a bit of a struggle with the break. -Yes. | 1:06:41 | 1:06:45 | |
Exactly. I mean, this was probably his cream region, | 1:06:45 | 1:06:49 | |
whereas most other tenors are like, "Aggh, I can't." | 1:06:49 | 1:06:54 | |
I'm sure one day he will do Peter Grimes. | 1:06:54 | 1:06:55 | |
He's talked about it. It's the kind of thing which also is very | 1:06:55 | 1:06:59 | |
stimulating for a singing actor, but all in its good time. | 1:06:59 | 1:07:03 | |
My wish for Jonas is that, you know, to be patient. | 1:07:03 | 1:07:07 | |
There will always be a tendency | 1:07:07 | 1:07:09 | |
to absolutely devour everything that comes his way. | 1:07:09 | 1:07:12 | |
He already has other Britten music in his repertoire, | 1:07:13 | 1:07:16 | |
in particular the Seven Sonnets Of Michelangelo. | 1:07:16 | 1:07:20 | |
And he was intrigued why the differences | 1:07:20 | 1:07:22 | |
between the original manuscript and the final published version. | 1:07:22 | 1:07:26 | |
It starts on the downbeat... | 1:07:26 | 1:07:28 | |
HE SINGS IN ITALIAN | 1:07:28 | 1:07:31 | |
But here, it starts earlier | 1:07:31 | 1:07:32 | |
and the next phrase starts after the downbeat | 1:07:32 | 1:07:35 | |
and the next phrase starts after the downbeat as well. | 1:07:35 | 1:07:38 | |
HE SINGS IN ITALIAN | 1:07:48 | 1:07:49 | |
And suddenly it opens up to one phrase, which is pure beauty, | 1:08:17 | 1:08:22 | |
so you have all the time this nervousness... | 1:08:22 | 1:08:25 | |
HE SPEAKS RAPIDLY | 1:08:25 | 1:08:28 | |
And then suddenly... | 1:08:28 | 1:08:29 | |
HE SINGS IN ITALIAN | 1:08:29 | 1:08:34 | |
And it's just one, two bars and it's just immediately another world, | 1:08:34 | 1:08:39 | |
I mean, the sun opens, like, wow! | 1:08:39 | 1:08:43 | |
HE SINGS IN ITALIAN | 1:08:43 | 1:08:44 | |
And then of course you have the idea and you start writing and you're | 1:08:49 | 1:08:52 | |
running out of paper so you add half a bar, | 1:08:52 | 1:08:55 | |
so you don't have to write it again, | 1:08:55 | 1:08:57 | |
because you want to finish the phrase before you forget it. | 1:08:57 | 1:09:01 | |
HE SINGS IN ITALIAN | 1:09:01 | 1:09:03 | |
This is always a tricky moment to make this credible. | 1:09:11 | 1:09:14 | |
The whole plot of Otello turns on Desdemona's handkerchief, | 1:09:14 | 1:09:18 | |
a love token from her husband. | 1:09:18 | 1:09:20 | |
Iago will produce it as the apparent proof of her adultery, | 1:09:20 | 1:09:24 | |
but first, Desdemona has to lose it. | 1:09:24 | 1:09:26 | |
How, is the problem. | 1:09:26 | 1:09:27 | |
So you don't need to throw it. | 1:09:27 | 1:09:29 | |
Well, you can do, you can do. | 1:09:29 | 1:09:31 | |
Well, I mean, that's what it says. | 1:09:31 | 1:09:32 | |
That's what it says, I know, but it's, it's... | 1:09:32 | 1:09:35 | |
I think throw it back to her is what I would do... | 1:09:35 | 1:09:38 | |
-OK. -..and then she just lets it go from there. | 1:09:38 | 1:09:40 | |
It just drops out of your hand. | 1:09:40 | 1:09:42 | |
THEY SING IN ITALIAN | 1:09:42 | 1:09:44 | |
It's a tiny detail, but critical to the plot | 1:09:53 | 1:09:55 | |
and takes up a quarter of an hour of this rehearsal. | 1:09:55 | 1:09:59 | |
And you then go and pick this up. | 1:09:59 | 1:10:00 | |
We're still with the hanky, I mean, | 1:10:00 | 1:10:02 | |
we both believe that she would take more care because, it's, I mean, | 1:10:02 | 1:10:06 | |
it's the symbol of the love, her love. | 1:10:06 | 1:10:08 | |
-It's really important. -And everything. | 1:10:08 | 1:10:10 | |
Of my love, actually, to her. | 1:10:10 | 1:10:12 | |
Well, I tell you what, throw it down there. | 1:10:12 | 1:10:15 | |
-Me? -Yeah. | 1:10:15 | 1:10:17 | |
You don't feel he's being argumentative | 1:10:17 | 1:10:20 | |
or difficult or anything. | 1:10:20 | 1:10:22 | |
You know he's searching to find out | 1:10:22 | 1:10:24 | |
what this is about and of course, you know, any director who thinks | 1:10:24 | 1:10:27 | |
you've got all the answers is a fool. | 1:10:27 | 1:10:28 | |
It's funny, I love the idea of her just... | 1:10:30 | 1:10:31 | |
it drops out of her hand, but, anyway, good. | 1:10:31 | 1:10:33 | |
Look, it doesn't... Guys, stay with it for a day or two. | 1:10:36 | 1:10:38 | |
If it doesn't work... | 1:10:38 | 1:10:39 | |
Because it's very clear here. | 1:10:39 | 1:10:43 | |
It is very clear, and what you're doing is very clear. | 1:10:43 | 1:10:46 | |
Yeah, yeah, no, no. | 1:10:46 | 1:10:48 | |
I changed position now in order to be able to... | 1:10:48 | 1:10:51 | |
Directors can very easily become intimidated by him. | 1:10:51 | 1:10:54 | |
Not by his manner, | 1:10:54 | 1:10:55 | |
but because he wants an intelligent conversation about what's actually | 1:10:55 | 1:10:59 | |
written about the text and about the music, | 1:10:59 | 1:11:02 | |
and I find that incredibly stimulating, | 1:11:02 | 1:11:04 | |
so he's terrific to work with. | 1:11:04 | 1:11:06 | |
You don't even notice it. | 1:11:06 | 1:11:07 | |
It drops. This is all such melodrama. | 1:11:07 | 1:11:10 | |
Stay with it, stay with it. | 1:11:10 | 1:11:11 | |
-Throwing hankies all over the place. -Stay with it. | 1:11:11 | 1:11:14 | |
It's surprising that such a star, | 1:11:14 | 1:11:16 | |
he is not difficult at all, actually. | 1:11:16 | 1:11:18 | |
But he's also very clear about the things that are important to him. | 1:11:18 | 1:11:21 | |
I mean, you have to listen to that. | 1:11:21 | 1:11:23 | |
Very good. Tomorrow, we'll pick it up exactly from here. | 1:11:23 | 1:11:25 | |
-Yes. -And carry on. | 1:11:25 | 1:11:27 | |
SHE SINGS IN ITALIAN | 1:11:27 | 1:11:29 | |
No, no, no. It's not this dropping that is necessary. | 1:11:29 | 1:11:32 | |
The only thing is that you forget about it. | 1:11:32 | 1:11:34 | |
The toughest role in Verdi would be enough for most singers. | 1:11:37 | 1:11:40 | |
Mm-hm? | 1:11:40 | 1:11:42 | |
HE CLEARS HIS THROAT | 1:11:42 | 1:11:43 | |
But, at the same time, Kaufmann met one of Wagner's big challenges. | 1:11:43 | 1:11:47 | |
At the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, he sang the love duet | 1:11:48 | 1:11:52 | |
from Die Walkure, with its hair-raising cries of "Walse!" | 1:11:52 | 1:11:57 | |
"Walse!" - you know, those two Walses, were just, you know... Ah! | 1:11:57 | 1:12:00 | |
I mean, he held them half an hour, you know. | 1:12:00 | 1:12:03 | |
It is sort of a tradition with that, | 1:12:03 | 1:12:05 | |
if you listen to the Melchior recording, | 1:12:05 | 1:12:07 | |
where he holds it for 11 seconds. | 1:12:07 | 1:12:09 | |
All tenors are like, "Oh, my God, he's...!" so everybody is... | 1:12:09 | 1:12:14 | |
Those Walses are famous for people wanting to show their big voice. | 1:12:14 | 1:12:21 | |
HE SINGS IN GERMAN | 1:12:28 | 1:12:30 | |
4.76. | 1:13:00 | 1:13:01 | |
Kaufmann insists it's not a stopwatch moment. | 1:13:01 | 1:13:04 | |
Actually it was nine seconds and then ten, in his case. | 1:13:04 | 1:13:08 | |
Rather, it's a big cry for help from Wagner's hero. | 1:13:08 | 1:13:10 | |
On the day before the concert, | 1:13:13 | 1:13:14 | |
Christiane's unexpected arrival was a relief from the hard sing. | 1:13:14 | 1:13:18 | |
Of course it's a hard sing, it's Wagner, what do you expect? | 1:13:19 | 1:13:21 | |
SHE SINGS IN GERMAN | 1:13:21 | 1:13:23 | |
HE STUMBLES OVER WORDS | 1:13:23 | 1:13:24 | |
You have to pace it, | 1:13:24 | 1:13:26 | |
you have to know that you need to have enough stamina and you need | 1:13:26 | 1:13:30 | |
to have enough power for that big phrase at the very end of the act, | 1:13:30 | 1:13:35 | |
because it is the climax. | 1:13:35 | 1:13:37 | |
That fantastic A natural, which seems like a high C, | 1:13:37 | 1:13:39 | |
because most of the role is quite low, so when that comes, | 1:13:39 | 1:13:44 | |
it's a tremendous challenge. | 1:13:44 | 1:13:46 | |
THEY SING IN GERMAN | 1:13:46 | 1:13:48 | |
It's fantastically written. | 1:14:11 | 1:14:12 | |
I mean, this build-up, and the way they recognise each other, | 1:14:12 | 1:14:16 | |
brother and sister, | 1:14:16 | 1:14:17 | |
but they immediately fall in love with each other and | 1:14:17 | 1:14:19 | |
they don't care. And this explosion of the orchestra at the very end. | 1:14:19 | 1:14:24 | |
It's so ecstatic. | 1:14:24 | 1:14:26 | |
MUSIC BUILDS | 1:14:26 | 1:14:28 | |
MUSIC STOPS | 1:14:35 | 1:14:37 | |
When you hear such great music, it's thrilling, thrilling, thrilling. | 1:14:39 | 1:14:43 | |
I don't know, it makes me crazy. | 1:14:43 | 1:14:45 | |
APPLAUSE | 1:14:45 | 1:14:47 | |
I get very excited and I think he does, too. | 1:14:47 | 1:14:50 | |
He's really a thinking man's tenor, | 1:14:52 | 1:14:55 | |
and yet he has this matinee idol delivery. | 1:14:55 | 1:14:59 | |
It's a wonderful combination | 1:15:03 | 1:15:06 | |
and that's what makes him so special, | 1:15:06 | 1:15:08 | |
and a singer like him so rare. | 1:15:08 | 1:15:10 | |
Amazing response. | 1:15:14 | 1:15:15 | |
Yeah, incredible. But, I mean, it's... | 1:15:15 | 1:15:18 | |
You see, I checked the facts, and it's 14 years ago | 1:15:18 | 1:15:21 | |
that I sang the last time here and still... | 1:15:21 | 1:15:23 | |
I was always praising this hall, | 1:15:25 | 1:15:27 | |
because it's so beautiful and the acoustic is so perfect. | 1:15:27 | 1:15:30 | |
I mean, obviously they're super-enthusiastic and everything. | 1:15:30 | 1:15:34 | |
But I have to say... Whoops. | 1:15:34 | 1:15:35 | |
Falls apart now. | 1:15:37 | 1:15:39 | |
No, we brought the house down, you see. Ha-ha! | 1:15:39 | 1:15:43 | |
He talks to the people, to everyone, and shakes hands, hugs, | 1:15:43 | 1:15:50 | |
gifts, flowers, whatever. | 1:15:50 | 1:15:51 | |
He's so nice. I mean, he's not arrogant, you know what I mean? | 1:15:53 | 1:15:56 | |
Running the gauntlet of friends and fans meant he and Christiane had to | 1:15:56 | 1:16:00 | |
move double quick to catch the flight to London | 1:16:00 | 1:16:02 | |
and a return to Otello in the morning. | 1:16:02 | 1:16:04 | |
HE SINGS IN GERMAN | 1:16:04 | 1:16:07 | |
It's very difficult, because our role is to facilitate the connection | 1:16:17 | 1:16:20 | |
between artist and public. | 1:16:20 | 1:16:22 | |
There are times, though, when we have to be a little bit careful | 1:16:22 | 1:16:25 | |
about stalkers and backstage security and so on. | 1:16:25 | 1:16:28 | |
An artist like Jonas is exceptional. | 1:16:28 | 1:16:30 | |
Occasionally, a fan does sneak into a rehearsal. | 1:16:30 | 1:16:33 | |
Stella Dixon from Middlesbrough had a ringside view. | 1:16:33 | 1:16:36 | |
-So I've now achieved my greatest wish in life at 73. -Ha-ha! | 1:16:36 | 1:16:42 | |
-Come on, no. There is much more to come, don't worry. -Honestly! | 1:16:42 | 1:16:45 | |
And do you want to make it even better and let me have a photograph? | 1:16:45 | 1:16:48 | |
I've got a little purse for you, | 1:16:48 | 1:16:50 | |
which is embroidered with your name on. | 1:16:50 | 1:16:52 | |
-OK. -It's to keep... And it's the shape of a baby grand. | 1:16:52 | 1:16:55 | |
-And it's to keep your gummy bears in. -Ha-ha-ha! | 1:16:55 | 1:16:58 | |
Do you know, my hands are shaking, look. | 1:16:59 | 1:17:01 | |
HE LAUGHS | 1:17:01 | 1:17:02 | |
And can I have one looking adoringly at you? | 1:17:04 | 1:17:06 | |
Actually, people want to know everything. | 1:17:07 | 1:17:09 | |
They want to be in the same room, they want to eat with him, | 1:17:09 | 1:17:11 | |
to dine with him. It's just another aspect of modern celebrity. | 1:17:11 | 1:17:15 | |
Even on stage, the adoration can become obsessive. | 1:17:15 | 1:17:18 | |
There has never been a performance of Tosca | 1:17:18 | 1:17:21 | |
like that in Vienna in 2016. | 1:17:21 | 1:17:23 | |
HE SINGS IN ITALIAN | 1:17:23 | 1:17:25 | |
It used to be quite popular | 1:17:42 | 1:17:44 | |
that people would ask for an encore, but... | 1:17:44 | 1:17:47 | |
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE | 1:17:49 | 1:17:52 | |
..in this case, I was just blown away, | 1:17:53 | 1:17:56 | |
because I didn't make any arrangements with the conductor. | 1:17:56 | 1:17:58 | |
I just realised after a while, actually after about what, | 1:18:03 | 1:18:07 | |
five or six minutes in, | 1:18:07 | 1:18:10 | |
of applause, I can't get away without it, I mean, it's just... | 1:18:10 | 1:18:14 | |
And I had to start laughing. | 1:18:14 | 1:18:16 | |
And there's this moment where you can see me actually smiling, | 1:18:16 | 1:18:19 | |
because I thought, "Boy, I mean, this is... | 1:18:19 | 1:18:21 | |
"This is really happening." | 1:18:21 | 1:18:22 | |
I cannot stay longer in the part. | 1:18:22 | 1:18:24 | |
And, of course, that encouraged them to even clap more and cheer | 1:18:25 | 1:18:30 | |
and it was a really, really wonderful moment. | 1:18:30 | 1:18:34 | |
-Was this...? -Because I still didn't know that the soprano wouldn't come. | 1:18:34 | 1:18:39 | |
This is a moment of great tragedy in the opera? | 1:18:40 | 1:18:43 | |
Yes. It is. | 1:18:43 | 1:18:44 | |
What can you do? | 1:18:44 | 1:18:45 | |
Did you tell the conductor we'll do it again? | 1:18:49 | 1:18:51 | |
-How did that happen? -I nodded and he understood. | 1:18:51 | 1:18:54 | |
He said, "OK." So we actually go back | 1:18:54 | 1:18:56 | |
and they had to look for where to go and because, also for them, | 1:18:56 | 1:19:00 | |
it's not an everyday job to just jump back and play a bit again. | 1:19:00 | 1:19:05 | |
HE SINGS IN ITALIAN | 1:19:08 | 1:19:09 | |
To repeat a number, I love that, you know. | 1:19:25 | 1:19:27 | |
I mean, it rarely happens, but, you know, | 1:19:27 | 1:19:30 | |
there is an element of circus in what we do and it's great and... | 1:19:30 | 1:19:37 | |
..it's a sign of generosity towards the public, you know. | 1:19:37 | 1:19:41 | |
I think it's terrific. | 1:19:41 | 1:19:42 | |
I have no problem with those kind of conventions, | 1:19:42 | 1:19:47 | |
even though some people think they're tasteless. | 1:19:47 | 1:19:50 | |
HE SINGS IN ITALIAN | 1:19:50 | 1:19:51 | |
The trouble is that encores are not always popular with other singers. | 1:20:07 | 1:20:11 | |
This is the moment that his lover Tosca, | 1:20:12 | 1:20:14 | |
sung by the soprano Angela Gheorghiu, | 1:20:14 | 1:20:17 | |
is due on stage to rescue him from the firing squad. | 1:20:17 | 1:20:21 | |
And now I realise she's not there. | 1:20:29 | 1:20:32 | |
She's supposed to be here with the guards, | 1:20:32 | 1:20:35 | |
and this is when we actually embrace each other and I look over there. | 1:20:35 | 1:20:40 | |
I looked twice, I look three times. | 1:20:40 | 1:20:43 | |
I know she's not coming, and the conductor's still very confident, | 1:20:43 | 1:20:46 | |
because he hasn't looked up. | 1:20:46 | 1:20:47 | |
And, yeah, I have to stop him in some way. | 1:20:49 | 1:20:52 | |
Yeah. "Non abbiamo soprano!" | 1:20:57 | 1:20:58 | |
The funny thing is, you can still hear the violins, | 1:20:59 | 1:21:04 | |
because they are still in hope that it might continue. | 1:21:04 | 1:21:07 | |
Then he realises, there is no way, we have to stop. | 1:21:07 | 1:21:10 | |
WHISTLING AND APPLAUSE | 1:21:10 | 1:21:12 | |
It has become famous | 1:21:12 | 1:21:14 | |
and people have sent me T-shirts with that famous scene, | 1:21:14 | 1:21:17 | |
they have sent me scores where the line is corrected now | 1:21:17 | 1:21:22 | |
to the up-to-date version where | 1:21:22 | 1:21:24 | |
the tenor sings, "Ah, non abbiamo soprano!" and the opera finishes. | 1:21:24 | 1:21:27 | |
LAUGHTER | 1:21:27 | 1:21:29 | |
Then he spoke to the audience, | 1:21:29 | 1:21:31 | |
still hoping the performance could be rescued. | 1:21:31 | 1:21:33 | |
TRANSLATED FROM GERMAN: | 1:21:33 | 1:21:35 | |
APPLAUSE | 1:21:42 | 1:21:43 | |
Second time lucky. | 1:21:45 | 1:21:46 | |
Even if the embrace at the end came early. | 1:21:49 | 1:21:52 | |
Kaufmann remains diplomatic about what had gone wrong. | 1:22:06 | 1:22:09 | |
Did she ever explain? | 1:22:09 | 1:22:10 | |
No. | 1:22:10 | 1:22:12 | |
Not really. I mean, I don't want to get too much into it. | 1:22:12 | 1:22:15 | |
We are not in agreement whose fault it is, let's put it that way. | 1:22:17 | 1:22:22 | |
At Covent Garden, | 1:22:25 | 1:22:26 | |
everyone in Otello came on and off stage at the right time, | 1:22:26 | 1:22:30 | |
and the interval at least offered relief from the fans. | 1:22:30 | 1:22:33 | |
The conductor was naturally keen to protect his fingers. | 1:22:33 | 1:22:36 | |
You know, there is such a thing as too much exposure. | 1:22:36 | 1:22:39 | |
You know, some of us think, "Can't we do this in peace and quiet?" | 1:22:39 | 1:22:42 | |
But there is no peace and quiet any more. | 1:22:42 | 1:22:44 | |
Guys, leave him alone. | 1:22:44 | 1:22:46 | |
This is ridiculous. | 1:22:46 | 1:22:48 | |
Leave him alone. He's singing Otello. | 1:22:48 | 1:22:50 | |
Leave him alone! | 1:22:50 | 1:22:52 | |
-OK. -Wait till I get undressed. | 1:22:52 | 1:22:55 | |
This is part of the BBC policy. Ha-ha! | 1:22:55 | 1:22:58 | |
Media has become such an important part of keeping the art form alive. | 1:22:58 | 1:23:04 | |
There's a tremendous outreach, | 1:23:04 | 1:23:07 | |
but the pressure on the artist is enormous. | 1:23:07 | 1:23:11 | |
You're dealing with a great star | 1:23:27 | 1:23:29 | |
and you know most of the audience | 1:23:29 | 1:23:31 | |
will be in love with him at the beginning. | 1:23:31 | 1:23:33 | |
Is that helpful to you as a director? | 1:23:34 | 1:23:36 | |
I'm not sure it is always helpful to Jonas, | 1:23:38 | 1:23:40 | |
because if you're in love with him, | 1:23:40 | 1:23:43 | |
it may be hard to take how bleak and terrible | 1:23:43 | 1:23:48 | |
the road this character takes is. | 1:23:48 | 1:23:51 | |
I mean, the abuse of Desdemona. | 1:23:53 | 1:23:56 | |
And it is marital abuse. | 1:23:56 | 1:23:58 | |
Iago's web of deceit has now wound Otello up | 1:24:46 | 1:24:49 | |
to wreak terrible vengeance on his innocent wife. | 1:24:49 | 1:24:53 | |
Marital abuse becomes murder. | 1:24:53 | 1:24:55 | |
I usually have no problem in slipping out of character. | 1:24:56 | 1:25:00 | |
The curtain falls and you're back in your private life, | 1:25:00 | 1:25:03 | |
but with this last scene, really, it holds on for quite a while. | 1:25:03 | 1:25:07 | |
You're always a little bit, yeah, in a strange mood. | 1:25:07 | 1:25:11 | |
There's a lot of emotion, a lot of violence, also, in the music, | 1:25:24 | 1:25:28 | |
and this is something that can really affect you and harm you, | 1:25:28 | 1:25:31 | |
because it is difficult to not get your voice affected too much by it. | 1:25:31 | 1:25:36 | |
# I love you. # | 1:25:37 | 1:25:46 | |
-TV PRESENTER: -Jonas Kaufmann in You Are My Heart's Delight. | 1:25:53 | 1:25:57 | |
A sentiment shared by much of the audience here. | 1:25:57 | 1:26:00 | |
RAPTUROUS APPLAUSE | 1:26:00 | 1:26:05 | |
Lucky Jonas. | 1:26:05 | 1:26:07 | |
SHE LAUGHS | 1:26:07 | 1:26:09 | |
Oh, good Lord, this is getting out of hand. | 1:26:09 | 1:26:12 | |
Well, they threw these things on stage. | 1:26:21 | 1:26:23 | |
I don't know for what purpose. | 1:26:23 | 1:26:24 | |
I mean, of course, I'm very shy and innocent. | 1:26:24 | 1:26:26 | |
-Crazy, isn't it? -HE LAUGHS | 1:26:27 | 1:26:30 | |
But a funny idea. I hope it was not a spontaneous decision. | 1:26:30 | 1:26:33 | |
All right. | 1:26:35 | 1:26:36 | |
Those are the ones that I'm going to throw now. | 1:26:38 | 1:26:41 | |
OK, I'll put them somewhere back here. | 1:26:43 | 1:26:46 | |
-Easy-peasy. -That will be a surprise. | 1:26:46 | 1:26:48 | |
That will be a surprise, of course. | 1:26:48 | 1:26:50 | |
And I've got another one here. | 1:26:50 | 1:26:51 | |
My Bavarian flag. | 1:26:52 | 1:26:54 | |
Just in case. | 1:26:55 | 1:26:57 | |
# The Muses, still with freedom found | 1:27:05 | 1:27:11 | |
# Shall to thy happy coast repair | 1:27:13 | 1:27:18 | |
# Shall to thy happy, happy coast repair... # | 1:27:18 | 1:27:23 | |
He challenges himself to the limit. | 1:27:23 | 1:27:26 | |
I mean, when you look at the number of role debuts he has done | 1:27:26 | 1:27:30 | |
in the last seven, eight years, I mean, it's unbelievable. | 1:27:30 | 1:27:34 | |
The real heroic tenor roles. | 1:27:34 | 1:27:37 | |
The risks are enormous if you don't know what you're doing, | 1:27:37 | 1:27:40 | |
and so he's learned that, and I think he's very proud of that. | 1:27:40 | 1:27:44 | |
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE | 1:27:49 | 1:27:52 | |
WHISTLING | 1:27:52 | 1:27:54 | |
When he leaves Covent Garden late at night, | 1:28:01 | 1:28:03 | |
Jonas Kaufmann has one final duty to perform. | 1:28:03 | 1:28:07 | |
One ticket for Otello, please. | 1:28:07 | 1:28:09 | |
Ha-ha-ha-ha! | 1:28:09 | 1:28:11 | |
He's in the same league as Luciano Pavarotti, or Placido Domingo, | 1:28:11 | 1:28:15 | |
and his career in his late 40s is still growing. | 1:28:15 | 1:28:19 | |
In a way, he's quite a late developer, isn't he? | 1:28:19 | 1:28:21 | |
Which is a very good thing. | 1:28:21 | 1:28:23 | |
We're looking for careers in this business that go on and on and on - | 1:28:23 | 1:28:26 | |
you know, the Lucianos and the Placidos. | 1:28:26 | 1:28:29 | |
Also, for selfish reasons, I want to continue working with him. | 1:28:29 | 1:28:32 | |
The two next big mountains I will have to climb | 1:28:32 | 1:28:36 | |
are Tannhauser and Tristan. | 1:28:36 | 1:28:38 | |
Apart from Wagner, | 1:28:38 | 1:28:39 | |
do you like the thought of doing crossover music? | 1:28:39 | 1:28:42 | |
What is crossover to me, what is crossover to you... | 1:28:42 | 1:28:45 | |
I mean, I cannot say no, under no circumstances, | 1:28:45 | 1:28:49 | |
because maybe, next week, | 1:28:49 | 1:28:50 | |
I meet a guy in a pub and we become friends and, ultimately, | 1:28:50 | 1:28:54 | |
I realise that he is a famous pop star | 1:28:54 | 1:28:55 | |
and we can record something together. | 1:28:55 | 1:28:59 | |
# Girls were made to love and kiss | 1:28:59 | 1:29:06 | |
# And who am I to interfere with this? | 1:29:06 | 1:29:14 | |
# Is it fair? | 1:29:16 | 1:29:19 | |
# Should I care? | 1:29:19 | 1:29:23 | |
# I'm a man | 1:29:24 | 1:29:31 | |
# And love them when I can. # | 1:29:31 | 1:29:41 |