Jonas Kaufmann
TénorSince his debut at the Metropolitan Opera New York in 2006 as Alfredo in [La Traviata], Jonas Kaufmann has been one of the most sought-after tenors worldwide – whether in Italian, French or German, on the concert stage or in Lieder recitals.
Jonas Kaufmann completed his vocal studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich and attended master classes with Hans Hotter, James King and Josef Metternich. During his first years on the stage at the Staatstheater Saarbrücken, he continued his training under Michael Rhodes in Trier. After engagements in Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Milan, he joined Oper Zurich in 2001. From there his international career began – with appearances at the Salzburg Festival, the Lyric Opera Chicago, the Opera de Paris, the Royal Opera House in London, La Scala in Milan and the state opera houses in Berlin and Vienna. Jonas Kaufmann has appeared several times in concerts with the Berliner Philharmoniker since his debut at the beginning of December 2003 in Berlioz’s [La Damnation de Faust] – including one of his signature roles as Don José in Bizet’s [Carmen], in which he also appeared at the Salzburg Festival under the baton of Simon Rattle. For his performance of Lohengrin in Wagner’s opera of the same name at the 2009 Munich Opera Festival, Kaufmann was named Singer of the Year by [Opernwelt] magazine. A year later, he made his debut at the Bayreuth Festival in the same role. An important part of Jonas Kaufmann’s work are the recitals with his long-standing piano accompanist Helmut Deutsch, which take him regularly through Europe and to Japan.