Jonas Kaufmann

Jonas Kaufmann, born in Munich on 10 July 1969, is a tenor who holds both German and Austrian nationality. He is widely recognized for the breadth of his repertoire, taking on a wide range of opera roles in several languages each season, as well as performing in recitals and concerts. Among his most notable parts are Don José in *Carmen*, Cavaradossi in *Tosca*, Maurizio in *Adriana Lecouvreur*, Don Alvaro in *La forza del destino*, Siegmund in *Die Walküre*, and the title roles in *Parsifal*, *Werther*, *Don Carlos*, and *Lohengrin*. In 2014, *The New York Times* called him "a box-office draw, and... the most important, versatile tenor of his generation."

Kaufmann’s father worked in insurance and his mother was a kindergarten teacher; he has one older sister. He began piano lessons at age eight and sang in his elementary school choir. After preparing for mathematics entrance exams, he started vocal training at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich in the summer of 1989. While a student, he sang minor roles at the Bavarian State Opera, graduating in 1994 with distinctions in both opera and concert performance. The following year, American baritone Michael Rhodes helped him develop a "new way of singing," which Kaufmann later described in his book *Meinen die wirklich mich?* as "a great stroke of luck."

His professional career launched at the Staatstheater Saarbrücken in 1994, leading to debuts at the Stuttgart Opera, Hamburg State Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opéra National de Paris, and La Scala. He first appeared at the Salzburg Festival in 1999 in Busoni’s *Doktor Faust*, returning in 2003 as Belmonte in *Die Entführung aus dem Serail* and for Beethoven’s Ninth with the Berlin Philharmonic. His Don José in *Carmen* at the Royal Opera House in 2006/7 earned critical acclaim, as did his 2006 Met debut as Alfredo in *La traviata* opposite Angela Gheorghiu—a role he reprised at the Met in 2007 and 2008 and at Covent Garden in 2008. In May 2008, he played Cavaradossi in *Tosca* at Covent Garden, again to strong reviews.

The 2008/9 season saw him in Massenet’s *Manon* in Chicago with Natalie Dessay and in the title role of a new *Lohengrin* at the Bavarian State Opera. He sang Lohengrin at the Bayreuth Festival’s opening night in 2010, staged by Hans Neuenfels and conducted by Andris Nelsons. His debut Decca recording, *Romantic Arias*, came out in January 2008, followed by a Schubert song cycle on the same label and the role of Pinkerton in *Madama Butterfly* for EMI. In January 2010, he took the title role in *Werther* at the Opéra Bastille, later released on DVD. He returned to the Met in April 2011 as Siegmund in Robert Lepage’s *Die Walküre*. After surgery to remove a chest lymph node in September 2011, he was back in December as Gounod’s Faust.

On 15 February 2013, Kaufmann made his Met debut as Parsifal, earning rave reviews. That July, the Bavarian Ministry of Arts named him a Kammersänger of the Bavarian State Opera, and in December he sang Don Alvaro in *La forza del destino* with the company. In February 2014, he performed the title role in *Werther* at the Met, then toured Schubert’s *Winterreise* with Helmut Deutsch. He debuted as Des Grieux in Puccini’s *Manon Lescaut* at the Royal Opera House in June 2014, repeating the role at the Bavarian State Opera that November. On 12 September 2015, he became the first German singer to perform "Rule, Britannia!" at the Last Night of the Proms. The documentary *Jonas Kaufmann: An Evening with Puccini*, featuring his 2015 La Scala performance, was released in US theaters on 23 February 2016.

In 2018, he made his debut as Tristan in concert performances of act two of *Tristan und Isolde*. The following year, he toured Germany with Mahler’s *Das Lied von der Erde* and performances from his *L’Opéra* CD, while operatic highlights included *Fidelio* and *Otello* at the Bavarian State Opera, *La forza del destino* at Covent Garden, *Andrea Chénier* in Sydney and Melbourne, and a new *Die tote Stadt* in Munich. In 2020, he toured his album *Mein Wien*, sang Aida at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Don Carlos at the Vienna State Opera, *La Bohème* at the Bavarian State Opera, and *Cavalleria Rusticana* at the Teatro San Carlo. In 2021, he gave recitals in Madrid and Vienna, appeared in new productions of *Aida* in Paris and *Parsifal* in Vienna, made his full role debut as Tristan at the Bavarian State Opera, and toured North America with pianist Helmut Deutsch. He began 2022 with a role debut as the title character in Britten’s *Peter Grimes* at the Vienna State Opera. In March 2022, Antonio Pappano organized a studio recording of *Turandot* at the Santa Cecilia auditorium, where Kaufmann sang Calaf for the first time, alongside Sondra Radvanovsky in the title role.