Coming Soon, Jonas Kaufmann records Puccini arias

In a sense, hearing 'Nessun dorma' performed on prime-time Saturday-night telly isn't really all that out of the ordinary: Calàf's pre-dawn vigil as he rhapsodises about conquering the man-hating ice-queen Turandot is regularly wheeled out on talent-shows by everyone from self-trained countertenors to child sopranos. On Saturday 12th September, though, it's the world's foremost dramatic tenor who'll be proclaiming that 'None shall sleep', as Jonas Kaufmann takes centre-stage at the Last Night of the Proms: thus far, he's been chary of programming this most popular of tenor arias but observed a couple of years ago that 'I’m sure I will sing it in concert one day. Maybe in this case I should wait with my debut till I get an offer to sing in a soccer stadium!'. Well, the Royal Albert Hall isn't quite that, but it's certainly a spectacular context for him to give a first public airing to an aria which also features on his forthcoming all-Puccini album, due out in September on Sony.

The disc will include excerpts from roles which Kaufmann has already conquered on stage, such as Dick Johnson in La Fanciulla del West (following his role-debut in Vienna last year, the New York Times observed that he 'sings Dick with burnished tone that is possessed of both heft and ring'), Cavaradossi in Tosca, Ruggero in La Rondine, Des Grieux in Manon Lescaut and Rodolfo in La Bohème (this last one not 'on stage' as such - Kaufmann famously jumped in to sing from the wings when Piotr Beczala lost his voice at the 2012 Salzburg Festival: the Huffington Post raved that 'Kaufmann accented his broad, full-throated and awe-inspiring Wagnerian tenor with gestures and facial expressions reflecting his total identification with the role of a man tossed and turned by the forces of love and despair').

There are also comparative rarities such as 'Orgia, chimera dall'occhio vitreo' from Edgar and 'Torna ai felici dì' from Le villi, a glimpse of what-might-have-been in the form of Rinuccio's aria from Gianni Schicchi (a relatively light lyric role which Kaufmann is now pretty unlikely to assume on stage), and teasers for two potential future roles (though he's remaining tight-lipped about concrete plans), the ill-starred stevedore Luigi in Il tabarro and of course the 'unknown prince' Calàf in Turandot.

Kaufmann will be accompanied by Sir Antonio Pappano and the Orchestra e Coro dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, who also feature on Warner Classics's upcoming studio recording of Aida (starring Kaufmann as Radamés) which is due out in the autumn.

Other Puccini from Jonas Kaufmann

(You can browse his complete discography here.)