Duet to me one more time

As this holiday season approacheth, let us all give thanks for the bounty that classical recording companies have bestowed upon us, especially for those who are looking to lure an unsuspecting acquaintance or family member over to the dark side of operatic fandom. It’s kind of like being a musical vampire, really; you just hope you get a good bite in and it takes hold, rather than killing what little interest there might have been on the part of the recipient.

While we’re speaking of the undead and ghoulish, it has been quite a year for fans of Giacomo Puccini. The opera and recording companies have had a merry dance around his grave in the Puccini Pantheon at Torre del Lago now that it’s been 100 years since his passing. (I’m sure they only intend to honor the great maestro and not, say, to celebrate the fact that all of his works have officially entered public domain worldwide — mayhap they are lifting a skosh of champagne in the accounting back office?)

I believe Jonas Kaufmann first came to my attention with the release of the Covent Garden DVD of Carmen opposite Anna Caterina Antonacci which contained a fine amount of singing, most especially on his part, but wasn’t as white-hot as I was hoping for. I’m sure we’re all familiar by now with his burnished, baritonal sound and his movie-star looks, even if he has gotten a bit scruffy ‘round the edges. His leonine tenor and vocal technique have always brought to mind the great Jon Vickers, although the voice isn’t nearly as bright. He does have a come-hither way with a messa di voce, though, there’s no denying that.

My gratitude is also boundless since this is NOT another collection of Christmas songs, especially because Sony has so little shame, as we all know. Who can forget in 2020 when they gave us the almost completely appalling 2-CD “It’s Christmas!” and two years later re-gifted us with “It’s Christmas! – Extended Version”? We’re not talking Teeny and Herbie roasting tastefully arranged chestnuts with the Vienna Philharmonic. Oh no. We had some good ol’ Teutonic traditionals, performed in Mr. Kaufmann’s badly-mangled and British-accented English, sprinkled with second-hand arrangements of Mel Torme, Jule Styne, and Irving Berlin. Plus, brace yourselves, the most jaw-dropping, what-in-the-Charles–Dickens version of Mariah Carey’s “All I want for Christmas is You,” a track that will live on in infamy as a party record for years to come. Amongst the accompanying videos, was even a “Silent Night” with our tenor represented as himself in a Salzburg Marionette puppet show. (Where are my matches?) It was a promotional Donner & Blitzen Blitzkrieg, really just a step up from Andrea Bocelli, and it must have made Sony a fortune.

Not that the career itself has been scandal free. Oh my, far from it. A Caballé-adjacent number of cancellations, for one reason or another, including announced participation in more than one production of Berlioz’ Les Troyens on which he never made good. Just last week he withdrew from opening night of La Scala. (That’s tomorrow, by the way.) We’ve only gotten a couple performances of Tristan out of him (and none recorded, as far as I know), so that’s disappointing, especially for a man who made Florestan sound easy. He sang some Otellos but never made his mark on the role like others, although none of the productions showed him to his best advantage as far as I’m concerned.

Remember when Sony lured Herr Kaufmann away from his exclusive Decca contract in the summer of 2015 and we got dueling Puccini-themed recital recordings? Now there was a brouhaha! He was a Met Opera favored son for quite some time with new productions of Walkure, Faust (ugh), Parsifal, and Werther, but visits became sporadic and now nothing since 2018.

Meanwhile, we’ve been practically besieged from all sides with Puccini tributes this year and Sony has now put their best tenor foot forward with Mr. Kaufmann and “Puccini: Love Affairs” that excerpts six of the composer’s most romantischeduets and employs a different prima donna for each — highly creative programming considering that between Decca and Sony he’s already recorded all the Puccini arias for tenor you can think of. Can you hear the cash register ringing?

First up is the “O soave fanciulla” that ties a bow around Act I of La Boheme, and as our gentle Mimi we have South African soprano Pretty Yende. I’ve long admired Ms. Yende for her verve, if not her accuracy, since seeing her here at LA Opera nearly 10 years ago as Mozart’s Susanna, a role, I believe, she promptly dropped from her repertoire. (Who can blame her, really? It’s the longest soprano role ever written and almost completely thankless.) As the voice has gained some heft, she has been venturing out beyond the “-ina” roles with success and Mimì is now a natural progression past Musetta, Violetta, and Manon.

Mr. Kaufmann is a sometime Rodolfo and this duet was included recently on Rachel Willis-Sorensen’s debut recording that I reviewed on these pages. The interpretation is the same, save for Ms. Yende who has a come hither way with the high C which she takes piano at the finale and Mr. Kaufmann, eschewing the composer’s A-natural (as so many tenors do), joins her on it. For any tenor to hit a piano high C, let alone one of his years, is impressive. Still the whole thing is over in just under four minutes, which makes me think Ms. Yende was short-changed compared to the more generous excerpts that follow.

Next up we have the slightly schizophrenic, stop and start, duet from Act II of Manon Lescaut with prodigal daughter Anna Netrebko as the minx in question. This is the Russian Diva’s first recorded appearance since her uneven “Amata dalle tenebre” on her DG home label back in 2021. (I assume strings were pulled and favors called in to vouchsafe her appearance on a rival label.) Things go pretty much as one would expect when two middle-aged singers try to be teenagers. Both manage a modicum of passion, if sounding a bit deliberate at times.

We relocate to Sant’Andrea della Valle in Rome for our next pairing which features Sonya Yoncheva as Floria Tosca. Her vocalism is full and even with plenty of attention to detail, but the voice itself is a tad monochromatic and she resorts to straight tone on some of the briefly touched top notes. She’s an artist better seen than just heard for me. Mr. Kaufmann does some very amorous crooning while he’s trying to divert her attentions.

Then we get the whole finale to Act I of La Fanciulla del West with Malin Byström and it’s an interesting choice that pays big dividends. It’s the first time on this compilation I actually appreciated the contribution of conductor Asher Fischleading the Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna, who really heightens the atmosphere. (More of that anon.) Ms. Byström proves herself a Minnie of great skill and emotion and Mr. Kaufmann provides excellent support. It’s an especially touching scene when played well — her “Oscura e buona a nulla” is delivered with just the right amount of poignancy and we even get the Miners’ humming in the background somewhere. So, no expense has been spared.

We’re on the Seine next with a smoldering Asmik Grigorian as Giorgetta. Her experience in the role is apparent and she manages to scale her voice down beautifully for the hushed exchanges. Luigi being the only Puccini role represented here Mr. Kaufmann hasn’t performed or recorded, he matches Ms. Grigorian in what turns out to be a very tense and exciting reading from both.

The only less than successful offering for me is the last which, the big night of amore that closes the first act of Madama Butterfly. As things start to heat up, Maria Agresta proves herself far from the Puccinian “piccina mogliettina.” When she starts recounting how butterflies are pinned to a board in America for display, she lets loose with a whopping Bb that would be the pride of any Brünnhilde. It’s a great note, but in the context of the duet, it’s a lot. Not that she’s without nuance, but as she proceeds, the moments above the staff, especially at the finale, become unwieldy and a tad matronly. She’s also the only Italian represented, which says something about the current state of Puccini interpreters. Mr. Kaufmann is much as he was on the EMI recording with Angela Gheorghiu and for some reason his voice just doesn’t gel with this role for me. Maybe his phrasing is too square.

As a digestif, Mr. Kauffman rounds out the disc with a “Che gelida manina,” which finds him sounding a little less than young and ardent, and an “E lucevan le stelle” in an interpretation that’s squeezed of all possible juices. No wonder La Gheorghiu took exception to his grandstanding in Vienna.

Our tenor has always had phenomenal technical control over dynamics and he’s not shy about showing them off — my jaw has dropped on more than one occasion watching live performances. As we know, most tenors really only have two volumes; loud and loudest. Throughout, though, he relies more and more on straight tone for the piano sections. Although his voice has never been mediterranean in color, it is still a robust and, for the most part, healthy sounding. It’s just growing more gravelly as time marches on.

Now for the tricky part: this entire recording is a construct. It turns out that in order to facilitate this project, our tenor and his soprano partners were actually recorded in various studio locales throughout Europe, owing to their busy schedules, no doubt. Once in said studio, they would sing to a pre-existing back-up track of Maestro Asher Fisch and the Bologna Orchestra sawing away.

I’m sure we’ve all heard stories about various singers not actually being present for recording projects. Mirella Freni never worked with Karl Böhm in spite of her singing Susanna in the famous Ponnelle film of Nozze di Figaro. I know of at least one recording project with Placido Domingo where he wasn’t available for the actual sessions and tracked most of his role in later. I’ve even heard rumors that Rene Kollo and Margaret Price weren’t in the same studio at the same time for the Liebesnacht of their Tristan recording under Kleiber. Most of the above were due to unavoidable, and mostly innocent, circumstances: inclement weather, scheduling snafus, and, unfortunately, disdainful relations between colleagues. I know of a Naxos opera recording where the soloists sang to a pre-recorded track because of financial limitations.

I don’t think you’d ever guess from listening to it but, once learned, it does squelch that frisson of immediacy which is so hard to capture in the recording studio to begin with. This is the first time I’ve heard of a major label contriving to do this, however, and it doesn’t bode well. I find it disingenuous and, frankly, it feels like it didn’t really need to happen. Can operatic A.I. be just around the corner?

So, I don’t think Mr. Kaufmann’s legions of fans will be disappointed and the sopranos included certainly deserve the exposure. As operatic muzak, it beats Andrea Bocelli or Sarah Brightman. But in the end, it’s a poor substitute for a live performance captured.