Yes, please: Jonas Kaufmann on the big screen Photo: Julian Hargreaves/Sony Classical/IMG

Yes, please: Jonas Kaufmann on the big screen

Jenna Simeonov

Coming up on February 24 and March 20, Grammy-award winning tenor Jonas Kaufmann takes the big screen in select Canadian theatres for Jonas Kaufmann: An Evening with Puccini. The all-Giacomo concert was given at Teatro alla Scala in June, 2015, along with the Filarmonica della Scala, and conducted by Jochen Rieder in his Scala debut.

For two hours, Kaufmann and the Filarmonica take us through Puccini’s whole body of work; the programme includes arias from his lesser-known work (like his first opera, Le ville), as well as the hits that we’re all dying to hear again and again, like “E lucevan le stelle” and “Nessun dorma”. The Filarmonica is beautifully featured, too, offering some of Puccini’s gorgeous orchestral moments, like the famous interlude form Madama Butterfly.

The film by Brian Large, produced by Arts Alliance, is a sort of concert-plus-documentary. On top of the stellar music, we get interviews with Kaufmann and fascinating history and archival footage of Giacomo Puccini’s rockstar life.

This is one of those events that’s reminiscent of the encores-forever concerts by Pavarotti and Domingo, and Kaufmann has the voice as well as the charisma to keep us rapt.

Click here to find a nearby theatre, and grab your seats. How often do you get nothing but Kaufmann, singing nothing but Puccini, plus a bag of popcorn?

Related Content

Mentions

Comments

Unlike other sites, we're keeping Schmopera ad-free. We want to keep our site clean and our opinions our own. Support us for as little as $1.00 per month.