Kaufmann is going cheap in Australia

Ulex Xane says:

I saw Jonas Kaufmann perform his concert last night in Melbourne. The orchestra (Orchestra Victoria) was barely adequate, with Kaufmann’s good pal Rieder conducting. And it was almost like an orchestral concert with a few tenor bits thrown in. No end of preludes, overtures, intermezzi, after EVERY aria. Surely Kaufmann doesn’t need a rest after every single aria, and the audience is there for him, not to hear a second-rate orchestra play overtures! The tenor was excellent, as expected, but much of the repertoire did not suit him – no Wagner, unfortunately, just mainly Italian and French lirico-spinto arias in which a lighter and more flexible voice is preferable. His Chenier and Cav & Pag arias were very well sung, however, and those suit him better. He attempted some soft notes, but above the stave sometimes they were a little hollow and strained (he had been indisposed recently and perhaps was not fully recovered). His stage presence is a little awkward, almost nervous, and he doesn’t display a lot of personality. What’s lacking most is a ‘smile’ in the voice, and that indefinable charm and sense of communicative ease. One of the encores was Core n’grato, and for that kind of repertoire he just doesn’t have the caressing way with a phrase or the Italianate brightness that characterised the voices of Gigli, Di Stefano, Poggi, Anselmi et al. He should stop trying to sing everything and focus on what he’s best at; heldentenor and tenore drammatico roles, in my opinion.