Exclusive: Jonas Kaufmann just can’t bear black tie

Exclusive: Jonas Kaufmann just can’t bear black tie

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norman lebrecht

July 15, 2017

From our pals at Scherzo in Madrid:

Comments

  • Eleanor says:

    Wonderful! Amazing how he keeps his composure!

  • Bram Stoker says:

    He should of course be wearing evening tails not black tie, as John McCormack and Enrico Caruso used to.
    Never wear black tie with tails otherwise you may be confused with jeeves.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxUvK3-HFsM

    • Raouf Zaidan says:

      He should nothing ! it is difficult enough to sing without having to worry about a tight collar around your neck . At last we are seeing singers being free and normal human beings . Thank you Jonas.

  • Halldor says:

    Then wear white tie.
    Simple.

    • Raouf Zaidan says:

      White , Black , Green , Blue … what does it matter ?
      he should be comfortable doing one of the world’s most difficult jobs .

  • John says:

    Is that really a pre-tied tie!? A grown man unable to tie his own tie: how crazy.

    • Steve P says:

      Bow ties baffle me. I can tie a long tie several different ways, but wind up nearly strangling myself on bow ties.

      • Bertie Wooster says:

        Dunmore & Locke St James is he place to get kitted out, real silk and poplin bow ties adjustable self tie not clip ons ugh!, never wear black tie with tails, unless you want be mistaken for Jeeves!

      • Bruce says:

        It’s much less confusing if you think of it as a shoelace knot. (I tied my own for years before getting tired of it and buying a couple of pre-tied ones 😛 )

  • Alexander says:

    any way it shows unambiguously that this is a really live performance 😉 put my “like” 😉

  • Ungeheuer says:

    This may be amusing for about 2 seconds but I find it appalling when classical music/opera artists choose to clown around for the indulgence of and pandering to increasingly stupid and uninformed audiences. Hardscrabble casualness is creeping in more and more on stages. Some will say it’s about tearing down walls. Do not believe it. I think it’s more of a metaphor for a demoralized, desperate and moribund art form. Whatever happened to class (yes, class) and gracious stage deportment?

    • Alexander says:

      nevertheless you found it amusing ( for about 2 seconds though) – it means there is still some hope with you 😉 …. speaking about class and being classy – listening to Joan Suthreland’s “Tornami a vagheggiar” now ….

    • Bertie Wooster says:

      Indeed appalling that orchestra musicians now resemble bar staff!

      • Raouf Zaidan says:

        Are you forgetting that Mozart himself was given his meals in the kitchen ! Why are we so elitist about the arts , musicians are highly skilled manual laborers and VERY proud to be so . What you wear is besides the point altogether . Look nice , go for a unified theme and, above all , be comfortable and at ease for the hours that you do your most difficult and concentration requiring of professions .

    • John says:

      I can’t believe you wasted so much verbiage on something so trivial.

    • Michel Gervais says:

      What in the world are you people talking about? Obviously, you know absolutely NOTHING about what a performer’s life involves, and what a performer goes through to be able to do what he/she does on stage. Kaufmann is one of the greatest tenors of his generation, and oh, by the way, he is also a human being. Fancy that! What a novelty! An artist also being human! And though you are probably too idiotic to even wonder about this, the heat in summer can be death to the voice! Your throat dries up completely and your vocal chords seize up! And just in case you also haven’t realized it yet, we are no longer in the 19th century when “black tie” and “evening dress” were the norm and the wealthy had dressers and changed at least six times a day, we are in the 21st century, where our values have evolved well beyond notions of attire as a measure of people’s worth and skills. Grow up! There is a real world out there!

    • Marshall says:

      I do find your curmudgeon shtick predictable, lazy and tiresome, however your deeper message can’t be denied. I’d probably say it differently.

    • Anon says:

      You really, really, believe, true class has anything to do with clothes and attire?
      Au contraire. Money can buy clothes, but never class. Class needs an education, an education of the mind *and* the heart. Something no money and no ivy school can buy you.
      We do mourn the disappearance of class first of all from those classes of society, who would have the means to expose both, class and impeccable attire.
      The moneyed elite leads the way to increasing stupidity and ignorance. You should reassess your hasty diatribe.

  • Bill says:

    Nothing exclusive about it. This video is since two years on YouTube already (Madrid, April 2015).

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