Jonas Kaufmann obliges major newspaper to publish correction
mainThree days ago, the respected Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that ‘it is known’ that the tenors Rolando Villazon and Jonas Kaufmann had undergone vocal cord surgery.
The SZ is Kaufmann’s hometown newspaper. He was not happy.
Today, the paper published a retraction: ‘Jonas Kaufmann denies having undergone vocal cord surgery’.
Nothing from Villazon?
A simple web search would have revealed that Rolando speaks openly about his past throat surgery.
Is it really a “retraction” though, or even a “correction”? When the original story in its original form has not been taken down, when the subject of the story is simply given a chance to respond the following day? More like a “letter to the editor” really.
I don’t think vocal cord surgeries involve retraction. I think retraction is used mostly in surgeries a bit further down in the body.
(A friend of mine was an ear-nose-&-throat doctor, and business was slow. So he changed his specialty and became a proctologist. Now he says business is looking up.)
Very good re ‘retraction’ and the proctologist joke, too!
Love it and hate to watch the clownish facial contortions of Villazon.
Yeah, a “retraction” should come from the newspaper itself, almost by definition, which is not the case here.
Good for him. These German fishwrap sheets believe they own peoples’ private lives to exploit for financial gain.
SZ a “fish wrap sheet”, really?
Could you provide some examples when this paper has done what you accuse them of?
They print lies = fish wrap
End of, Mein Herr
Sure is a leftist rag
And that’s the extent of your informed and nuanced comment?
Nowadays people don‘t need to give any meaningful input, just label others as “lefties” would be enough for them. How very educated and civilized.
Maybe true but it does not answer wether or not the media has the right. I guess Kaufmann is not stable and who would go to see this constipated bull sing. I guess only the brain dead and deaf like you!
Curb the abuse, please.
You’re talking of one of the big and renowned German newspapers. Obviously you don’t know much about the German media.
SZ has lost its reputatin since years….
With you, sweetie – just because they’re not willing to blindly adore your beloved JK.
What are You doing here. You hate Kaufmann and always spread awful postings. Stay away would be the best for You. By the way: Having a surgery or not is not a fact or “adore” or not……
Who gives a ——about the German media.
Have you tried the English tabloids?
Who cares if it the truth. s what the media is about! Kaufmann sounds like a constipated baritone.
It doesn’t seem to me that the periodical has withdrawn its claim or acknowledged that an error was made (which is how I imagine a retraction). Rather, it seems that they are just doing a follow-up and reporting that Jonas Kaufmann is disputing their report.
Villazon is not much of a singer since his initial surgery several years ago. Judging from his production of Der Fledermaus in Berlin, he is not much of a director either.
Can we accept phenotypic engineering in music?
Isn’t it like doping in sports?
Kaufmann spoke several times in interviews about that rumors and always rejected them definitely.
So what if they did as long as it works? And tennis players and osteopaths and violinists and villa players regularly have replacement surgery.
In the opera world, there is an incredible and unjust stigmatization of singers who have undergone any type of vocal surgery. Many times these surgeries have nothing to do with faulty technique.
Sondra Radvanovsky has openly spoken about having to undergo surgery due to a problem with her vocal folds caused by a problem with a medical procedure she underwent as a child.
I know of at least one well-known singer who took an ibuprofen before a performance because of a headache and ended up popping a blood vessel on a vocal chord. He had to have an operation and sings better than ever.
In the world of professional sports, it is expected that athletes will, from time to time, get injured and rehabilitate themselves. There is no stigmatization against a tennis player who sprains an ankle while playing, and the notion that a vocal chord surgery necessarily indicates a singer whom we should look down our noses at is rubbish.
Furthermore, it incentivizes singers to keep their vocal problems a secret.
Given the often strangulated (and constipated-sounding) technique Kaufmann employs, it surprises that much worse than vocal cord surgery has not happened.
You are at it again. You must be such an unhappy person because you rarely have anything decent to say about anyone. You don’t like Kaufmann. For goodness sake I think we get the message so why don’t you just keep quiet now and direct your ire elsewhere. Preferably on another blog on another planet.
Why? Do you think Kaufmann is above critique? I don’t think so – and I find too that he sounds strangulated and always slightly overstressed – which is sad because he once started sounding great.
I would say You should stop listening to him to minimize Your suffering.
You are about as bad as Caravaggio. You too rarely have anything good to say about anyone least of all JK. I agree with Waltraud. Perhaps you should save yourself the stress and quit listening to JK if he is causing such pain to your senses.
As for Villazón, poor he; for he was expected to be heir apparent somewhere in the mold of The Three Tenors franchise. It was not to be. The clownsmanship requirement for the job, though, that, he’s got.
That’s NOT a retraction that stating Kaufmanns opinion
The neespaper is a WIMP
It reminds an old guyold guy there was nobody like Mario del Monaco
You are right. Iheard del Monaco at The Old Met 1958 singing Chenier! What a healthy. Beautiful voice. Chenier became my favorite opera.
Who gives a damn, both Kaufmann and Villazon are examples of the worst singers. Villazon at least has a nice quality but should be singing baritone roles. His exaggeratedfacial expressions are that of a clown. Thinks that a G natural is a high C and what the hell does todays audience know about singing since they haven’t heard anything good since a yoimg Pavarotti! Mari Lanza where are you. Your Editor is a wimp for its retraction!!!!!! Philip Tropea tenor