How far is one metre, Jonas Kaufmann?

How far is one metre, Jonas Kaufmann?

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norman lebrecht

July 27, 2020

The cast of Aida in Naples have given up any pretence of distancing.

Comments

  • Novagerio says:

    The opera community is certainly not taking care of itself…

  • Bloom says:

    These guys live together. They are family or something like that. ( Anita Rachvelishvili and hubby are very exhibitionist on social media and they are exposing the Kaufmanns as well in more or less embarrassingly private life situations.A real mess.)
    Anyway, in Naples, in open air at least, no one seems do social distancing anymore.

    • Bloom says:

      *to do
      They are making everything but art together, of course. The stage chemistry was below zero at the general rehearsal.

  • Tim Parker says:

    I really don’t think the industry is in need of your bitchy ‘articles’ at the moment. How about you do some fundraising instead?

    • Therry Neilsen-Steinhardt says:

      Thanks for the effort, Tim Parker, but efforts at appealing to Mr. LeBrecht’s better nature are sadly misplaced. I just wish he would stick to novels.

    • Tristan says:

      Can’t agree more and what low life this Bloom….

    • Sam says:

      yes, fundraising is badly needed. Slipped Disc targets ‘personalities.’ Donald Trump, Placido Domingo, Jonas Kaufman, etc. etc. etc. Time to place main focus on the arts – but not National Enquirer style.

  • Tavlea says:

    Calm down with this social distancing.

  • Caroline Zoob says:

    to be within a metre of Jonas – who’s complaining?

  • David says:

    Is there one meter between anything in Naples, that’s one crowded city.

  • RegretLeft says:

    We are not all a danger to each other! – Can you do just a little bit of critical thinking as to how you have allowed yourself to become terrified – and who as done that and why?

    Get a grip!

    • Tiredofitall says:

      Most people have paid attention and do have a grip.

      Every individual is potentially infected and can possibly infect others without knowing it. Strict precautions like masks, social distancing, and not congregating are measures that can and do help prevent the further spread of the coronavirus Covid-19.

      No one likes the current condition of the world, but there are short-term solutions until a vaccine is developed.

      • Dennis says:

        Just repeating political talking points. There is in fact little evidence of asymptomatic carriers being “super-spreaders,” nor is there any scientific basis for “social distancing (why is it 1m for WHO, 6ft in USA, 1.5 m some places, etc.?), generalized mask wearing as a means to prevent viruses. Some scientists think we have already reached herd immunity anyway, and the virus has an IFR barely more serious than a bad flu year.

        And the idea that a vaccine is the only way in which we can ever act like sane, normal human beings again is ludicrous. There may not ever be a vaccine – there never has been one for a SARS type coronavirus, and even the flu vaccine is only about 50% effective (ask yourself why most doctors and nurses don’t bother with a flu vaccine, and why until now it has never been general practice for even doctors and nurses in who work in hospitals to wear masks every moment of the day around all patients).

        • Le Křenek du jour says:

          You write:
          “…ask yourself why most doctors and nurses don’t bother with a flu vaccine…”

          Right. So how many doctors and nurses DO bother with a flu vaccine?

          The CDC report for the 2018/19 season:
          “How Many Health Care Workers Got Vaccinated Last Season?
          2018-19 flu vaccination coverage among health care personnel (HCP) was 81.1%, similar to coverage during the past four seasons (77.3% -79.0%).
          By occupation, flu vaccination coverage was highest among physicians (96.7%), nurses (98.1%), pharmacists (91.5%), and nurse practitioners and physician assistants (91.0%)
          Flu vaccination coverage was lowest among other clinical health care personnel (85.8%), assistants and aides (72.5%), and nonclinical health care personnel (75.5%).
          By work setting, flu vaccination coverage was highest among HCP working in hospitals (95.2%).”

          Got that? Vaccination coverage among physicians: 96.7%, among nurses 98.1%.

          https://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/healthcareworkers.htm?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fflu%2Fhealthcareworkers.htm

          • Tiredofitall says:

            Thank you. Well documented. Finally facts out of a person’s brain instead of theories pulled out of the other end.

        • Tiredofitall says:

          Best of luck with that.

        • Patricia says:

          I´d like to live in the same beautiful planet as you do. Do take me there. Here on Earth things are pretty worse.

        • Petros Linardos says:

          Ask yourself what sources of (mis)information you read.

    • Barry Guerrero says:

      You’ll be plenty terrified if you end up being one of the exceptions. You can count on that.

  • Casey Franco says:

    Just when I thought COVID-19 would put an end to what opera has become we now have overrated singer who don’t give a damn about the current situation just so people could listen to some constricted clown wailing and a woofy amneris? Ha….oh well.

    • Natalia says:

      Please, seek an institution suitable for your mental health..do us a favour please .

    • Dean says:

      Absolutely agree with this comment.
      If the opera world today is just about Kaufmann and Netrebko – whose voices lately sound terrible and were never something special (and will never rest as voices one would want to hear after their careers are over) – then the world is indeed a sad place.
      I also think it’s a big mistake to only write about a couple of overrated singers…
      Also to be noted: these singers both surround themselves with less (not at all) talented stage partners – so they will eventually shine, being surrounded by such singers…
      Has everybody lost their sense today? It used to be all about a full strong cast in order to have a memorable performance, now it is only about mediocre personalities who can only shine through their poorer partners…

  • Mary Saddington says:

    Who is the constricted Clown ?

  • V. Lind says:

    Is he performing this opera alone? If he is within a metre of someone else, is that person also not observing social distance? How is this decision all the fault of one artist?

    Could it be is that he is the latest whipping boy? He seems to have been in for a lot of stick lately.

  • Dennis says:

    There is no scientific basis for generalized mask wearing or “social distance” requirements (which vary widely from country to country – which underscores their arbitrary political nature as just means of social control and giving the false appearance of “doing something” alleged to be good).

  • Opera lovely says:

    In the hospital that I work in England – we DO wear a mask and DO get the flu jab! People have died of Covid-19. So it is pretty serious! Still! It is not Verdi!

  • Nik says:

    A strange article in today’s Times where they interview Amanda Forsythe about the ROH Fidelio in March. She claims that the entire cast caught Covid but “powered through” the last performance. Does this sound likely? Anyway I’d like to know if this means that Kaufmann cancelled after a couple of performances because he had it or because he decided to flee in case he might catch it.

  • mark says:

    Ever heard of Photoshop? Who can tell if they were even in the same room. Or city?

  • P Murphy says:

    Has anyone in opera ever had a worse health record than this tenor? No a threat to himself and others.

    • Larry L. Lash / Wien says:

      Perhaps you are too young to remember Franco Corelli, Montserrat Caballé, or even one L. Pavarotti. If I sat down and waded through more than 50 years of programs I could likely come up with a more complete list.

      In a bit of off-colour/politically incorrect humour, I recall a joke passed among standing room regulars in the 1970s:

      Who are the three highest paid people in opera?

      1) Birgit Nilsson
      2) Franco Corelli
      3) Caballé’s gynecologist

  • P Murphy says:

    should be ‘now”

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