Covent Garden review: Kaufmann’s sub was not the star

Hugh Kerr of Edinburgh Music Review was at the ROH last night to see Juan Diego Florez replace Jonas Kaufmann in Werther.

The packed Covent Garden audience groaned as the lights dimmed and Oliver Mears the director came on stage to explain that Jonas Kaufmann had a bad cold and couldn’t sing, but there was a big cheer when he said that Juan Diego Florez, who has sung the role many times in the past, would take his place. Florez is a high profile singer and had a few days to study the part in what is a fairly static production of ‘Werther’. Also Antonio Pappano was in the pit, and although the first and second night were poor because of Kaufmann’s cold, apparently the orchestra played well and Charlotte was interesting.

We weren’t disappointed. Florez sounded a little strained in his first big aria in the first act, particularly towards the top, but by the second act he was using his sweet bel canto voice to good effect and in his big arias he got a great response. His ‘Pourquoi me reveiller’ really hit the spot, and he died beautifully in the last act. Juan, now 50, still looks the part and, while he lacks Kaufmann’s dramatic heft, he was a very decent substitute. However, his Charlotte, Russian mezzo Aigul Akhmetshina, was the better singer. Aigul is well known at Covent Garden as she was a Jetta Parker Young Artist in 2017, singing a number of minor roles as well as Carmen at the age of 21. She is now singing all over the world, acclaimed as ‘the next Anna Netrebko’. She is very beautiful, has a rich lustrous voice and is a decent actor. For me she was the star of the evening. Pappano had the orchestra in fine form and the other roles were decently performed. The production remains a fairly stodgy affair, but it didn’t matter tonight; we heard a new star and she wasn’t a replacement for Jonas!

Hugh Kerr is editor of the Edinburgh Music Review, where a fuller review will appear.

photo: ROH