Jonas Kaufmann

Jonas Kaufmann commands an operatic and concert repertoire stretching across multiple centuries, from Monteverdi and J.S. Bach through Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and Puccini to Schoenberg and present-day creators. He also explores lesser-known territory, taking part in world-premiere recordings of rarely staged operas. Although his catalog leans heavily toward opera, he has performed substantial concert works such as Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, along with lieder. In 2024, recordings of Wagner’s Parsifal and Puccini: Love Affairs appeared with him as a central participant.

Born in Munich on July 10, 1969, Kaufmann was introduced to opera early by his father and sang in boys’ choirs while studying piano. He later attended the Hochschule für Musik in Munich, where master classes with Hans Hotter, Josef Metternich, and James King proved decisive; Hotter in particular sparked his interest in the lieder of Richard Strauss. Between 1994 and 1996 he sang at the Saarbrücken opera house. From the mid-1990s onward he became a regular guest at leading opera companies and concert halls in New York, Paris, Vienna, Milan, and elsewhere. In 2001 he joined the Zurich company, where his portrayals of Mozart’s Idomeneo, Titus, and Tamino, Gounod’s Faust, and Verdi’s Duke earned particular acclaim. His 2002 debut recital at Wigmore Hall and his 2006 Metropolitan Opera debut as Alfredo in La Traviata both met with strong approval. A 2016 documentary, An Evening with Puccini, documented a La Scala concert devoted to that composer’s arias.

Kaufmann has recorded for EMI Classics, Decca, Philips, and other labels. Early releases included Loewe’s The Three Wishes in 2000 and Marschner’s Vampyr in 2002. A 2006 Harmonia Mundi recital of Strauss lieder brought further notice, while his first solo album, the 2008 Decca collection Romantic Arias drawn from Tosca, La bohème, La Traviata, and similar standards, consolidated his reputation. An exclusive Sony Classical contract followed in 2013; its inaugural release, The Verdi Album, reached number one on both pop and classical charts in Germany and Austria, a feat repeated the next year by You Mean the World to Me. Among his 2020 projects were the holiday album It’s Christmas!, the song recital Selige Stunde: Romantic Songs with longtime partner Helmut Deutsch, and Verdi’s Otello under Antonio Pappano with the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. Opus Klassik named him Singer of the Year for the 2021 Liszt recital Freudvoll und Leidvoll. Two further albums appeared in 2024: a Vienna State Opera Parsifal featuring Elīna Garanča and conducted by Philippe Jordan, and the duet collection Puccini: Love Affairs, which united him with several prominent sopranos for the centenary of the composer’s death.