Seeing Kaufmann sing in Gstaad

Sometimes life delivers the unexpected. I went to Switzerland to hear Jonas Kaufmann sing and booked a second concert as an afterthought which turned out to be the one I enjoyed most.

Gstaad festival 

It was a complex mix of factors that made the difference, not the performers who were both exceptional. I went to Gstaad still tired  from the previous evening's concert and that may have contributed to my lack of enthusiasm for the place. Also I had loved the tiny church where the Sebastian Knauer piano concert was held. It had a charm which the huge festival tent at Gstaad lacked.

Kaufmann's marvellous voice is worth travelling for. It is extraordinary to hear a voice the fills such a large space, even when he sings softly.  However next time I will get a ticket to see him perform in an opera instead of a concert. I want to be immersed in the story when I hear the aria.

In the course of the evening I got to know one of Kaufmann's 'groupies', a Zurich woman who goes to see Kaufman sing wherever he is.  She told me that she had recently tried booking to hear him in Paris in June 2016 and had found the tickets were already sold out. I will have to plan well ahead if I want to hear him in an opera.

My new acquaintance offered to make a copy of the Fidelio Kaufmann sang in Salzberg last week which was broadcast and which she had taped. I missed it because I was in the air on the way here, so I accepted her offer with pleasure.

Kaufmann video you may not have seen!