CC BY
21
https://doi.org/10.29013/EJA-20-1-94-99
Yan Haosyuan,
Kharkiv National University of Arts named after I. P. Kotlyarevsky E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]
SPECIFICITY OF THE STAGE INTERPRETATION OF OPERA CHARACTERS' BY J. KAUFMANN
Abstract. Based on the performances with J. Kaufmann, the main principles of his performing style have been formulated, which allows the singer to create vivid and unforgettable stage images. Among such features there are: an appeal to different genres of operas, which demonstrates the actors' wide cast and outstanding abilities of the singer; intellectualism, which is a prime feature of J. Kaufmanns performing style; the system of vocal means of expression, which allow the singer to model different facets of known images (economy of performing means, conducting of the cantilena, the role of the rhythmic component in the vocal score, the ability to tune his voice in different vocal ensembles, brilliant p, pp, ppp and mezzo voce, the brightness of forte, and subtle diminuendo).
Keywords: performing style, J. Kaufmann, interpretation, stage image.
Jonas Kaufmann is a world-class singer. To date, (it has a specific acuity caused by all kinds of dis-he is on the rise of his career and his work includes opera roles and chamber programs from the compositions by R. Wagner, J. Verdi, J. Massne, J. Puccini, R. Strauss, F. Schubert, J. Bizet, J. Paisiello, F. Busoni, G. Berlioz, and C. Gounod. The master has been the hero of a large number of public materials; there are text and video interviews in Italian, German, English, and French. The most interesting and informative are the materials of the official site [9], of the book by Thomas Voigt called "Meinen die wirklich mich" [10], which contains many interviews and memoirs of prominent musicians of today about working with the singer, and interviews to various mass media [1; 2]. J. Kaufmanns performing style is the subject of research by the author of this article, which is reflected in publications [8; 11]. The purpose of this study is to formulate the main features ofJ. Kaufmanns interpretation of opera images in terms of the parameters of his performing style.
Analysing the method of Kaufmanns work with the author's musical text, it should be noted that his interpretation is always individual and recognizable. The basis of this is the special role of the rhythm
turbances of a uniform course, which causes a powerful influence on the listeners); respectful attitude towards the text of the compositions performed, without any liberties and exaggerated agogic deviations, text things or, conversely, adding text, and fioritures.
The singer's voice timbre is dramatic, overtonerich in the chest register, and bright in the high register (sometimes it is defined as a baritone dramatic tenor or tenore di grande voce). We should note the lightness and at the same time the completeness of sounding of the voice on the piano, tenderness, softness - in the mezzo voce, the brightness and shine - on the forte; the use of falsetto and morendo in the upper titles (which is considered to be more of a feature of tenors of a lyric type and gives a generally dramatic vocal role ofJ. Kaufmann special colours, which is reflected in various interpretations); a smooth transition from the chest register to the throat and smooth voice throughout the range (which is why the singer's feature in the sound creation is cantilena) are also typical. On the whole, J. Kaufmanns performance style can be de-
scribed both as close to the romantic one and with the predominance of the "intellectual type" of the performer, which is reflected on his interpretation of different parties. Let us turn to the analysis of the most prominent images from the operas by G. Puccini, G. Verdi and R. Wagner.
The part of Mario Cavaradossi from the Puccini's opera "Tosca" is a high profile in J. Kaufmanns repertoire. As he mentions in one of the interviews, "to make the real image of Cavaradossi you have to embody the tree lines: 1) an artist, 2) a man in love, 3) a revolutionary. But it's all written in the composer's score, and all you have to do is to pay attention to the interpretation of the musical material and make it precisely" [4]. By the way, the singer's favorite episode in this play is the scene with Scarpia ("Vittoria!") from the second act. In the bounds of this article we will base on two different records of "Tosca": the early version - Bayerische Staadsoper, München (July 10, 2010), and the latter - Vienna Opera (April 16, 2016). On the first record The First aria ("Recordita armonia") is characterized by quite wide manner of singing; the soloist wisely reckons all the phrases, and embodies a very rich dynamic gradation. It is interesting, that at the end of the aria the singer makes his voice sound similar to the timbre of clarinet, which enters continuing the vocal part's melodic line. In that wayJ. Kaufmann demonstrates brilliant knowledge of symphonic orchestra's instruments properties, and orienting perfectly in the score, he takes the opportunity to make a subtle react to the orchestra's instrumental balance. The aria "E Lucevan le stele" from the third act begins deep pianissimo, cues are performed barely audible. The singer creates profound contrast between the phrases. We can classify three lines of Cavardossi's image embodying in accordance with play's progress by acts: in the first act it's an artist, so there is a lot of lyricism and meditativeness; in the second act it's a revolutionary, because there's tense and desperation in it, which are becoming apparent in duets and ensemble scenes; and in the third act - it's a man,
who has fallen in love, because the unsurpassed aria sounds exactly in the finale, and it's musical structure contains the quintessence of the play's dramatic effect, at the same time with the lyrical element. It is significant that in the latter performance Kaufmann makes the tempo more slower, and precisely divides the durations. As a result, a listener gets an impression that the hero is trying to stop time, to "snapshot" the exact moment, when he's entirely, with all his sense organs feeling life. Whereas on the 2010 record Kaufmann's Cavaradossi embodies a great weight of suffering and despondence in this musical material.
Among Verdi's characters the most interesting are Othello, Don Carlos, Manrico and Radames.
Otello. Otello's part contains a great amount of technical difficulties, and at the same time the embodying of this character demands a high level of scene acting from soloist. Main Italian soloists and musicologists define a common tendency of young singers, who have ambitious approach to creative work - they all venture to play Otello at the beginning of their careers. For example, Reina Vincenza, a retired tenor, emphasizes the necessary existence of a huge performing experience for the role of Otello, and he indicates the fact that a lot of young singers traumatized their vocal cords and ruined their voices while performing Otello with a lack of practice. Vincenza himself started to perform this role after the 20 years of a singer's career [5]. So it is no wonder that the whole opera world mentioned J. Kaufmann's courage, who dared to make such labor-intensive step at a quite early stage of his career. But there were a lot more of astonishments when the young singer brilliantly coped with the task, since there are elements in the part of Otello which require doubtless maturity. Italian musicologist Gianluigi Mattinetti considers Kaufmann's interpretation the best of all previous tenors, since his interpretation is "flexible" (that rare feature is common to Kaufmann's - he's a very flexible, mobile interpreter). Very little tenors have this property. As J. Kaufmann points: "The
great toughness is to sing quietly. While singing quietly you have to deliver inner tension, deepness of feelings, inner struggle" [5]. The singer can rapidly "switch" the coloring of his voice from lyrical to dramatic, vary its timbre and quality. In particular the role of Otello needs such power, that's not necessary for any other character.
Don Carlos (Ital. Don Carlo). From the very start let's pay special attention to this character's versatility. In the first act he's a cheerful young man, honest, frank, and replete with hopes for future. In the second act the hero's temper changes. The series of tragic events lead him to desperation and apathy. So this has to be subtly represented. J. Kaufmann has the ability to saturate his voice with low overtones, but at the same time he can make it sound brightly - clear, with abundance and preponderance of high overtones. The plot of the "Don Carlos" opera contains a wide spectrum of components that exclusively inherent in Italian plays: love story, political conflicts, misunderstanding inside family, civil and humanistic ideals, father - son relations. Vocal parts in this opera contain brightly performed technical and expressive components. The role of Don Carlos demands "mobility" (which J. Kaufmann definitely has). Carlo Maria Cella (Pressprecher Teatro La Scala) says: "Singing has to flow naturally. That's so called Italian phrasing - the technique, which could be mastered only by person who's more than fluent in Italian, whose mother tongue is Italian. Jonas is a tenor, by whom it's not noticeable that his mother tongue isn't Italian. That's even more important than voice virtuosity - to possess the specificity which Italians call "italianita". In this sense Jonas is fantastic, second to none" [5].
Alfred from "Traviata". Modern staging's sometimes demand very difficult conditions of performing. For example, to sing while lying on a back (a scene with car repairing). Or a singer has to squat on his heels; in such posture human's diaphragm is in compressed state, and it's becoming impossible to use proper breathing technique. But such conditions
affect neither the singer's voice presentation quality nor articulation. One of these stagings is 2007 "Traviata" conducted by Sylvio Camberling, National Opera, Paris (Violetta Valeri's part - by Christina Schaefer). The staging is realized in a very modern way. J. Kaufmann's personage Alfred embodies the lyricism's ideal. The singer pays attention to each note in the score, especially that's emphasized in the duet from the first act. The second act - Alfred's scene; the performer shows a wide cantilena style singing, sometimes switching to recitative. He successfully uses the technique "speed up - slow down", makes accelerations, creates the effect of intensity, rush; this concerns the durations and the dynamics, then - a sudden "collapse" - a tiny pause after which the increase of dynamics and tempo begin with a quiet nuance. The intensity is created through certain articulation means. In general, there is a contrast in articulation: the alternation of soft and hard beginnings of sound.
One more significant feature of J. Kaufmann's style is his tendency to make long durations even longer (overdoing: this especially applied to notes with dots). Then he "compensates" the "borrowed" time with swifter performing of short durations or ornamentation. The duet from the fourth act - active, filled with passion. The tempo is quite lively, and the rhythm has a feel of sharpness. In duet "Parigi, o cara" - the performers sing in slow tempo, Kaufmann sings with deep voice timbre. The singer describes: "Voice is the only instrument which must represent the whole score, must imitate different orchestral instruments. Besides that, a singer must feel the mechanism "accelerate - break", and also each bar could be interpreted as rubato. There must be a wide possibility of freedom in interpretation for an opera singer" [5].
Generally, one of the important features of Kaufmann's performing style is his tendency to slow tempos. The same "accelerate - break" technique is used by the soloist on high fermata notes. He holds a note on forced sound for a long time, but then he
interrupts it. This always happens suddenly - a listener doesn't have an opportunity to get ready for this moment or to forecast it. Holding a pause after a forced sounding strengthens the dramatic effect even more. As if silence continues to "sound" after such "brake".
Radames (Radames) from the "Aida" opera. This personage contains several lines / tempers, too. Radames is a compound of a man in love and a warrior. The most expressive is the scene of Aida and Radamas in the fourth act "La fatal pietra", in which Kaufmann delivers a sorrowful feel with great professionalism. His voice in timbre and dynamical aspects successfully sorts with the string group's chords and with the group of woodwinds in lower register. In the episode in which the tenor's part is doubling with the clarinets' melodic line, the performer tunes his voice to the clarinet timbre. At the end, when the orchestra's facture is clear, Kaufmann reaches a profound, heartfelt, nonetheless quiet sounding of his voice. There are also noticeable "terrain" crescendo and diminuendo, which are performed by the singer with wide dynamic range. The soloist shows brilliant knowledge of orchestral instruments' properties to tune his voice to their timbres. Also a master of an opera stage must orientate in scores to successfully and promptly react to musical events which happen in instruments' parts. Voice must emphasize this unity with orchestral instruments. This also helps in characters' tempers interpretation.
Manrico from the "Troubadour" (Ital. Il Trovatore) opera. Manrico's image is worked in details by the composer. This is achieved by the choice of orchestral instruments, which accompany this hero, and also with the help of tempos, dynamics, strokes, rhythm, and other expressive means. As the soloist mentions, he "must play a killer, but for an interpretation of this image a performer must realize himself and with all means, psychologically, show the reason of this murder. At the time Manrico's hero must demonstrate love to life and optimism" [5].
Parsifal from "Parsifal" by R. Wagner. Parsifal's part is an inexhaustible source for interpretations.
Colossal potential lies in it, and from soloists it demands further addressing to this image, its revision and searching of its hidden sides. J. Kaufmann took this role after having an experience of playing "the lesser" characters in Wagner's operas - Walter ("Tannhauser"), and Lohengrin. The first act finale becomes an important phase of the opera. In the Munich Opera Theater recording (June 28, 2018) performing Wagner's orchestral score the conductor Kirill Petrenko demonstrates an extraordinary subtle interpretation; he pays special attention to contrasts, to continuous dynamic nuances' change. In his last opera Wagner tried to develop and concentrate the literature source's content. Wagner's narrative's main theme is the loss of humanism ideals. In addition to this conception the opera contains the idea of brotherhood, and Wagner "emphasizes the people's spiritual kindred, appealing to the generalizing symbol of the Last Supper ritual which appears in the end of the Act I" [3, C. 247]. The second dominating theme is the soul's sufferings, which arise in human's mind after a sinful deed (the images of Amfortas and Kundry). At the time of the play Parsifal produces colossal moral labor of the inner rebirth, according to O. Filipov,- from a naive young man who had accidentally come to the Grail's place to a strong and resolute man who's able to change the world for better by destroying the evil and torment. Kundry's kiss becomes an important stimulus for Parsifal's complete knowing of the world's problems. In the main hero's image Wagner carefully draws moral activity. The main conclusion considering those things which were mastered by Parsifal - is the "wise mercy", the understanding of the other's grief [3, c. 247-249].
The Parsifal and Kundry's duet from the second act is put together by two sections, divided by Kundry's kiss. The second section (which goes after the kiss scene) begins with Parsifal's exclamation. We'd like to pay special attention that in the end of the duet the composer uses an uncommon psychological technique: in contrast to traditional duet scenes
Parsifal and Kundry can't agree in moral and ethical intentions.
Scene 1 from the second act is filled with lyricism and softness. So, in some episodes Parsifal's image has the features of mystery. The hero dives into the secrets of his own soul asking himself: "Who am I? From where did I come here?" One more question is about his past. But generally J. Kaufmann insists that Parsifal's image is the heroic one. It's necessary to mention that as in "Parsifal's" musical material all thematic lines open very slowly so is on stage - in many scenes actors' moves are comparable to the slow-motion effect. This, of course, complicates the characters' embodying on stage.
The special concentration occurs in the third act. The focusing here is made mostly on tonal colourings, legato, phrasings. These expressive means prevail here even over the vocal techniques which relate to the heroic line (loudness, thick timbre). The soloist shows the masterful use oflower register. Performing in German (the original language) is also exerts influence the play's nature. Articulation in German language has "solid attack" - all syllables are pronounced not together, but separately. Therefore "smooth" vocalization is somewhat complicated. J. Kaufmann says: "In the "Parsifal" opera the most difficult things are the phrasing and the organic connection of phrases, especially when phrases are large. Some ofthem are last for four to five minutes! Moreover, being on stage for a long time demands colossal energy consumption" [6].
In the scene "Karfreitagszauber" ("The miracle of the Last Supper")J. Kaufmann practically doesn't force his voice, performing the whole material in the piano nuance. The scene "Nur eine Waffe taug", as the soloist says, "has to be performed not sadly but sincerely to express how naive is Parsifal at the certain moment. That's because before this moment he hadn't formulated the questions about his past, origin, and his former name. But that's not the reason to insonify the hero with a lot of power in voice" [7].
It is significant that Parsifal's companion Kundry (performed by Nina Stemme) is also making her
search of the self. The general ideas of humanism and existentialism are embodied in her. Kundry's part contains episodes of shout, cry, and lament which are performed without any fixed sound pitch. The opera's climax occurs in the scene "Amfortas, die Wunde" in the second act. Nevertheless, all of the composer's demands are fulfilled by the soloist. In the final scene he extensively expands fermata notes, the feel of sorrow reigns.
Siegmund from Die Walküre (The Valkyrie). Completely different image is demonstrated by "The Valkyrie" opera's hero Siegmund. He has a lot more heroism. This is also dictated by the musical material which is saturated with dotted rhythm and frequent melodic movement to high notes. "The Valkyrie" opera is the lyrical and philosophical centre of the tetralogy, and in psychological sense it's the most tensioned in "The Ring of the Nibelung" (Der Ring des Nibelungen) cycle. The tragic conflict of "The Valkyrie" is made by three themes: love, hero's feat of arms and the death of Sigmund for love, and also Wotan's sacrifice with the refusal to fight against evil. In the scene of Siegmund and Sieglinde's duet there are two important lines - the coexisting love and heroism. The singer has to connect these two features during the whole performing of his part. J. Kaufmann brilliantly performs this task flexibly "switching" between the dramatic and the lyrical singing manners. The great psychological tension is illustrated in the scene of Siegmund's death in the fight with Hunding.
Act 1 scene 3 - precisely draws heroic features of the hero's temper. The following is the duet with Sieglinde. The two sing in wide manner slowly passing from one sound to the other. In one of the interviews J. Kaufmann reveals some secrets concerning Siegmund's part performing. For this occasion he mastered the specific technique that is new to him, but which "opened the whole new world".
Conclusions of the study. Thus, having examined the embodiment of the images of the operas by J. Puccini, J. Verdi and R. Wagner by one of the
outstanding singers of the present, J. Kaufmann, we 3. The system of vocal expressive means that allow
can formulate the following conclusions regarding the singer to simulate different faces of known images.
the main features of his interpretation. All the analysed performances reflect the main fea-
1. The appeal to different genres of operas, which tures ofJ. Kaufmanns style: economy of performing demonstrates the actors' wide cast and the outstand- means, cantilena, the role of the rhythmic compo-ing ability of the singer. In the article, we touched on nent in the vocal score, the ability to tune his voice only a few performances, but they also demonstrated in different vocal ensembles, brilliant p, pp, ppp and the huge amplitude of the opera characters that this mezzo voce, the brightness of forte, and subtle disinger can embody. minuendo.
2. Intellectualism is a prime feature ofJ. Kaufmanns All of the above allows the singer to create vivid performing style, which is reflected in all performanc- and unforgettable stage images that are in general es without exception, which allows the singer to reach different from the usual interpretations and which new colours and semantic depths in the disclosure of have already been included into the top performanc-images. es of the world opera classics.
References:
1. Belyaeva E.J. Kaufman: "I am definitely a fan of the director's theatre". URL: http://www.ng.ru/cul-ture/2011-06-30/8_kaufmann.html (23.03.2019)
2. Kaufman J. "In opera, a person needs first and foremost a person" [interview]. URL: http://classicmus. ru/Kaufmann.html (22.12.2019).
3. Music ofAustria and Germany of the 19th century. Book 3 / Ed. T. Tsytovich.- M.: Composer, 2003.449 p.
4. Jonas Kaufmann und Mario Cavaradossi /Tosca. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4q_ IMOtSx7s
5. Jonas Kaufmann. Mein Verdi. Documentary TV Movie, 2013. Directors: A. Varga, M. Wende. Germany: AVE Gesellschaft für Fernsehproduktion.
6. Jonas Kaufmann. "Parsifal" ist ein Weihfestspiel. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu3SJeAMdig
7. Jonas Kaufmann. Betrachtung der Rolle des Parsifal //Betrachtung der Akteure über Wagner's "Parsifal" an der Münchner Staatsoper. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jivwT5Jeueg
8. Haosyuan Yan. The image of Faust in music: the interpretation experience ofJ. Kauffmann // The Spiritual Culture of Ukraine in the Challenges of Time: Abstracts of the reports from the participants of the 2nd All-Ukrainian Research Practice Conf. (Kharkiv, April 16, 2019); [editorial: A. P. Getman (chairman), V. O. Lozovoy, O. A. Stasevska, O. V. Umanets].- Kharkiv: Law, 2019.- P. 133-136.
9. Kaufmann Jonas. URL: http://www.jonaskaufmann.com/en/ (10.12.2019)
10. Voigt Thomas. Jonas Kaufmann. Meinen die wirklichmich? Translation from German E. C. Leizpzig, 2010.- 176 p. URL: https://yadi.sk/public/?hash=GwguuSCpqUlZoSnOfCTeIFZFoWWCy0ddftc 7OIk9GhY%3D
11. tt^W^ 2018/22 &M358m M ffMM ^
XiMft^^^^m P. 10-12. (Northern Music 2018/22; Chief Ed: Fu Daobin, Lou Yiyuanian.
Theoretical aspects of the study of performing style in music (based on the example ofJ. Kaufmanns creative work). - P. 10-12).
