Jonas Kaufman is one of the most sought-after tenors, whose name on the posters guarantees sold out. Thanks to its spectacular appearance and the presence of charisma, he fell in love with the opera, if not the whole world, then many.
Biography
Jonas Kaufman was born on July 10, 1969 in Munich. His parents are from East Germany. The family of the future tenor had nothing to do with music. My father was an insurance agent and my mother was a teacher. Jonas has an older sister.
His grandfather instilled love for opera in Kaufman as a child. He lived in the same house with Jonas, but one floor higher. Grandfather often went down to his grandson, and together they listened to Wagner's operas and concerts of symphonic music. The parents had a family subscription to the Bavarian Opera, where they often took Jonas.
At the age of 8, Kaufman began taking piano lessons. At this time, his parents decided to send him to a strict classical gymnasium, where he had his own choir. In his senior year, Jonas began to participate in city and church holidays. He was paid for such performances. He also worked as a schoolboy in the choir of the famous Munich Theater of the Prince Regent.
Despite the boundless love of music, Jonas's parents decided that their son should receive a technical education. So Kaufman became a student at the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Munich. At the end of the second semester, he fled from there to the Higher School of Music. He graduated in 1994 as a chamber and opera singer.
Career
After the High School of Music, Kaufman could not find a job in his native Munich. Then he decided to move to the west of Germany - to the city of Saarbrücken. There he performed for two seasons at the local theater.
Soon fate brought him together with vocal teacher Michael Rhodes. He helped Kaufman find himself in opera, that is, find his voice. After studying with him, Jonas felt confident and left the Saarbrücken theater for free swimming.
In 2002, Kaufman became the staff soloist of the Zurich Opera. At the same time, not only the repertoire was expanding, but also the geography of his performances in Europe. The concert schedule is getting tighter. However, he was still little known to a wide audience. His finest hour came in 2006 when he replaced the ailing Metropolitan Opera lead tenor Rolando Villazon in La Traviata. After the performance, Jonas received an impressive round of applause from the audience.
Experts call Jonas Kaufmann the most important German opera singer since the time of Fritz Wunderlich. He sings arias from Tosca by Giacomo Puccini, Carmen by Georges Bizet, Valkyrie by Richard Wagner, Don Carlos by Giuseppe Verdi and many others.
Personal life
Kaufman was married to opera singer Margaret Joswig. They met during his work at the Saarbrücken Theater, where the girl was the leading mezzo-soprano. In 2014, the couple announced their divorce.
