Jonas Kaufmann – Wien (2019) [FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

Esteemed tenor, Jonas Kaufmann, returns with his sensational new album “WIEN”. This must-have album showcases the crowd-pleasing evergreens that turned Vienna into a beloved capital of classical music. “WIEN” features a stunning collection of operetta hits and Viennese songs composed between 1870 and 1950 – Kaufmann teams up with the world renowned Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and Adam Fisher. Vienna’s heyday for operetta produced stage-hits such as Johann Strauß’s ‘Komm in die Gondel’ (from Eine Nacht in Venedig / A Night in Venice) the ‘Clock Duet’ from Die Fledermaus and the ‘Title duet’ from Wiener Blut, as well as Franz Léhar’s ‘Lippen Schweigen’ from The Merry Widow. The city also inspired many timeless songs including Robert Stolz’s ‘Im Prater blühn wieder die Bäume’ and Rudolf Siecznski’s ‘Wien, Wien nur du allein’, Hans May’s ‘Heut ist der Schönste Tag’; Hermann Leopoldi’s ‘In einem kleinen Café in Hernals’ and Georg Kreisler’s ‘Der Tod muss ein Wiener sein’ – to name a few of these charming songs championed down the years by the tenor-greats such as Richard Tauber, Rudolf Schock & Fritz Wunderlich – Kaufmann has won numerous prestigious awards including Gramophone Awards and Echo Klassik Awards.

After records dedicated to Berlin in the 1930s, or to the Italy of La Dolce Vita, now Jonas Kaufmann is offering us some sugary Viennese delights, in keeping with the spirit of his 2014 album Du bist die Welt für mich, which covers German and Viennese operetta from 1925 to 1935. This new release rounds off an eternal and unchanging vision of an imagined Vienna. The net is cast wide, with works by Johann Strauss Jr., Robert Stolz and Franz Lehár, matched by pearls from lesser-known composers (Kalman, Zeller, Leopoldi, Weinberger, Benatzky, Kreuder, Georg Kreisler), who each bring their own stone to this monument to the great capital of music. While you might catch yourself humming along to Wiener Blut with Jonas Kaufmann (here with Rachel Willis-Sørensen), this superbly put-together programme offers some pleasant surprises in the form of unknown airs. Most luxurious of all is the discreet, never-invasive accompaniment from the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, in disguise here as an opulent “faubourg orchestra”, most ably conducted by the Hungarian Adam Fischer. It’s folk music of course, but sung with a supreme elegance and the technique of an opera singer at the height of their vocal and expressive powers. – François Hudry

Tracklist:
1. Wien wird bei Nacht erst schön (4:30)
2. Wien, Du stadt meiner Träume (Wien, Wien, nur du allein) (6:08)
3. Heut ist der schönste Tag in meinem Leben (2:10)
4. Im Prater blühn wieder die Bäume (3:31)
5. Wiener Blut, Wiener Blut (From “Wienerblut”) (8:53)
6. Ach, wie so herrlich zu schaun (From “Eine Nacht in Venedig”) (3:42)
7. Dieser Anstand, so manierlich (From “Die Fledermaus”) (5:19)
8. Draussen in Sievering blüht schon der Flieder (From “Die Tänzerin Fanny Elssler”) (3:38)
9. Sei mir gegrüsst, Du holdes Venezia (From “Eine Nacht in Venedig”) (2:45)
10. Komm in die Gondel (From “Eine Nacht in Venedig”) (2:33)
11. Lippen schweigen (From “Die lustige Witwe”) (3:32)
12. Zwei Märchenaugen (From “Die Zirkusprinzessin”) (5:39)
13. Schenkt man sich Rosen in Tirol (From “Der Vogelhändler) (2:15)
14. Du wärst für mich die Frau gewesen (From “Frühlingstürme”) (3:36)
15. In einem kleinen Café in Hernals (4:40)
16. Es wird im Leben dir mehr genommen als gegeben (3:09)
17. Ich muss wieder einmal in Grinzing sein (5:27)
18. Sag beim Abschied leise “Servus” (2:47)
19. Der Tod, das muss ein Wiener sein (3:43)