The Belgrade Music Festival has the honor to announce the first appearance of the most famous tenor of today - Jonas Kaufman!
The star of the world's greatest opera stages, from the Metropolitan Opera to Covent Garden to the Vienna Opera, will light up the stage of the Sava Center's Blue Hall on October 1st at 20 p.m., marking the beginning of our most important art music festival. Opera connoisseurs, as well as fans of film music, will enjoy the most beautiful tenor arias and film music hits. Along with Jonas Kaufman, conductor Jochen Rieder and the Vojvodina Symphony Orchestra will perform at the concert.
JONAS KAUFMAN
Jonas Kaufmann, whom "The Telegraph" declared "the world's greatest tenor", performed over 70 roles in the world's leading opera houses. Praising his "refined musicianship", "The New York Times" described Kaufman's singing as "a blend of masculinity and tenderness", with "crystal clear high notes". His performances are praised not only for his exceptional vocal technique, but also for the deep impression they leave on the audience. "He interprets each role with such commitment that it creates the impression among the viewers that he is performing that work for the last time" ("Telerama"/Telerama).
In addition to the opera repertoire, Kaufman is known as one of the greatest interpreters of solo songs (Lied) today. His performances and recordings have brought him numerous accolades and awards, including eleven Echo/Opus Classic awards, while he has been awarded "Singer of the Year" by several classical music magazines, including Opernwelt, Diapason and Musical America. He was awarded the Order of Arts and Letters in the rank of knight (Chevalier de l'Ordre de l'Art et des Lettres) and named a member of the Bavarian Order of Maximilian (Maximiliansorden). In 2022, he received the highest singing title of "Kammersänger" in Austria, while in 2024 he was awarded the French Order of the Legion of Honor (Ordre de la Légion d'honneur).
Last season, Kaufman performed, among others, at the Bavarian State Opera, the Vienna State Opera, the Zurich Opera, the Milan Scala, the Teatro San Carlo in Naples and the Royal Opera in London. He also made his long-awaited debut as Tannhäuser at the Salzburg Easter Festival. On the occasion of the centenary of the festival, Kaufman gave a concert in the Arena di Verona, together with Sonja Jončeva and Ludovico Tezi.
At the beginning of the new season, after a series of Othello roles and a new staging of the opera "Turandot" at the Vienna State Opera, Kaufman performed the first act of the opera "Valkyrie" in concerts at the end of 2023 with the Berlin Philharmonic and Kirlo Petrenko, and then a series of concerts ("The Sound of Movies") in Baden-Baden, Prague, Naples and Munich. After a new staging of "Gioconde" at the Easter Festival in Salzburg and at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, he performed "Aida" at the Bavarian State Opera and "André Chenier" at the Royal Opera House in London. Planned performances until the end of the year include open-air stage concerts at the Theater in the Park in Vienna and the Kurpark in Wiesbaden, as well as concert performances of the second act of "Tristan and Isolde" in Gstaad and Baden-Baden.
Kaufman gained fame as a performer of the French, German and Italian operatic repertoire and as a concert singer. Among his most famous roles are Don Jose, Werther, Don Carlo, Othello, Andrea Chenier, Mauricio, Lohengrin, Parsifal and Florestan, which he performed in opera houses such as La Scala, Covent Garden, Bavarian State Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Zurich Opera, Paris Opera and Vienna State Opera.
Born in Munich, Jonas Kaufman completed his vocal studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München in his hometown. In addition, he attended master classes with Hans Hotter, James King and Joseph Metternich. During his first years on the stage of the State Theater in Saarbrucken, he continued his training with Michael Rhodes in Trier.
JOHAN RIDER
German conductor Jochen Rieder is a regular guest of the world's leading opera houses and concert halls, such as Milan's Scala, Carnegie Hall, Alte Oper in Frankfurt, and collaborates with today's most famous soloists and orchestras. He is especially known as an interpreter of the German and Italian opera repertoire, and his interpretations and recordings regularly receive praise from professional critics around the world.
Over the years, Reeder established an intense musical collaboration and professional friendship with tenor Jonas Kaufmann. Together they have performed in venues around the world including the Royal Festival Hall and Barbican Center in London, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Munich Philharmonic, the Festival Hall in Baden-Baden, the Vienna Concert Hall, the Champs Elysees in Paris, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, the Center for the Arts in Seoul, the Sydney Opera House, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Elb Philharmonic and the Arena in Verona, among many others. In addition to concert performances, Kaufman and Reeder made several joint CD and DVD recordings for the SONY company, which were awarded the "Echo Classic" and "Opus Classic" awards.
Rieder performs with many famous orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Radio Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Bruckner Orchestra Linz, Prague Symphony Orchestra, The Hague Residence Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Among recent performances, concerts with soprano Aida Garifulina in Vienna, Prague and Moscow stand out.
VOJVODIC SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
A respectable ensemble of high interpretive level on the domestic art scene was formed in February 2011 as the Vojvodina Symphony Orchestra, continuing the work of the Vojvodina Symphony Orchestra. In the past period, he successfully performed over seventy premiere programs, with the participation of world-renowned domestic and foreign conductors and a large number of attractive soloists, including Miša Majski, Nemanja Radulović, Ivo Pogorelić, Stefan Milenković, the "Janoška" ensemble and many others.
In September of the jubilee year 2021/2022. season, the Vojvodina Symphony Orchestra for the first time had a chief conductor, Aleksandar Marković, a distinguished artist with an international career who held that position until June 2023. At that time, a magnificent performance of Verdi's Requiem was achieved in cooperation with the SNP Opera Choir and an international quartet of soloists.
Marković's interpretation of Gustav Mahler's Second Symphony was also a great success, so that in September 2022 (4th Corso) our orchestra under his leadership will collaborate with Julian Rahl, one of the most famous violinists of our time. The collaboration between the Vojvodina Symphony Orchestra and conductor Aleksandar Marković continued this concert season (2023/24), with a successful performance at the opening of the 43rd edition of the Novi Sad Music Festival with pianist Ivo Pogorelić, in October 2023, as well as in March 2024 in Belgrade.
In the current season, the ensemble continues to achieve success by collaborating with renowned conductors and soloists, and it is important to mention the last one, the New Year's gala concert, at which the Vojvodina Symphony Orchestra was conducted by maestro Gabriel Bebešela, and the soloist was the famous violinist Maksim Vengerov.
