Jonas Kaufmann - You Mean the World to Me (2014) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

Jonas dedicates his new album to the golden era of German music which flourished in Berlin between 1925 & 1935. He shows an undeniable mastery of this demanding repertoire, which was written for the leading tenors of the time.

‘Lied vom Leben des Schrenk’ by Künneke in particular has only been recorded 3 times before and is hugely challenging vocally. Jonas draws inspiration from an artistically rich and fascinating time of European musical history. The repertoire ranges from the Lehár-Tauber-Hits of the Roaring Twenties until the heyday of the mid 1930s which saw the eventual expulsion and banning of the composers, lyricists and singers who had defined the genre.

The repertoire draws from 3 strands of musical history (Talking movies, Operetta and Polystylistic composers) and shows Jonas’ voice at its most flexible.

The album naturally also includes operetta evergreens by the unbeatable composer-tenor pairing of Franz Lehàr and Richard Tauber – including “Dein ist mein ganzes Herz”, “Hab’ ein blaues Himmelbett ” and “Gern hab ich die Frauen geküßt”.

Jonas’ favoured encores - Richard Tauber’s famous self-penned “Du bist die Welt für mich” and “Ein Lied geht um die Welt” made famous by Joseph Schmidt in the movie of the same title - are also included.

TRACKLIST

Franz Lehar
01. Paganini: "Girls Were Made to Love and Kiss"
02. The Land of Smiles: "You Are My Heart's Delight"

Richard Tauber
03. Der singende Traum: "Du bist die Welt fur mich"

Franz Lehar
04. Frasquita: "My Little Nest of Heavenly Blue"

Robert Stolz
05. Liebeskommando: "Im Traum hast Du mir alles erlaubt"

Emmerich Kalman
06. Grafin Mariza: "Gru? mir mein Wien"

Werner R. Heymann
07. Ein blonder Traum: "Irgendwo auf der Welt"

Hans May
08. My Song Goes Round the World

Franz Lehar
09. Giuditta: "Freunde das Leben ist lebenswert!"

Paul Abraham
10. Victoria und ihr Husar: "Reich mir zum Abschied noch einmal die Hande"

Ralph Benatzky
11. The White Horse Inn:"It Must Be Wonderful Indeed"

Paul Abraham
12. Die Blume von Hawaii: "Diwanpuppchen"

Robert Stolz
13. The Song is Over:"Don't Ask Me Why"

Mischa Spoliansky
14. Das Lied einer Nacht: "Heute Nacht oder nie"

Eduard Kunneke
15. Die grose Sunderin: "Das Lied vom Leben des Schrenk"

Erich Wolfgang Korngold
16. Die tote Stadt: "Gluck, das mir verblieb"

Franz Lehar
17. Das Land des Lachelns: "Je t'ai donne mon coeur"

PERSONNEL
Jonas Kaufmann (tenor)
Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin,
Jochen Rieder (conductor)