[ALBUM REVIEW] An Italian Night – Live from the Waldbühne Berlin, Jonas Kaufmann

Jonas Kaufmann

Two years after the release of his highly successful album Dolce Vita, tenor Jonas Kaufmann reaffirmed his love affair with Italian music with a special concert that included mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili, released by Sony Classical. In what can be seen as a culmination of his dedication to Italy and its music, the concert has become one of this year’s biggest classical music events.

An Italian Night – Live from the Waldbühne Berlin features popular songs and canzone as well as passionate Italian opera arias and duets from Cavalleria rusticana, where Anita joined Jonas as a charming guest-artist and duet partner. Both were supported by Jochen Rieder conducting the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin.

Jonas is one of the most unique voices singing classical music, not to mention his good looks and intelligence. In this concert, he infuses his performance with passion and emotion. His pairing with Anita could not be more perfect, as the two complement each other, note for note. The performance brought the audience to its feet and resulted in seven incredible encores including “Parla più piano” (The Godfather theme), “Volare” in special duet form, and the mighty “Nessun dorma” from Puccini’s opera Turandot.

The evening’s delights in the amazing atmosphere at Berlin’s renowned stage-beneath-the-stars also included Ponchielli’s “Cielo e mar” from his opera La Gioconda, as well as the popular songs “Torna a Surriento”, “Non ti scordar di me”, a unique solo rendition of Lucio Dalla’s “Caruso” by Anita, and a stirring duet of “Il canto” between Jonas and Anita.

An 80-minute highlights version of the concert is available on CD and digital audio formats, and the full 110-minute concert recording – filmed by ZDF & 3sat in collaboration with concert promoter Alegria and Semmel Concerts – is presented on DVD and Blu-ray.

 The full concert film (Jonas Kaufmann – Under the Stars) will also be shown in cinemas worldwide this fall, including in Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Romania, Latvia, Denmark, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Poland, Spain and France. More countries will be announced soon. For more details, please visit CinemaLive.

An Italian Night – Live from the Waldbühne Berlin is now available for purchase or download. The recording is available through Apple Music, Amazon, and Sony Classical, among others.