The tenor and the painter!
What do Jonas Kaufmann and Caspar David Friedrich have in common?
Was haben Jonas Kaufmann und Caspar David Friedrich gemeinsam?
Kaufmann is a great tenor, born 1969 in Munich, Germany! Friedrich was a painter, born in 1774 in Greifswald, also Germany! I am not referring to the country where they were born, centuries apart, which is obviously the same. I am thinking of Kaufmann’s magnificent CD of German opera arias, with compositions by Mozart, Schubert (okay, they were actually Austrian but in this particular instance, German stands for the language for which the music was written), Beethoven and Wagner! The recording is simply brilliant: the singing is incredibly good; Kaufmann’s diction is naturally perfect; the tone is beautiful, his voice has many subtle nuances and he uses all his dramatic skills for a superb interpretation of the music.
Naturally, none of this is related to Caspar David Friedrich, you will say! Well, do you know one of Friedrich’s most famous paintings Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer (Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog)? Look at the painting; then look at Kaufmann’s CD, front and back sleeves (particularly the back): You will see and understand the link between the tenor and the painter!
