Jonas Kaufmann triumphed at Milan's La Scala in his recital last night, with most of the packed house standing to applaud his generous encores.
Although criticisms of his vocality and interpretation weren't absent, he is a greatly loved figure, and seemed genuinely surprised at the warmth of the reception, both at the beginning of the recital, and during the insistent applauding after his encores. Ingemisco from Verdi's Requiem and Alvaro's aria from La Forza del Destino were certainly impressive, after the more intimate lieder repertoire during the official programme.
Kaufmann demonstrated his gratitude by going down on one knee before the the La Scala crowd, and radiating a slightly goofy wide smile with his new dental braces.
Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano') about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.
His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia' column for Dancing Times magazine.
