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08/14/2025
“Doppelgänger”
Robert Schumann: Dichterliebe, op. 48 – Kerner Lieder, op. 35
Franz Schubert: Schwanengesang, D 957 – Herbst, D 945 – Piano Sonata in B‑flat major, D 960: 2.“Andante sostenuto”
Jonas Kaufmann (tenor), Helmut Deutsch (piano), Claus Guth (Director), Mathis Nitschke (Original Music & Sound Composition), Michael Levine (Set Design), Constance Hoffmann (Costume Design), Urs Schönebaum (Lighting Design), Mark Grey (Sound Design), orca film (Video Design), Sommer Ulrickson (Movement Direction)
Recorded at Herrsching am Ammersee (April 16‑24, 2020), Bonus recorded in Munich (March 19, 1994), “Doppelgänger” recorded at Park Avenue Armory (September 22‑28, 2023)
CD & DVD Sony Classical 19439781382
 
Abundance. Isolation. Death. The 2020 COVID‑19 pandemic was a time, to say the least. A paradox in many ways, but all so real in the incalculable loss of life and livelihood during that time. The abundance of artistry leading into that lockdown and time that was then forced into isolation continues to shape our understanding of that time. Jonas Kaufmann’s previous album, “Selige Stunde,” was the result of moving into lockdown and making music with a skeleton crew. The tenor’s newest release, “Doppelgänger,” is a follow up, recording in April 2020.
The album’s abundant contents are a fascinating portrait of the artists (Kaufmann’s faithful accompanist, Helmut Deutsch, is indispensable). The opening portion features Schumann’s beloved Dichterliebe and less famous, but worthy Kerner-Lieder. That alone would make for a generous disc, but also included are six songs from Dichterliebe from Kaufmann’s university days in 1994 and a powerful video recording of the dramatized staging of Schubert’s Schwanengesang from a series of live performances at the Park Avenue Armory from 2023. Each portion of the disc is captivating.
The longing opening notes of “Im wunderschönen Monat Mai” are supple in Deutsch’s hands who is captivating throughout the disc; Kaufmann’s voice is still fresh and he sings Schumann’s masterpiece thoughtfully, if not dotingly. One of the chief criticisms will undoubtedly be that Kaufmann’s voice, by nature of its heft, is ill‑suited to the spurned lover. Such a thought is not without validity. The tenor will resort to crooning to achieve Schubert’s more delicate tones, as in “Ich hab im Traum geweinet” where the voice takes on a wan quality. There are surely plenty of youthful readings of this music, Fritz Wunderlich’s Dichterliebe being incomparable among them, where the singer is able to float through the passaggio more convincingly, but Kaufmann’s skills here are wholly appropriate.
Even in the darting “Die Rose, die Lilie, die Taube, die Sonne,” Kaufmann keeps enough core to the voice and lightens it to dispatch Schumann’s breathless phrases. Kaufmann sings convincingly. Unsurprisingly, the vengeful “Ich grolle nicht,” suits his voice as well as any piece on the disc with his dramatic high notes ringing true, but Lieder devotees will likely find as much value in the more innig and brooding concluding songs of the cycle, which ends with a stark reading of “Die alten bösen Lieder.” Heine’s brilliant, if occasionally melodramatic (to our modern sense), poems supported by Schumann’s masterful music is given good and convincing care by Kaufmann.
Likewise, the Kerner-Lieder set features some gems of the composer’s output, miniature masterpieces of melody and poem. “Erstes grün,” “Stille Liebe,” and “Frage” are sung beautifully, with Kaufmann painting the picturesque words of Justinius Kerner with delicacy. The stirring “Wanderlied” is another vocal simpatico with Kaufmann’s heroic voice. A fascinating bonus to the disc is a 1994 recording of six excerpts that Kaufmann recording while at University. His voice is practically unrecognizable (light, bright and lyrical) compared to what it would become some 10 years later when reaching stardom. But the core talent is unmistakable and fans will enjoy the performances.
Speaking of ages ago, 2023 seems like a distant memory already, and that year’s staging of Schubert’s Schwanengesang presented here on video is, like the Schumann dispatch of 2020, otherworldly in its zeitgeist. The brilliant staging of Claus Guth places the action in a World War I medical hospital. Even in 2025, this is a little too on the nose, but effective; the singer, dealing with trauma and injury, sings each of Schubert’s songs (presented outside of their traditional order) as a vision or memory. The opening song being “Kriegers Ahnung” makes this abundantly clear. The emotion is palpable. Combined with additional music and sound effects by Mathis Nitschke, it is an uncomfortable work that Kaufmann and Deutsch perform with dedication. Urs Schönebaum also deserves note for the lighting design which is captured deftly on video along with the memorable performances. Deutsch’s solo contribution of the miraculous “Andante” from Schubert’s Piano Sonata in B‑flat major deserves special acclaim. A salve for the pain.
But the relief is only temporary as the trauma is unavoidable, a cruel reminder after a year of devastation. In isolation, what is death? After abundance, isolation is death itself. After all, if the Dichterliebe recording was never heard, then how could it ever live? The oppressive weight of such thoughts hung over many of us in different ways during the 2020 period and even after coming to terms in what it meant to reconnect. What did we lose during those years? Were we, like Heine suggested, only seeing a shadow of ourself, realizing that we were already transformed to another state, never to return? This recording is a thoughtful exploration of those difficult questions, giving musical voice to them, but reveling in the beauty that music, when shared, is abundance in life itself.
Matthew Richard Martinez
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