The recordings on this new 15CD edition “Jonas Kaufmann - The Decca Recordings” are a sonic chronicle of his “Decca years”, although the earliest of the recordings was made for Philips. They span ten years, from 2002 to 2012, and show the celebrated tenor at the height of his art.

This period reveals the wide range of Jonas Kaufmann's artistic output and his incomparable timbre. The set contains three complete opera recordings, all of which in some way anticipate his Wagnerian future: a Weber Oberon, the role of the King's son in Humperdinck's Königskinder and Florestan in Beethoven's Fidelio.

The various recitals of operatic arias include 18th and 19th century German repertoire, the electrifying thrill of verismo, “Romantic Arias” and the seminal Wagner recital. Additional “bonus” material recorded at the time of the original recordings, including an aria from Mascagni's Iris and an ensemble from Puccini's La rondine.

A great song cycle (Schubert's “Die schöne Müllerin”) and a breathtaking choral work (Verdi's “Messa da Requiem”) round off the edition and show Jonas Kaufmann at his best. These award-winning and critically acclaimed recordings perhaps represent Kaufmann's most important period of his career: youthful, stirring, moving and in full possession of all his vocal possibilities.

A must for lovers of beautiful voices.

CD 1

MOZART, BEETHOVEN, SCHUBERT, WAGNER: ARIAS

Claudio Abbado; James Levine

CD 2

VERISMO ARIAS

Antonio Pappano

CD 3

ROMANTIC ARIAS

Marco Armiliato

CD 4-5

WAGNER: WESENDONCK-LIEDER; ARIAS

Donald Runnicles

JONAS KAUFMANN DISCUSSES WAGNER

(English / German)

CD 6

SCHUBERT: DIE SCHÖNE MÜLLERIN; DER JÜNGLING AN DER QUELLE

Helmut Deutsch

CDs 7–8

WEBER: OBERON

John Eliot Gardiner

CDs 9–10

BEETHOVEN: FIDELIO

Claudio Abbado

CDs 11–13

HUMPERDINCK: KÖNIGSKINDER

Armin Jordan

CDs 14–15

VERDI: MESSA DA REQUIEM

Daniel Barenboim