Widely acknowledged as the world’s leading tenor, the singer shares his personal favourite songs of the festive season in Christmas with Jonas Kaufmann at the Royal Albert Hall on Thursday 16th December 2021.
The programme will include renditions of traditional songs that the young Kaufmann sang with his family around the Christmas tree in his native Germany (‘In dulci jubilo’, ‘Ich steh an deiner Krippen hier’), beloved carols popular throughout the world, such as ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’, ‘What Child is This?’, ‘O Come, All Ye Faithful’ (Adeste fideles), ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing’, and swinging hits made famous by the likes of Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, including ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’, ‘Winter Wonderland’, ‘White Christmas’ and ‘The Christmas Song’.
Accompanied by the German State Philharmonic (Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie) led by Kaufmann’s regular recital partner Jochen Rieder, the Royal Albert Hall date is the only performance of the concert in the UK. This exclusive Christmas event marks Kaufmann’s return to the Royal Albert Hall for the first time since his performance at the Last Night of the Proms in 2015. He had previously appeared at the iconic venue for the Classic BRIT Awards in 2009.
Christmas has always been special for Kaufmann. As a child, he landed on the front page of a Munich newspaper – at the age of eight – after describing his family’s lively, musical Christmas Eve celebrations so vividly that he won a school prize. The songs he has chosen reflect those happy memories and the pleasure of the Christmas holidays, ranging from grateful worship to the joy of being with family and friends. Following the success of Kaufmann’s 2020 recording It’s Christmas!, the album has been extended to include seven newly recorded songs, and recently re-released on Sony Classical.
The concert is a major highlight of Christmas at the Royal Albert Hall which returns to full capacity after two years, with nearly 40 shows over 24 days as part of the venue’s 150th anniversary celebrations.
Royal Albert Hall and Alegria present Christmas with Jonas Kaufman
Thursday 16th December 2021, 7:30 pm
Tickets: £60 – £160
https://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/events/2021/christmas-with-jonas-kaufmann/
ABOVE: Jonas Kaufmann (c) Gregor Hohenberg/Sony Classical