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Rougemont. Church. 17-XII-2023. Gstaad New Year Music Festival. Alessandro Stradella (1643-1682): Mercy, sir. César Franck (1822-1870): Panis Angelicus. Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901): The Woman is mobile (Rigoletto), God that infuses the soul (Don Carlo). Georges Bizet (1838-1875): Bullfighter, on guard, Je suis Escamillo (Carmen). Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924): Donna non vidi mai (Manon Lescaut), Recondita harmony (Tosca). Franz Lear (1870-1948): Dein ist mein ganzes Herz. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): Jesus bleibet meine Freude. Franz Schubert (1797-1828): Three Klavierstücke, D. 946 – No. 2 in E major, Ungarische Melodie D. 817. Alexandre Ziloti (1863-1945): Prelude in B Minor after JS Bach. Jonathan Tetelman (tenor), Rafal Pawnuk (bass-baritone), Daniel Heide (piano).
As part of the 18th Gstaad New Year Music Festival, the opening concert hosted tenor Jonathan Tetelman, whose recent signing with the prestigious Deutsche Grammophon label aroused all expectations.
In the heart of the legendary Romanesque church of Rougemont, the piano plays a few notes when, from the depths of the pews, the superbly timbred baritone voice of tenor Jonathan Tetelman emerges. Spectacular, a bit like you’ve seen me, he makes a theatrical entrance which portends intense musical moments. The man is handsome, he wears his shiny tuxedo elegantly, the immaculate bib, the cuffs adorned with diamonds let out the flash of a watch. Tall, with a conquering look, he is the portrait of his voice. Brilliant, flamboyant, dazzling, his interpretation of the very beautiful air “ Have mercy, Lord » by Alessandro Stradella impresses. What a voice, what harmonics, what power in its lower register and what sunshine in its high notes! The vocal material of the Chilean tenor is striking. The audience was immediately won over and warmly applauded this first draft. So it will be, in a thunderous crescendo greeting each performance of the tenor. Except that through the effects of his ease, he gradually lets the spirit of the pages he sings escape to the detriment of vocal excesses which, if they pose no problem of accuracy, cause him to lose the creates the nuances that the text would like us to attribute to it.
From this lack of measure the musicality suffers, which will diminish. After his spectacular debut, one would have thought that Jonathan Tetelman would take the scale of the place into account. Instead of moderating his vocal power, taking care of the musical expressiveness, measuring his effects, he continues to sing at all costs, saturating the air (and our ears) with sounds that we would have liked to be more restrained, better felt. . He could thus have offered more of the artist than the singer. In his defense, however, we must note that he is accompanied by a piano that is faulty to say the least. Indeed, Daniel Heide, although a renowned accompanist, shows poor form and we never feel he is carrying the person he accompanies. Certainly Schubert, of whom Daniel Heide is a specialist (although the Troi’s piano pieces D.946 andHungarian melody D.817 which he played solo seriously called into question his specialization) is worlds away from the flamboyant Italian music on Jonathan Tetelman’s program. A clear discrepancy which forces the singer to take sole charge of a show which, due to lack of complicity (and probable rehearsals), becomes that of the sole tenor, obliged to compensate for the lack of support from his partner. From then on, Jonathan Tetelman adds and does too much to the detriment of the music which he is certainly capable of serving better in other circumstances.
In this recital which appears musically unstructured, last minute changes are made. Thus, Jonathan Tetelman invites a baritone of his friends onto the stage as if to liven up the evening. Except that the Polish baritone Rafał Pawnuk is in no way the dynamiting element which would have restored a recital held by Jonathan Tetelman alone. With a dull voice, disastrous Italian and French pronunciation, his interventions in the tunes of Carmen or of Don Carlo only project the tenor into vocal excesses intended to be spectacular.
It took the last moments of this concert for Jonathan Tetelman to finally find himself in a very subtle and inhabited “Dein ist mein ganzes Herz” taken from the Land of smiles by Franz Lehár and in a superb encore with a “E lucevan le stelle” taken from Tosca by Puccini, allowing us to appreciate his extraordinary vocal power in the lower midrange which has nothing to envy with that of his high notes. We will remember from this evening the regret of hearing a tenor endowed with immense vocal resources use so little for artistic expression and so much for pageantry. Jonathan Tetelman is a diamond. A rough diamond that still needs to be cut to give it the brilliance it conceals. The one that some qualify, with good reason, as the “new Pavarotti” would have a great interest in taking care and “managing” his instrument if he wants to last at the top.
Photo credit: © Patricia Dietzi / Gstaad New Year Music Festival
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Rougemont. Church. 17-XII-2023. Gstaad New Year Music Festival. Alessandro Stradella (1643-1682): Mercy, sir. César Franck (1822-1870): Panis Angelicus. Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901): The Woman is mobile (Rigoletto), God that infuses the soul (Don Carlo). Georges Bizet (1838-1875): Bullfighter, on guard, Je suis Escamillo (Carmen). Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924): Donna non vidi mai (Manon Lescaut), Recondita harmony (Tosca). Franz Lear (1870-1948): Dein ist mein ganzes Herz. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): Jesus bleibet meine Freude. Franz Schubert (1797-1828): Three Klavierstücke, D. 946 – No. 2 in E major, Ungarische Melodie D. 817. Alexandre Ziloti (1863-1945): Prelude in B Minor after JS Bach. Jonathan Tetelman (tenor), Rafal Pawnuk (bass-baritone), Daniel Heide (piano).
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2023-12-30 05:36:00
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