Jonathan Tetelman - Arias

Jonathan Tetelman, Orquesta Filarmonica de Gran Canaria, Karel Mark Chichon

Jonathan Tetelman is a devoted transformational artist and performer. Last fall, Deutsche Grammophon signed the extraordinary tenor. He now presents his debut album Arias to the label on August 5, 2022. The music was recorded in the unique acoustics of the Alfredo Kraus Auditorium in Las Palmas in outstanding collaboration with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria conducted by Karel Mark Chichon. Tetelman impresses in French and Italian repertoire with agile technique, gripping emotionality and a fascinating palette of tonal colors. "Singing allows me to become who I am," Jonathan Tetelman says. It's his means of expression and his source of power, and it's been part of his life from the beginning. While still in Princeton's American Boychoir School, he discovered a fascination with performing classical music as a member of a touring boys' choir, which later led him to the Manhattan School of Music. At age 22, he graduated there as a baritone. A period of self-discovery followed for Tetelman. He did not feel at home in the baritone profession for a further career, but at the same time he lacked orientation and perspectives. So he took a break and worked for three years as a DJ in New York clubs. Classical music, however, wouldn't let him go. "I felt completely lost - it was as if a piece of me had gone missing," Tetelman says. So he ended his sabbatical, took lessons again and, with immense discipline, transformed himself from baritone to tenor. "Since then, I've known that if I want to accomplish something, I can, but I need a good reason to do it," Tetelman said. The effort has paid off - the tenor, who is now in great demand worldwide and on the threshold of a major operatic career, has an extraordinary tonal richness and a powerful and warmly resonant voice, a "lyrical voice with a lot of power," as he himself says, a "romantic voice in the classical sense." But Tetelman is not only a gifted vocal artist whose instrument has undergone an impressive development. He is also a passionate stage person who puts himself into the respective roles and parts with dedication. "I love to bring out the psychological aspects of the characters," says the singer, adding that each time it is fascinating to explore who the person in the play really is and how they develop as the plot unfolds. His debut album Arias, which the 33-year-old is now releasing, is an important "confirmation for the hard work, proverbial blood, sweat and tears that I have invested in my singing, my art and my voice" for the performer. To showcase the different timbres of his voice, the album features pieces from different eras and genres, with an emphasis on Italian and French repertoire. "We chose works for my debut that are as gentle and delicate as they are heroic and dramatic to the heart," Tetelman says. He has a special relationship with the aria "Addio fiorito asil" from Puccini's Madama Butterfly. "It's the first piece I ever sang as a tenor and the first time I felt vocally at home. There is hardly greater music for me than that of Puccini; my heart belongs to it." In addition to excerpts from three operas by Verdi, the album features music by Bizet, Cilea, Giordano, Mascagni and Massenet, among others. With excerpts from Francesca da Rimini by Riccardo Zandonai, the album also features a striking milestone from Tetelman's career to date: as Paolo, he celebrated his first major success at the Berlin Opera. In Jonathan Tetelman's personal history, Arias is both a destination and a starting point, and an impressive musical testament to his multifaceted expressiveness. For listeners, it arouses curiosity for whatever may follow the singer's debut on the label. This is also true for the singer himself: "I'm very much looking forward to the process that is about to begin, and I feel like I'm at the start of what is sure to be an exciting journey," says Tetelman.

Price: $21.98

In stock
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