Insieme - Opera Duets

"Together" is the first duet album by Jonas Kaufmann and his friend, the French star baritone Ludovic Tézier. The famous duets from operas by Verdi, Puccini, and Ponchielli were recorded with the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under the excellent direction of Antonio Pappano. "Insieme" will be released on October 7th on CD and digital platforms by Sony Classical, and also as a double vinyl on November 11th.

On stage, they are often rivals, but in real life, Jonas Kaufmann and Ludovic Tézier share a close friendship. After numerous acclaimed joint live performances, their first duet album is being released: "Insieme," Italian for "Together," is the title. With the outstanding Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under the baton of Antonio Pappano, they present duets they have sung together on stage and pieces they have rehearsed specifically for this album.

Since their shared performance in "Werther" in 2010 in Paris, they have repeatedly appeared as stage partners in various productions; and as with their duet album, Verdi's works play a central role. When they portrayed rivals in "La forza del destino" for the first time at the Bayerische Staatsoper in 2013, it was immediately apparent: two kindred spirits who inspire each other had found each other. In 2017, they appeared on stage in Paris in the French version of Verdi's "Don Carlos"; it is only logical that the famous duet between Carlos and Rodrigue is featured in this version on their duet album. Here, they are not eternal adversaries, but true allies, in one of opera's most beautiful male friendships.

Additionally, this album features the two of them together for the first time in "Otello." During Kaufmann's debut as Otello in 2017 at the Royal Opera House in London, Tézier was supposed to debut as Iago alongside him, but unfortunately had to cancel. Thus, the recording sessions during the lockdown of 2021 became the first collaboration for their "Otello," even before Tézier made his debut as Iago at the Wiener Staatsoper. The presence of Antonio Pappano, one of the most distinguished opera conductors of our time, leading his Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, adds to the success of this recording.