Jonas Kaufmann to Release The Sound Of Movies Sony Classical on September 15
Jonas Kaufmann
“The World’s Greatest Tenor” (The Telegraph)
Records The Sound of Movies
New Album on Sony Classical
Release Date: September 15, 2023
All-New Recordings Of Worldwide Hit Songs From Classic Movies
West Side Story, Gladiator, Cinema Paradiso, The Sound Of Music, Les Misérables, The Mission, The Great Caruso, Singin’ In The Rain And Many More
June 21 – New York, NY -- Great songs from classic movies have been a passion of the tenor Jonas Kaufmann throughout his life, and his new Sony Classical album The Sound of Movies celebrates that with almost a century of unforgettable movie songs that have thrilled global audiences. The album will be released on September 15, 2023 and is available for preorder here.
Newly recorded in spectacular sound with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra and Choir, conducted by Jochen Rieder, Kaufmann is also joined on three tracks by the acclaimed guitarist Miloš Karadaglić.
“Immersing yourself in this world for a few hours and forgetting everything around you is incredibly fascinating – similar to the theater or opera,” Kaufmann says about classic film music. “I’ve traveled a lot over many years, often alone for weeks and months in foreign cities at the other end of the world. In addition to museums, it was the cinema – that great opportunity to entertain yourself when you’re alone – that captured my imagination.”
Kaufmann initially became enamored by cinema music via leading Weimar-era tenors Joseph Schmidt and Richard Tauber, as well as the sublime orchestrations of the great golden-age film composers like Erich Korngold and Max Steiner who were steeped in the heritage of Puccini and Strauss. For Kaufmann, The Sound of Movies presents the undeniable influence of opera on this most popular of art forms.
The Sound of Movies reflects Kaufmann’s fascination with a selection of popular hits, in a variety of languages, that span from Weimar-era Germany (a title song written to accompany the 1929 silent film Ich küsse Ihre Hand, Madame) to “Bring Him Home” from the 2012 film of the global hit musical Les Misérables.
The album includes Kaufmann’s interpretations of Hans Zimmer’s “Nelle tue mani” (Now We Are Free) from Gladiator; the Oscar®-winning “Moon River” from Breakfast at Tiffany’s; and Vangelis’s epic title song from 1492: Conquest of Paradise. Great musicals are featured as well, with memorable titles such as “Maria” from Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story; the title song from Singin’ in the Rain; plus several numbers from the legendary creative duo Rodgers & Hammerstein including “Edelweiss” (The Sound of Music) and “You’ll Never Walk Alone” (Carousel).
From the Italian master Ennio Morricone, Kaufmann has chosen songs taken from the great melodies in the scores of Cinema Paradiso, The Mission and Once upon a Time in America.
A premiere on the album is a special arrangement of a song based on the main title theme of The Cider House Rules (with lyrics by Gene Scheer), created for the album by its composer Rachel Portman, the first woman to win an Oscar® for scoring a film. The album also includes songs immortalized by their use in films, such as “What a Wonderful World”, heard in Good Morning, Vietnam; “Strangers in the Night” from A Man Could Get Killed; and Carlos Gardel’s classic Argentinian tango “Por una cabeza,” a highlight on the soundtracks of Scent of a Woman and Tango Bar.
Guitarist Miloš Karadaglić joins Kaufmann for intimate interpretations of “Moon River,” “Edelweiss” and “She Was Beautiful,” based on the “Cavatina” from Stanley Myers’s score for the Oscar®-winning film The Deer Hunter.
In addition, Kaufmann recreates two hits from American star tenor Mario Lanza, with “The Loveliest Night of the Year” from The Great Caruso and “Serenade” from the film version of The Student Prince.
JONAS KAUFMANN – THE SOUND OF MOVIES
Track List:
1 The Loveliest Night of the Year from The Great Caruso
2 Where Do I Begin? from Love Story
3 Maria from West Side Story
4 The Cider House Rules main title
5 Nelle tue mani (Now We Are Free) from Gladiator
6 Se (If) (Tema d’amore) from Nuovo Cinema Paradiso
7 E più ti penso (Deborah’s Theme) from Once upon a Time in America
8 Strangers in the Night from A Man Could Get Killed
9 Bring Him Home from Les Misérables
10 Nella fantasia (Gabriel’s Oboe) from The Mission
11 Conquest of Paradise from 1492: Conquest of Paradise
12 What Is a Youth? (Love Theme) from William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet
13 She Was Beautiful (Cavatina) from The Deer Hunter – with Miloš Karadaglić
14 Por una cabeza from Scent of a Woman
15 What a Wonderful World from Good Morning, Vietnam
16 You’ll Never Walk Alone from Carousel
17 Moon River from Breakfast at Tiffany’s – with Miloš Karadaglić
18 Singin’ in the Rain main title
19 Ich küsse Ihre Hand, Madame main title
20 Reality from La Boum
21 Edelweiss from The Sound of Music – with Miloš Karadaglić
22 Serenade from The Student Prince
JONAS KAUFMANN tenor
Czech National Symphony Orchestra · Jochen Rieder conductor
Sony Music Masterworks comprises Masterworks, Sony Classical, Milan Records, XXIM Records, and Masterworks Broadway imprints. For email updates and information please visit www.sonymusicmasterworks.com/.
CONNECT WITH JONAS KAUFMANN
WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | TWITTER | YOUTUBE