Star tenor Jonas Kaufmann recently announced that he would no longer appear at Covent Garden in London and at the Met in New York. It’s been more than seven years since he last appeared at the Met, and that was after a four year absence.
Kaufmann expressed dissatisfaction with how the Met treated its chorus and orchestra during the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that musicians were left without pay and faced difficult circumstances. He said he felt “very bad” about that situation, and it has stayed with him. Of course, the Met’s financial condition is so parlous that the company may not have been able to pay its employees even if they wished to do so.
Kaufmann has previously stated that he doesn’t like the separation from his home and family that appearing at the Met requires. The combination of his two dissatisfactions about appearing in New York likely played the key role in his decision to abandon New York.
His decision to forgo appearances at the ROH London is financial. Kaufmann has openly stated that the fees offered by Covent Garden aren’t competitive – especially when compared with the very high cost of living in London. He said that, given what opera houses currently pay, it simply isn’t viable for him to return there. Since his fees are likely the highest in the business, one can only wonder at the company’s ability to attract top notch talent. Kaufmann has observed that many opera singers face frozen wages and greater financial pressures, leading them to rethink how and where they perform.
In short, his decision isn’t just about one institution or another: it reflects frustration with working conditions, financial realities in major cultural capitals, and a desire for more artistic flexibility.
He also criticized the way major houses plan years in advance, which he believes stifles artistic freedom – something he feels is “against the idea of being an artist.” It’s difficult to see how companies can avoid such long term planning, as not doing so almost certainly means that the best artists will be booked by competing companies, and force any house that does not schedule years in the future will have to settle for lesser artists.
So while New York and London are out, Kaufmann has opera appearances upcoming in Vienna, Verona, Aix-en-Provence, and Naples. He has future concert and recital engagements in France, Germany, Austria, and elsewhere.
Show business is tough – even when you’re at the top.
