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JANUARY 13, 2017 OPERAWIRE - POSTED BY DAVID SALAZAR

The wait is over – Jonas Kaufmann will finally make his long-awaited return on Wednesday, Jan 18 in Wagner’s “Lohengrin” in Paris.

The tenor has been sidelined since October after announcing that side effects frommedication had caused a haematoma. After that he committed to remaining on vocal rest until his haematoma “completely subsided.” This forced him to cancel numerous engagements, including a debut in Monte Carlo, the Grand Opening concert Hamburg as well as the Nobel Prize ceremony.

But the tenor is finally back on his feet in an opera that he has made his own in recent years. Kaufmann’s interpretation of the knight was captured on DVD a few years ago in a production by Richard Jones from the Bayerisches Staatsoper alongside Anja Harteros.

This time around he will work with Martina Serafin who is slated to sing the role of Elsa von Brabant for a whopping nine performances. Wolfgang Koch will sing Friedrich von Telramund while famed soprano Evelyn Herlitzius will sing Ortrud for the January performances. René Pape plays Heinrich der Vogler in the January performances.

Relieving Kaufmann in February in the title role will be Stuart Skelton, who recently premiered a new production of “Tristan und Isolde” at the Metropolitan Opera. Edith Haller will sing the final three performances of the run as Elsa while Tomasz Konieczny and Michaela Schuster will take over Telramund and Ortrud respectively in February.  Rafal Siwek will be Heinrich in February.

Phillippe Jordan conducts the entire run. The production is one previously directed by Claus Guth at the La Scala in Milan.