Jonas Kaufmann

Kaufmann was born in Munich. His father worked for an insurance company, and his mother was a kindergarten teacher. He had one older sister. He started studying piano when he was eight, and he sang in his elementary school choir. Although he studied for mathematics entrance exams, in the summer of 1989 he began his vocal training at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich. While he was studying, he sang some small roles at the Bavarian State Opera. He graduated from university in 1994, achieving distinctions in both opera and concert performances.

He began his professional career at the Staatstheater Saarbrücken in 1994 and was soon invited to make debuts in German theaters such as the Stuttgart Opera and Hamburg State Opera, as well as international debuts at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opéra National de Paris, and La Scala. He made his Salzburg Festival debut in 1999 in a new production of Busoni's Doktor Faust and returned there in 2003 as Belmonte in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail and for concerts of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Berlin Philharmonic.

In 1995, after a vocal crisis, Kaufmann received help from American baritone Michael Rhodes, who taught him a "new way of singing" and how to become "more relaxed in my voice and in myself." In Kaufmann's book Meinen die wirklich mich? he said, "To find a Michael Rhodes that can really help you and bring you to success is really a great stroke of luck."

He performed the role of Don José in Bizet's Carmen, to critical acclaim, at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in 2006/7. He made his debut as Alfredo in Verdi's La traviata at the Metropolitan Opera alongside Angela Gheorghiu in 2006, also to critical acclaim, and also sang the role at the Met in 2007 and 2008, and at the Royal Opera House in 2008. In May 2008, he played Cavaradossi in Puccini's Tosca at Covent Garden, yet again to critical acclaim.

His debut recording with Decca, Romantic Arias, was released in January 2008. He has also recorded a Schubert song cycle on the same label and the role of Pinkerton in Puccini's Madama Butterfly for EMI.

In 2008/9, he performed in Massenet's Manon in Chicago opposite Natalie Dessay and in the title role of a new production of Wagner's Lohengrin at the Bavarian State Opera. He also sang Lohengrin on the opening night of the Bayreuth Festival in 2010, in a production staged by Hans Neuenfels and conducted by Andris Nelsons.

In January 2010, he took the title role in Massenet's Werther at the Opéra Bastille in Paris. The performance was recorded and released on DVD in November 2010.

In April 2011, he returned to the Metropolitan Opera as Siegmund in Robert Lepage's new production of Wagner's Die Walküre. In September 2011, he underwent surgery to remove a lymph node from his chest. In December, he was back, performing the title role in Gounod's Faust.

On 15 February 2013, Kaufmann made his first appearance in the title role of Wagner's Parsifal at the Metropolitan Opera. His performance received rave reviews from critics. In July of that year he was named a Kammersänger of the Bavarian State Opera by the Bavarian Ministry of Arts. In December he sang the role of Don Alvaro in Verdi's La forza del destino with the company.

In February 2014, Kaufmann sang the title role in Massenet's Werther at the Met. He followed this by touring with Schubert's song cycle Winterreise with Helmut Deutsch. In June 2014, he made his debut in the role of Des Grieux in Puccini's Manon Lescaut at the Royal Opera House in London. That November he sang the same role in another production of Manon Lescaut at the Bavarian State Opera.

On 12 September 2015, Kaufmann became the first German singer to perform the British national anthem "Rule, Britannia!" at the Last Night of The Proms.

On 23 February 2016, the documentary Jonas Kaufmann: An Evening with Puccini was released in selected theaters in the United States. The film centered around Kaufmann's 2015 performance at La Scala in Milan and featured rare archive footage.

In 2018, Kaufmann made his debut as Tristan in concert performances of the second act of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde.

Kaufmann has been married twice. His first marriage to mezzo-soprano Margarete Joswig produced three children, and ended in divorce. His second marriage is to the opera director Christiane Lutz. The couple married in late 2018, and have a child, born in March 2019.