The “World’s Greatest Tenor” to Join Houston Grand Opera For a Season Opener Like No Other

Houston Grand Opera secured a major coup on Friday with news that renowned German tenor Jonas Kaufmann, hailed by the London Telegraph as “the world’s greatest tenor,” will join the company’s orchestra on October 6 for a single night concert at Wortham Theater Center. “An Evening with Jonas Kaufmann” will be the tenor’s Houston premiere and will mark HGO’s return to the Wortham after more than a year’s absence due to the pandemic.

The concert, under the baton of HGO artistic and music director Patrick Summers, will serve as the company’s season opener with a gala dinner following the performance in Brown Theater.

Solo recitals and concerts are standards on the calendar of Kaufmann, whose performances this summer of Cavaradossi in Puccini’s “Tosca” have earned high praise. One German reviewer writes that the tenor “impressed as Cavaradossi with his famous velvety tones, beguiling piani, and the incredible security of his high notes.”

In Europe for the remainder of the summer, the dreamy Kaufmann will be performing five recitals and concerts as well as multiple appearances in Tosca and in Wagner’s Tristen und Isolde in theaters across the Continent.

The HGO concert will feature “a broad selection of arias and excerpts from the heroic tenor repertoire, including a generous sampling of the Wagnerian roles for which he has become famous,” according to a release.

Jonas Kaufmann and The Wortham’s Return

“Not only are we thrilled about the opportunity to host one of most versatile tenors in the world, but this will also be an evening of celebration as we return to live performances at the Wortham,” Summers says. “The arts community has been impacted immensely the past year, and we are so honored to open our 2021-22 season with such an incredibly celebrated artist.”

Available now, Concert Gala Dinner ticket packages include premium concert tickets and a post-performance seated dinner with Jonas Kaufmann. Individual concert-only tickets will be available later this summer. Ticket packages range from $10,000 to $50,000 while individual tickets for the concert and dinner range from $1,000 to $5,000. Details are available here. Individual concert-only tickets will be offered at a later date.

HGO’s 2021-22 full production season launches October 22 with Carmen.