Star tenor lives up to reputation and more in operatic night to remember.

Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House

August 10, 2014

Announced this time last year, Sydney has had plenty of time to get used to the fact that the “hottest tenorial talent” on the planet was going to make his Opera Australia debut this month. Since then, two new CDs (one of heartfelt Verdi arias, the other a darkly brooding Winterreise) have whetted our appetite for the real thing. No surprise then that the Opera House was packed and buzzing for the first of the German tenor’s scheduled appearances.

Jonas Kaufmann is a tall, good-looking 45-year-old with a full, flexible voice (“long” he called it at his press conference). His strong bottom register makes him well suited for singing his native Wagnerian repertoire, while his exciting upper extension helps him embrace French and Italian opera as well. Allied with a dramatic intelligence, mastery of language and excellent diction, he’s what can easily be described as the complete package. And I’m delighted to say the complete package was what we got tonight.

Kaufmann made his Australian debut with Italian and French arias, interspersed with orchestral preludes and interludes that led naturally into...