“
They are there and that's what counts, even if there is 10 meters between me and the first row!
»Back in front of the public after months of hiatus, the German tenor Jonas Kaufmann, 51, could not restrain his joy after the concert he was able to give at the Royal Theater Madrid, in the company of his pianist Helmut Deutsch .
A joy that does not hide, however, the artist's persistent anxiety in the face of the deep disturbance felt by a large part of the performing world.
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“
It's not easy to bring this up in public, but I know a number of suicides in our family of musicians, where they see no future,
” said Jonas Kaufmann, mentioning “
the lack of perspective, d 'help, support
' in '
certain vulnerable souls who see no way out ...
', '
really terrible
' situations.
A deaf threat
It was in Spain, in one of the few countries where part of the theaters remained open - with a strict sanitary protocol - that the tenor performed on Thursday, performing a repertoire of 27 pieces.
Renowned artist, Jonas Kaufmann is aware of the privilege which is his to be able quite simply to move where it is possible for him to play.
"
There are perhaps two dozen singers in the world in this position, to whom we will appeal no matter what," he
told AFP Thursday evening.
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Concerned about what the rest of the sector is going through around the world, he wished to alert on the psychological difficulties and the mental consequences caused by the pandemic in certain artists.
"
This is the very first time that music has been extinguished in this way in the midst of a crisis,
" insisted the tenor, who had not sung in front of live spectators since his stopover in Denmark at the start of the season. 'autumn.
It is as much a need of the public, as of the artists themselves: lyrical art responds, according to him, to a deep “
need
” for connection that virtual shows certainly do not allow to fill.
People need to be entertained, they need to forget, if only for two hours, all their sorrows, and if you take that right away from them, at the same time as you take away everything else, I think it's a huge, huge mistake
A need and a feeling that the singer had shared earlier, in a press conference: “
Normally, there is the applause and after we relax, we start to smile and everything is fine.
But when you have only eternal silence, what can you do?
It's embarassing.
So sorry but ... public, we need you and we need you more than ever!
"
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The tenor took the opportunity to appeal to the authorities, urging them to reopen places of culture and to show inventiveness to keep art alive.
"
People need to be entertained, they need to forget, if only for two hours, all their sorrows, and if you take that right away from them, at the same time as you take away everything else, I think. it's a huge, huge mistake,
”he said.
Despite the complexity of this situation, Jonas Kaufmann wanted to keep a message of hope.
"
We are not politicians (...) we are only voices, and we need others to help us create something so that at the end of it all, and I hope there will be an end, we found a cultural landscape similar to the one we left when this crisis started
”.