Opera‘s Kaufmann turns to lighter fare

Jonas Kaufmann
“You Mean the World to Me”
(Sony)

Is there anything Jonas Kaufmann can’t do?

The great German tenor has long since conquered the worlds of grand opera and classical recital. Now he turns his talents with equal success to lighter fare, on an album of German operetta and film songs from 1925-35.

Those years marked a period of tremendous cultural creativity until it was brought to a screeching halt by the ascension of the Nazis, who forced many of the composers and performers into exile.

The album is a delight from start to finish -- and full of discoveries for the casual listener. Beyond more familiar works by Franz Lehar, we get to hear songs by lesser names like Ralph Benatzky, Robert Stolz and Hans May.

A particular treat is the inclusion of two duets from operettas by Paul Abraham, the bittersweet “Give me your hands again in parting” from “Viktoria and her Hussar” and the irresistibly jazzy “Divan Dolly” from “The Flower of Hawaii.”

In both of these, Kaufmann is partnered by the excellent soprano Julia Kleiter, who also joins him for the album‘s lone operatic excerpt, the haunting duet from Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s “Die tote Stadt” (“The Dead City”).

Kaufmann, accompanied by Jochen Rieder conducting the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, lightens his voice wonderfully well when the numbers call for seductive crooning. But he is equally good at summoning heroic stamina for such numbers as Eduard Kuenneke’s “The Song of Schrenk’s Life,” which ends in a ringing high C.

Several of the songs are heard in English translation, a testament to their onetime international popularity (a separate all-German version of the CD was recorded for domestic consumption). Kaufmann‘s lightly accented English is ingratiating and easily understood. Still, some of the language choices seem whimsical: The song that gives the album its title, written by the tenor Richard Tauber, is heard not in English but in the original, while Lehar’s familiar “Dein ist mein ganzes Herz” (“You are my heart’s delight”) is sung twice -- in English and in French, but not in German. (AP)



Delays don‘t damage Chris Brown’s ‘X’

Chris Brown
“X”
(RCA)

Chris Brown‘s sixth studio album, “X,” is cohesive, entertaining and not at all what one might expect of a project plagued by delays following the release of lead single “Fine China” back in March 2013.

But while court dates, rehab stints and -- if you believe the singer’s tweets from last year -- “incompetent” management may have stalled his latest set, those factors don‘t seem to have diminished his creativity.

Brown captures attention from the get-go, opening “X” with the chilly first lines of his title track: “If you’re only as good as the company you keep/Then I‘ma blame you for what they say about me,” he sings, taking listeners on a slow, dark cruise that eventually erupts into a crush of dubstep and electronic stylings from track producer Diplo.

That brooding vibe shows up again on “Autumn Leaves,” a captivating collaboration with Kendrick Lamar. “I been bleeding in your silence/I feel safer in your violence,” Brown sings, making good on earlier promises to deliver honesty and vulnerability with “X.”

Brown is light and carefree on the very danceable “Time for Love,” and fun on the irresistible “Drunk Texting” with Jhene Aiko. His collaborations with Brandy on “Do Better” and Ariana Grande on “Don’t Be Gone Too Long” are both winners. And alongside Trey Songz, Brown pays homage to R. Kelly with the smooth “Songs on 12 Play.”

The R, himself, even drops in for the sexy -- and slightly over the top -- “Drown in It,” which is worth a listen, if only to hear Kelly find occasion for the phrase, “like a male mermaid.”

Tired math metaphors, though, drain the energy from the Danja-produced “Add Me In.” And “Stereotype,” by the same producer, features a chorus that has Brown repeating “stereotype” an annoying number of times and ways.

Those are minor details, though, and whether Brown is reflecting on life and love or setting himself up for what will surely play out as part of an elaborate dance sequence, the singer‘s work is majorly on point. (AP)


Leonard Cohen at 80: Still on top of his game

Leonard Cohen
”Popular Problems”
(Columbia Records)

There’s no reason, of course, why an artist should slow down at 80. If the mind is still sharp -- and, as in Leonard Cohen’s case, the bank account still a bit low, thanks to a larcenous financial adviser - a singer-songwriter should be able to soldier on. But the danger is obvious: If the singer sinks into self-parody, or simply runs out of things to say, no one may have the guts to intervene.

That‘s not a worry with Cohen, whose new album “Popular Problems” brims with his trademark wit. The arrangements are simple and sparse, with some slow rhythm and blues urgency, but it is Cohen’s voice that surprises. The words are more spoken than sung, the delivery is gruff, and he sounds bluesier than ever: Not bitter, not angry, but deeply fatalistic, and at times, just raunchy.

The defiant tone is set in “Slow,” which opens his 13th studio album with a paean to lovemaking (and possibly music) conducted at a languid pace. “It‘s not because I’m old, and it‘s not what dying does, I always liked it slow, slow is in my blood,” he says, drawing out the last word.

The familiar sound is augmented by the backup singers Cohen has long used for both irony and emphasis, and the production by co-writer Patrick Leonard gives Cohen the space he needs to fully express his moods. Some of the themes are grim, dealing with dislocation and loss -- including a mournful post-Katrina elegy for New Orleans -- but he never sounds defeated.

There is no sense that Cohen is running out of gas, or passion. If anything, he sounds more joyful than in earlier incarnations of his long career, which started with the publication of his poetry in Canada in the 1950s. The nine-track “Popular Problems” closes with “You Got Me Singing,” a celebration of spirit that forecasts more work ahead: “You got me singing even though the world is gone, you got me thinking that I’d like to carry on,” he whispers. It sounds like a promise he intends to keep. (AP)