Jonas Kaufmann and the Normalization of Amplification
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Jonas Kaufmann’s use of microphones in Swiss recitals marks a departure from the unamplified acoustic tradition of art song. This reliance obscures the technical nuances of messa di voce (the technique of gradually swelling and diminishing the volume of a sustained tone). Historically, vocal production relied on resonance rather than volume. By embracing the microphone, Kaufmann is normalizing a shift in performance practice that threatens to render specialized opera house acoustics obsolete. The diagnostic question is whether this protection of the voice from modern schedules fundamentally compromises the physical relationship between the singer and the hall.