White Nights in Dubai, the first ever musical festival of its kind in the Middle East that will bring together a carefully curated collection of the brightest and biggest stars from the world of music, confirms Jonas Kaufmann, dubbed as the ‘New King of Tenors’, to perform on Thursday, April 6th 2017 at Dubai Opera. Kaufmann adds to the impressive line-up that currently boasts superstar Mezzo Soprano Katherine Jenkins OBE together with Britain’s leading Tenor Alfie Boe opening the event on Thursday, March 30th.

Since his sensational début at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in a performance of “La Traviata” in 2006, Kaufmann has numbered among the top stars in the operatic world. Insiders praise him as the most important German tenor since Fritz Wunderlich, and the UK newspaper The Daily Telegraph recently cited him as the “Number 1 Greatest Opera Star in the World.” In 2014, The New York Times referred to Kaufmann as “a box-office draw, and… the most important, versatile tenor of his generation.” Kaufmann also has numerous accolades under his belt including four Gramophone Awards, one Opera Award for Best Male Opera Singer and being named a Kammersänger, which literally means ‘chamber singer’, an honoured German title for distinguished singers of opera and classical music.

The Munich-born Tenor has worked with the foremost opera conductors of the age including James Levine, Antonio Pappano, Claudio Abbado, Sir Charles Mackerras and Daniel Barenboim. He has appeared in concerts with such acclaimed orchestras and ensembles as Berlin Philharmonic under both Sir Simon Rattle and Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Cleveland Symphony Orchestra under Franz Welser-Möst and Vienna Philharmonic under Helmut Rilling. With his recital partner, pianist Helmut Deutsch, he has appeared in recitals in all the major musical capitals, at the Munich and Salzburg Festivals and at the Met, which was the first solo recital given on its stage since Luciano Pavarotti’s back in 1994.

Besides his vocal and musical qualities, it is Kaufmann’s total identification with roles that he plays that has been received with such enthusiasm by press and public. This was the case at his role début as Siegmund in “Die Walküre” at the Met in the spring of 2011. The eagerly awaited new production, masterfully conducted by James Levine, and transmitted worldwide on radio and in HD to cinemas allowed audiences to hear the special quality of Kaufmann’s Wagner interpretations in detail – the blend of German expressive power and Italian vocal finesse. This was followed by more opportunities for Kaufmann including the title role of Gounod’s “Faust”, Bacchus in “Ariadne auf Naxos” by Richard Strauss at the Salzburg Festival, Don José in the new production of “Carmen” conducted by Simon Rattle, title role of Wagner’s “Parsifal”, Verdi roles such as Manrico in “Il Trovatore” and Alvaro in “La Forza del Destino”, and Des Grieux in Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut”, amongst a few.

Kaufmann’s versatility is documented on a number of CDs and DVDs in performances. As a prolific recording artist, his Universal Classics discography has been received with critical acclaim. His solo albums “Verismo”, “Wagner” and “Verdi” were bestsellers only a few weeks after being released.

White Nights in Dubai, organised by United Stage Middle East, will be held on the weekends between March 30th to April 8th 2017.

Tickets on Sale from October 5th

Tickets will be sold from October 5th via www.ticketmaster.ae and www.dubaiopera.com at the following prices:

AED 550 for Bronze

AED 750 for Silver

AED 950 for Gold

AED 1,250 for Platinum

AED 2,500 for VIP

Box and VIP Box Seats are also on offer from Ticketmaster and Dubai Opera.

For more information, visit www.whitenightsdubai.com.