Ever wonder why Jonas Kaufmann chose to sing his first ever “Otello” at the Royal Opera House?

The tenor recently made that revelation on the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden’s website.

“The Royal Opera House has always been a place where I’ve felt very at home and the acoustic is good – it’s not too big but still has a glory,” the tenor noted.

He also revealed that he had gotten a plethora of offers to do the opera but wanted to wait for the right moment.

“You need an enormous amount of experience. It’s not so much the technical side of singing the role, but the challenge of losing yourself in the craziness of this character and pushing yourself to a limit where your voice might be harmed,” he noted. “I waited very long and I finally realized, ‘If I don’t do it now, when then?’ It has to be done under the best possible circumstances.”

He also took some time to talk about the greatness of Verdi’s opera.

“‘Otello’ is the perfect Verdi opera. It starts, the curtain opens and you’re thrown right into it. A lot of actors are very jealous of opera singers in operas like ‘Otello’ because we have this carpet of emotions. You don’t have to do it from scratch. The audience is already captivated – you just have to go and harvest.”

These statements from Kaufmann might be reassuring to audiences wondering whether the tenor might cancel the hotly anticipated summer run. Ludovic Tézier, who was previously scheduled to sing Iago, has already canceled.