2019-11-22-featured-press

Dr Jacques Coulardeau – Jaroussky, le Prophète des Contreténors

2019-11-22, Dr Jacques Coulardeau

[…]

Imaginez ce que cela donnera dans vingt ans ou quarante ans. Je ne serai plus là pour l’écouter, encore moins en parler. Mais il va entrer en plein dans cet âge du chanteur, du musicien qui de créateur et interprète devient un maître, un brûleur de pistes dans des forêt inconnues et vierges pour d’autres qui auront le courage de le suivre. Il est vrai qu’il n’est pas seul, qu’il ne sera pas seul dans cette perspective que j’aimerais pouvoir suivre encore pendant quarante ans.
Jouissez de cette beauté. Et c’est la première fois que j’emploie le mot, car c’est un mot creux s’il n’est pas précédé de tout ce que je viens de dire. […]

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2019-11-20 featured press

ludwig van – CRITIQUE | Philippe Jaroussky à la salle Bourgie : quand Orphée traverse le XVIIe siècle

2019-11-20, ludwig van, Montreal, by Benjamin Goron

[…]

Leçon de musique et d’histoire, duo envoûtant, orchestre vivant… Ce concert original, qui mettait en lumière l’évolution du mythe d’Orphée dans l’opéra italien du XVIIe siècle, aura permis au public de découvrir l’exceptionnelle Amanda Forsythe, qu’on souhaite réentendre bientôt!

La proposition de Jaroussky nous séduit : le mythe d’Orphée, bien que condensé en une série d’airs entrecoupés de pièces instrumentales, sans mise en scène opératique, n’en révèle pas moins son intensité dramatique. Le pari est une franche réussite.

[…]

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2019-11-19 featured press

ICMA – ICMA Jury nominates 390 releases for the 2020 Awards

2019-11-19, ICMA, by N. N.

The ICMA nomination list for 2020 is available. To see the list, just click on our Nominations button, which will lead you to lists sorted by labels or categories. […]

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2019-11-15 featured press

Forum Opéra – Voix de lumière – CD Passion Jaroussky

2019-11-15, Forum Opéra, by Bernard Schreuders

Le plus célèbre des contre-ténors entrait l’année dernière au Petit Larousse illustré, sa statue vient d’être inaugurée au Musée Grévin et un livre d’entretiens avec Vincent Agrech paraîtra en décembre : Warner se devait de marquer le coup pour les vingt ans de carrière de Philippe Jaroussky. […]

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2019-11-08_02 featured press

La Nacion – Teatro Colón 2020: una temporada musical más austera, a la que no le faltan estrellas

2019-11-08, La Nacion, by Pablo Gianera

Son pocos los contratenores y, entre ellos, no hay ninguno como él. Vendrá con el director Julián Chauvin y Le Consert de la Loge. El sábado 10 de octubre de 2020, a las 20 […]

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2019-11 featured press

mailchi.mp, OrfeoBlog Chapter 2: Meet Our Leading Man – with Pacific MusicWorks co-Artistic Director Stephen Stubbs

mailchi.mp, OrfeoBlog, by N. N.

OrfeoBlog Chapter 2:
Meet Our Leading Man

with Pacific MusicWorks co-Artistic Director
Stephen Stubbs

There are a few elements of historical performance that, for obvious reasons, ought to remain in the past. In the 17th and early 18th centuries, the majority of male operatic leading roles were written for castrati, who most often sang in the soprano or mezzo-soprano range, and were particularly valued for their virtuosity and almost super-human breath control. Obviously, most modern countertenors don’t fulfill that first basic necessity of the soprano range (most would qualify as altos), but then in the early 2000s a major new talent burst onto the scene in the form of the young French countertenor Philippe Jaroussky. Beyond the sheer beauty of his voice and his highly-developed yet instinctive musicality, he possessed two even rarer qualities – the high tessitura of a mezzo-soprano, and the extreme virtuosity that could make sense of the wildest melismas that any baroque composer had devised. Suddenly, the vast repertoire of the castrati had a living advocate that could bring it back to life in our time!

We began our collaboration with Philippe in 2011 when he embodied the virtuoso role of Anfione in Agostino Steffani’s 1688 opera Niobe. How we came to work with Philippe on that project is part of the next chapter, but the result was this: a wildly successful stage production of Niobe by Gilbert Blin for the 2011 Boston Early Music Festival starring Philippe and Amanda Forsythe, followed by a recording on the Erato label which has received much glowing press and prizes, and finally a concert tour of Europe in 2014, (and unquestionably due to Philippe’s status as a European superstar) playing to full houses at some of the best halls in Europe from Madrid to Paris to Amsterdam.

In the next installment of OrfeoBlog, I will share how Amanda Forsythe, one of our favorite leading ladies, was chosen to be part of this exciting partnership. Stay tuned!

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2019-10-29 featured press

Klassik begeistert – Beifallsstürme für eine sensationelle Inszenierung von Händels Giulio Cesare an der Mailänder Scala

2019-10-29, Klassik begeistert, by Charles E. Ritterband

Händels „Giulio Cesare in Egitto“ war seit der Uraufführung 1724 im Londoner King’s Theatre ein Hit – noch die siebte Vorstellung nach der Premiere war ausverkauft. Fast drei Jahrhunderte später, an der Mailänder Scala, wirkt dieses Werk ebenso frisch und grandios wie damals – und sämtliche Vorstellungen in dem weltberühmten Opernhaus sind bis auf den letzten Platz besetzt und waren schon lange vor der Premiere ausverkauft: […]

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2019-10-27-featured-press

GB Opera Magazine – Milano, Teatro alla Scala: “Giulio Cesare in Egitto”

2019-10-27, GB Opera Magazine, by Giordano Cavanini

[…]

Terzo controtenore, Philippe Jaroussky, alle prese con Sesto, può sfoggiare una voce molto chiara, ideale, quindi, per il carattere giovanile del ruolo. L’interprete è notevole nel rendere la progressiva maturazione umana del giovane patrizio, nonostante vocalmente non sia parso al meglio e il timbro non sempre risulti gradevole. Si è percepito un senso di stanchezza, con qualche durezza in acuto, accanto a una gestione del canto di coloratura sempre ben calibrato. […]

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2019-10-26_02-featured-press

The Blog Art Post – Il Giulio Cesare di Händel secondo Carsen alla Scala

2019-10-26, The Blog Art Post, by N. N.

[…] Nei panni di Sesto troviamo Philippe Jaroussky dal chiaro timbro vocale, perfetto per la parte dell’adolescente capriccioso, ma determinato a vendicare il padre. Tralasciando qualche imperfezione, il controtenore francese ha regalato alcuni emozionanti momenti, come per esempio nell’intenso duetto Son nata a lagrimar insieme a Sara Mingardo. Il contralto italiano interpreta la parte di Cornelia e lo fa da grande specialista del repertorio barocco, con voce di velluto, precisa e ben proiettata accompagnata da una profonda interpretazione. Il quarto controtenore presente nel cast è il Nireno dell’ottimo Luigi Schifano che completa il cast insieme al Curio di Renato Dolcini e all’Achilla di Christian Senn. Puntuale in apertura e chiusura di opera il contributo del coro del Teatro alla Scala preparato da Bruno Casoni. […]

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