2020-02-02_05-featured-press

Le Matin Dimanche – Philippe Jaroussky, Kamikaze Angel – Translation to English

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2020-02-02, Le Matin Dimanche by Jean-Jacques Roth

«Mais Schubert, c’est un Everest! Celui que tous les chanteurs ont envie de gravir. On n’est pas sur la virtuosité, on est sur la couleur, l’articulation, le phrasé. C’est un répertoire qui requiert un contrôle absolu, mais en même temps il faut se libérer pour aller chercher l’émotion, le moment suspendu. C’est écrit par un ange…» […]

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Translation to English
This is a fan translation; no infringement of copyright is intended. We believe it fulfills the criteria for “fair use,” discussion and study. Translation by *L

Philippe Jaroussky, Kamikaze Angel

The French countertenor, worshipped on the entire planet, abandons the Baroque heroes for a little while to venture in the footsteps of Schubert and his broken-hearted melodies. We met in Paris.

JEAN-JACQUES ROTH. PARIS

jean-jacques.roth@lematindimanche.ch

You will find few singers to be available for an interview within three hours of an important recital in front of ‘Tout-Paris’. You will find even fewer that combine such a friendly and open character with such sharp intelligence. That makes Philippe Jaroussky not only a rare specimen within his vocal register alone; he is also an exceptional man for his simplicity and genuineness, light years away from the vanity with which his triumphs could have inflated him.

He joined us in the bar of a hotel opposite the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, before the recital he was about to give there and which he will present soon at La Chaux-de-Fonds – a concert organized by the TPR in close collaboration with the Société de Musique – as well as at the Sommets musicaux de Gstaad. He will sing Schubert’s Lieder, which no countertenor has dared to tackle before him. He is nervous, all the same. “It may be the most difficult thing in my career.”

Viral video

Let’s go back to 2007. Jaroussky, not yet 30 years old, has just been crowned at the Victoires de la Musique and sings “Vedro con mio diletto” on live TV, a Vivaldi tune charged with amorous rapture. If a voice is to welcome us to paradise, we would like it to be this one: this celestial timbre, this fluidity of honey and this sensitive expressivity.

The video immediately goes viral. It has been viewed over 2 million times, a record for an opera tune. Immediately, the status of the singer changes. Jaroussky becomes the benchmark countertenor, a sort of male Cecilia Bartoli – they performed together and she made an appearance on his latest album, “Passion”.

Last fall, marking the twenty-year milestone of his career, Philippe Jaroussky entered the Musée Grévin and the Petit Larousse. He has read that tonight, to hear his performance, wealthy enthusiasts took the plane from Tokyo and Hawaii. Too many laurels, too many fans? “It may have scared me, but now I think of it as a chance. Twenty years that it lasts! I was talking about it with a colleague who has a career similar to mine: we were delighted to always have commitments, always an audience! “

He worked for it, of course, and like a madman, too – aided by his passion and by being a diligent student. Wherever he goes, Jaroussky can’t help it: he’s the darling. It started with the family, then at school. Since he sucked at sports, he developed tactical friendships with the dunces of the class. He also developed a skill for self-mockery which he calls his “engine of social integration”, which in turn facilitated his access to the eccentric roles of the Baroque.

Setbacks were part of the game as well. He starts to play the violin first, reaches a very good level but he reaches an obstacle. Excellence remains out of reach. The voice? But at first, it hardly impressed Nicole Fallien at the Conservatoire, who is still, twenty-two years later, his teacher. “It’s pretty … but it’s small!” she said when she received him in her class.

“I think there is a certain attraction, in our time which opens itself to non-binarity, for this voice between two sexes”

Philippe Jaroussky, countertenor

Small but very pretty anyway. From there, Philippe Jaroussky works to lengthen his breath, to enlarge his volume. He immerses himself in the manuscripts, learns all about baroque music. So when “Vivaldimania” arrives, this resurrection of the Venetian composer in the 2000s, it plucks him at the point of perfect maturity and offers him his “signature” roles.

With countertenors, however, it’s epidermal: either they fascinate or they cause rejection. Philippe Jaroussky is well aware of the divide caused by “the men who sing like women”, as he says himself. For the past twenty years, however, this high-pitched voice has fueled a hype. We ask him why: “There is this idea that people have of the castrati – which the motion picture ‘Farinelli’ has described well. This ambiguity is projected on us, while the vocal technique of the castrati was different due to their mutilation. They had a very developed thorax and smaller vocal cords, which gave them an exceptional breath length. That said, I think there is a certain attraction, in our time which opens itself to non-binarity, for this voice between two sexes – for the ambiguity of a sexual personality with a prepubescent voice.”

But how does this voice, which seems so delicate, age? “We don’t know: the countertenor voice is quite young, we lack perspective. The golden age is between 25 and 45. However, despite my “babyface”, I will be 42 years old soon. I have to work even more to stay at the best level and keep my flexibility. For the rest, we will see. But I don’t see myself in baroque roles after 60! ”

They are, however, the ones his audience demands. The flamboyant heroes, in victory and misery, with their virtuoso vocalizations and their heartbreaking complaints … “I still have many projects in this field. But I also want to take people to other musical and metaphysical spaces. I was a musician before I was a singer. Singing is a passage in my life. I founded an ensemble that I conduct, the Ensemble Artaserse, as well as an academy to democratize classical music by welcoming young people who would not have any access to it. And in the end, there might be a discrepancy between what I tell you today and what I end up doing. We all know it’s hard to quit …”

Discomfort zone

And then there are the side steps. A few years ago, Philippe Jaroussky first left his comfort zone to sing French melodies from the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. composed on poetry by Verlaine. He has also participated in the creation of projects, including the opera “Only the Sound Remains” by Kaija Saariaho, composed specially for him.

This time, he set sail to yet another musical continent: Schubert’s Lieder. These short melodies accompanied by the piano, where the composer concentrated the most intimate of himself, the pain of a wounded heart as well as the evocation of happy memories.

No countertenor, however, has ever docked on these shores which are reserved for low masculine voices, basses or baritones, even if tenors and a few women have also sung them. “This is my kamikaze side! I have this reputation of an ideal, slightly stuffy son-in-law, but in music, I have often taken risks.

Philippe Jaroussky: “I am wary of the modesty of those who have succeeded, including mine.”

Image credit: Léa Crespi / Pasco

I have always considered myself a musician rather than a singer. And since I’m no more stupid than anyone else, why can’t I express poetry set to music? ”

Hearing Jaroussky in Schubert is a shock and he knows it. It takes time to adapt to taste these Lieder perched so high, set in seraphic light where feelings at first struggle to be embodied. But soon the magic happens, Jaroussky relaxes, his pianist Jérôme Ducros works wonders: the emotion flows freely, the room melts and calls for endless bis.

He opened this recital in Berlin. “When I stepped onto the stage of the Staatsoper, I was dizzy. How dare I speak German in front of an audience who knows it by heart? But it’s still my kamikaze side. I go out of my comfort zone and part of my audience does as well; I’m taking a risk vis-à-vis one who is waiting for me in Handel or Vivaldi, but also vis-à-vis the audience that knows these Lieder very well and that I might disappoint. “

He worked two months non-stop on Schubert. “In general, for baroque operas, I have a fairly complete vision of what I want and I don’t listen too much to what others have done with it. For Schubert, I listened to everything. Hotter, Wunderlich, Fischer-Dieskau, Goerne or the one I prefer, Christian Gerhaher … “

We are astonished all the same that these melodies seem more arduous to him than the baroque vocalizations which he dominates with such dazzling virtuosity – as a student, his nickname was “the machine gun”. “But Schubert, it’s an Everest!” The one that all singers want to climb. It’s not about virtuosity; it’s about colour, articulation, phrasing. It’s a repertoire that requires absolute control, but at the same time, you have to free yourself to go and find the emotion, the suspended moment. It’s written by an angel … “

Therefore, since two months ago, Philippe Jaroussky has been in deep immersion. “I worked a lot, I asked myself a lot of questions, I drew on resources that I did not know, I went through moments of discouragement and doubt. But I don’t regret having done it. It takes me to discipline my life even worse than usual. I eat, I sleep, I revise my texts, I speak as little as possible and I warm up shortly before the concert to stay at the peak. But singing this music makes me feel good. ”

“Schubert asks me for an even worse discipline than usual. I eat, I sleep, I speak little, I revise my texts”

He also says he would like people to “come out with a slightly changed outlook on life” from such a recital. “We run everywhere, so landing two hours to perceive time in another way – that matters, doesn’t it? I find it a shame that a large part of people does not have access to this. The more time passes, the more I find it a privilege to be able to be touched by music.”

Always modest, he also says that he “does not yet completely dominate” his subject, that he still has to work. Every recital – he will have given 14 by the end of his tour – he is making headway, after which he will record an album. Is he again in the skin of the cherub who does everything right? “I am wary of the modesty of those who have succeeded, including mine,” he said in the interview book he just published (“Seule compte la musique”, Éd. Papiers Musique). The ultimate elegance of a musician who knows everything about his weaknesses, as well as his resources: Jaroussky’s greatest talent may be that of being himself.

LISTENING

At La Chaux-de-Fonds (NE), music room, February 5. At the Sommets musicaux de Gstaad (BE), Rougemont church, February 3.

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2019-04-05 featured press

Die Welt – An Angel on Earth – Translation to English

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“[…] Jaroussky weaves notes as fragile as the finest threads of spun glass. That still they shine vibrantly is purely due to Jaroussky’s delicate vitality, his moderately tasteful use of means of expression that he seems to have at his unlimited disposal.

Translation to English
This is a fan translation; no infringement of copyright is intended. We believe it fulfills the criteria for “fair use,” discussion and study. Translation by *L

2019-04-05, Die Welt, by Sören Ingwersen

An Angel on Earth

By Sören Ingwersen

At the Elbphilharmonie, countertenor Philippe Jaroussky enchants with Baroque treasures by Francesco Cavalli

Just over two years ago, the Elbphilharmonie was inaugurated, and people believed that an angel was spreading his wings, protecting the new concert hall. At any rate, Philippe Jaroussky was celebrated as this heavenly messenger, who, high up above in the tiers and accompanied by the finely spun sounds by the harpist Margret Köll, seemed to immerse the hall in divine light. The performance remained engraved into many people’s minds and made the Frenchman who turned 41 this year become something like an unofficial figurehead of the new music temple.

Later that same year, Jaroussky returned with the French Ensemble Artaserse to set Händel’s arias in the gold of his voice. Once more, he now returns to the stage of the the great hall of the Elbphilharmonie with the 12 Baroque specialists – this time, to honor a master who was celebrated as a great opera composer during his lifetime, but who nowadays is hardly known: the Venetian Francesco Cavalli, pupil of the great Claudio Monteverdi, who invented the genre of opera in the early 17th century.

Jaroussky and the Ensemble Artaserse open a musical treasure chest brimming with beguiling riches that night. The first sparkle that catches our eye right at the start is the aria “Ombra mai fu” from the opera “Il Xerse”, carried by great tranquility. Just as dedicated, as Jaroussky sinks into the worship of a tranquil nature, afterwards, in “Corone, ed Honori” from “Il Ciro,” he puts inner freedom of man in the balance of true values, contrasting it with courtly flashiness, while Raul Orellana and Jose Manuel Navarro energetically highlight the fiery confession with their violins, percussionist Michèle Claude lets the castanets pop, and Yoko Nakamura sets inciting accents at the cembalo.

Immediately afterwards, Jaroussky presents the same character with the heart-gripping lament “Negatemi i respiri.” “Take away the air I breathe,” demands the desperate king, while Jaroussky’s voice, effortlessly spiraling upwards, never even has a hint of forcefulness, subordinating every tinge of rigor to a smoothly flowing line. A pleading chant that is reaching the very last rows, while never becoming obtrusive. Also in “Amor, ti giuro Amor” from “Erismena”, introduced by a highly dramatic recitative, one cannot help but marveling at the ease with which the singer tackles the ornaments and the well-controlled use of the vibrato which often only unfolds at the end of a sustained note, triggering oscillations that leave the antennas of the soul resonating in a sympathetic shiver at every second.

In “Lucidissima face,” Jaroussky embarks on a completely different adventure. There, his flawlessly intonated soprano glides without resistance like on a shiny smooth surface. Before the inner eye, it reflects the moon that the words proceed to worship. In contrast, the funny, exuberant “Che città,” depicting the hustle and bustle of city life, with its bass lines of the viol at the start, and the rhythm of the drums, gives the impression of an early Baroque pop song. While Jaroussky is circling the musicians, establishing 360-degree contact with the audience, illustrating almost every syllable with a meaningful gesture, once more, the Ensemble Artaserse proves to be a first class accompaniment. Also in the interspersed instrumental pieces, the nine Sinfonias, it manages to connect sensitively balanced precision with brilliantly refined variety of sound, and a high level of articulation. Especially Adrien Mabire and Benôit Tainturier impress with their clearly intonated play on the cornet, a kind of wooden recorder-trumpet from the Renaissance period.

Shortly before the break however, during the pain-stricken love aria “Uscitemi dal cor, lagrime amare,” almost all the instruments need to fall silent, while Jaroussky weaves notes as fragile as the finest threads of spun glass. That still they shine vibrantly is purely due to Jaroussky’s delicate vitality, his moderately tasteful use of means of expression that he seems to have at his unlimited disposal. In moments like this, the listener gets the impression that the hall was contracting, while at its centre of sound, the essence of human suffering crystallizes.

Filled with inner drama, the aria “Misero, così va?” shines in incandescence, while the cornets highlight the sound of the ensemble like with flares, while in “All’armi mio core,” the music begins to gain dance-like momentum once more. The audience’s applause is rewarded with three encores, including an assertion of happiness by Cavalli, introduced by Jaroussky as “one of the shortest arias in the history of music”: a one-minute jubilation set to music. The musical bliss that night fortunately lasted longer: a generous 90 minutes.

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2019-03-28 featured press

tip Berlin – Philippe Jaroussky – An Interview with the Most Famous Countertenor in the World – Translation to English

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2019-03-28, Tip Berlin, by Kai Luehrs-Kaiser

Man muss sich auch nicht normaler machen, als man ist.

Translation to English
This is a fan translation; no infringement of copyright is intended. We believe it fulfills the criteria for “fair use,” discussion and study. Translation by *L

Philippe Jaroussky – An interview with the most famous countertenor in the world

Philippe Jaroussky, the most famous countertenor in the world, about male high voices and his new program with arias by Cavalli

tip: Mr. Jaroussky, your new project is devoted to the most important student of Monteverdi, Francesco Cavalli, who also composed the opera “La Calisto.” Why did you choose him?

Philippe Jaroussky: He deserves it. I would rather compare him to Händel or Vivaldi than to his teacher Monteverdi. He was the first one whose tunes were short and simple enough to be catchy like pop songs. A genius! In his 27 surviving operas, his work exceeds everything that has been preserved by Monteverdi. I have known him since I started. But only now, when many of his operas are being rediscovered and set in scene, I plucked up the courage for this project.

tip: The CD is called “Ombra mai fu”. It brings to mind Händel, or doesn’t it?

Philippe Jaroussky: Perhaps I chose the name for the program to provoke. As musicology tells us, Händel’s famous “Ombra mai fu” wasn’t composed by Händel in the first place, but by Bononcini. Both made use of a libretto that Cavalli already had set to music. In plain terms: this program is my most original one so far.

tip: Your career started 20 years ago. Today you are, we may say, the most famous countertenor in the world. What has changed?

Philippe Jaroussky: I turned 41 in February. Everything that happens now is a bonus. If I quit singing tomorrow, I would be just as happy. But only now, with this album, I stopped to pretend to be younger on the cover art than I really am. Enough with the make-up; enough with Photoshop!

tip: When you started, occasionally, there was a bright laugh in the audience because your voice type was considered a joke. Are these times over?

Philippe Jaroussky: Until four of five years ago, this could very well happen. In TV shows, I still get prompted the question whether I am a castrato. And you know what? I don’t really mind. We still irritate people. So what? There is no point in trying to be more normal than you actually are.

tip: Similar to Cecilia Bartoli, who avoids very large houses, your voice is not the largest. A disadvantage?

Philippe Jaroussky: My voice has grown and is big enough to be heard at La Scala in Milan soon – by the way, together with Cecilia Bartoli. It’s never about the size of a voice but about the projection. When bad actors shout, no one can hear them. When good actors whisper, you understand every word.tip: Do you perceive your voice as male – or not?Philippe Jaroussky: Voices of countertenors are high male voices. I hate it when they say we sound female. I never try to imitate a woman. And because I sing male roles, it would not make any sense.

tip: Do you have a personal theory why so many countertenors are gay?

Philippe Jaroussky: I am. But that doesn’t mean that all, or even the majority of countertenors are. I only realized one thing: on stage, love scenes with a woman are a lot easier to do when your stage partner knows you’re gay. The only challenge is not getting a laughing fit. Otherwise it’s pure fun.

Konzerthaus Berlin Gendarmenmarkt, Mitte, Sa 30.3., 20 Uhr, 30–84 €

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2019-03-01_03 featured press

Concerti – “Old singer, young conductor” – Translation to English

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2019-03, Concerti, by Christoph Schmidt

“Yet another life goal of mine for many years has been to become a conductor. In three or four years, I am going to conduct my very first Baroque opera – something I am really happy about. That means, I am going to be a singer and a conductor at the same time. At first, both activities will mix, and by and by, I want to sing less and less in favor of expanding my time at the baton. I want to take more responsibility for my musical message.”

Translation to English
This is a fan translation; no infringement of copyright is intended. We believe it fulfills the criteria for “fair use,” discussion and study. Translation by *L

Interview Philippe Jaroussky

“Old singer, young conductor”

Countertenor Philippe Jaroussky has just released a project very close to his heart, is at the zenith of his career – and already has the next goal in mind.

By Christoph Schmidt, March 21, 2019

It doesn’t occur very often, that an asteroid is named after an opera singer. After numerous international awards, Frenchman Philippe Jaroussky also accomplished this one.

At the height of his career, the 41-year-old is also thinking about radically changing his musical career. All while the 41-year-old, on the peak of his career, is thinking about radically changing the course of his career.

At the beginning of the new year, you wanted to take a sabbatical. What do you do, if you do not sing?

Philippe Jaroussky: I stopped singing just before Christmas, with my next concerts being in March. However, I still had plenty to do and prepare: I needed to think about future projects and make decisions; I had to look after my academy, and last but not least, I had to put some thought into the upcoming programs in the near future. It’s nice to do these things in such a relaxed way because it allows you to focus. While on tour, I don’t find any peace for that kind of thing. Sometimes it’s just good not to sing, even though that’s my passion, because a break allows you to take a look at yourself from the outside and imagine what it would be like not to sing.

How often do you take such a break?

Jaroussky: It’s only my second time. It helps me to relax the voice and refresh the technique. Afterwards, I enjoy making music again all the more and, hopefully, I can pass on this joy even better to the audience. As soon as I start practising again during my morning shower, I realize: I’m ready to start again!

Do you also practice your baritone or exclusively the head voice?

Jaroussky: When I started, my singing teacher trained both registers because the baritone is closer to my speaking voice. It can be very useful to understand the mechanisms of the voice in this natural range in order to apply what you discovered to the countertenor voice. Since I’m not a tenor, the lower range of the countertenor voice are not exactly my specialty; it’s something I am working on continuously. Because on stage, for an opera, you also need the chest voice – and there, you only have one shot at an aria. When you’re recording a CD, it’s altogether different, and I end up doing nothing but singing for seven or eight hours a day; in a sense, it’s an entirely different job.

Almost every year, you release a new album. However, the death of the medium of the Studio CD has been foretold. How do you manage to help keeping it alive?

Jaroussky: My record label and I sometimes say we really should slow down. My last solo album was released in November 2017; in between, I have also been present on other recording. Fortunately, there is still a multitude of projects. Needless to say, as a singer, you want to record the most in the phase of your life when you feel in top shape. After all, I don’t know how long I am still able to record CDs.

Your new album, “Ombra mai fu,” quotes an aria from Francesco Cavalli’s opera Xerxes, which became famous by Handel. Who do you think is the better composer?

Jaroussky: Of course Handel’s “Serse” is the best version. Also, for the majority of audiences, Monteverdi is certainly more famous than Cavalli is. However, I chose the title to provoke a little – because, after all, the first version of this aria is the one by Cavalli! That makes you curious. It’s interesting that, for example, the first violins are not playing colla parte with the soloist, but higher. That’s ingenious and has its own charm.

Which other qualities do you perceive in Cavalli?

Jaroussky: I discovered him right at the beginning of my career, when I was in my early twenties. Even then, I was beguiled by the charm of this music;  he has a distinctive personal style. It’s no wonder that currently, almost all of his operas are being performed. On the CD, I wanted to create a digest of the best arias and duets from all his operas, also to show the variety of his composing – from lamenti to extremely comical scenes. Even during his lifetime, his music was very popular. It is much simpler than Händel’s, and more fragile. Cavalli was writing very fast, and sometimes, he only notated the voice, and the bass line. Who, when, with whom, and with which instruments is actually playing together often remains for the musician to decide. Solely the instrumentation turns it into kind of a new creation. When it comes to Händel, most is fixed. That’s why I love early Baroque music so much – because it educates you in imagining the right sound, and prompts you to interpret the libretto.

You are considered a specialist in the field of Early Music. Are you also interested in contemporary repertoire?

Jaroussky: Of course; I have often had the opportunity to sing new pieces, because the countertenor has actually evolved into a modern voice type once more. My next CD project is going to include contemporary music, only with piano accompaniment, but it’s too early to talk about it.

You are now 41, have won numerous classical prizes and are performing all over the world. What ambitions, goals and challenges could someone like you still have?

Jaroussky: When you’re young, you have a lot of dreams. At the time, I never dared to hope I would sing at La Scala one day. You’re right; I’ve achieved much more than I thought. But more important is that you can choose what and with whom you sing. The audience is very grateful, and I would like to experience these moments more intensely, just because I do not know how much longer I can enjoy them.

Sounds a little hedonistic.

Jaroussky: That may be true, but if you want to sing, actually enjoying it is paramount. Yet another life goal of mine for many years has been to become a conductor. In three or four years, I am going to conduct my very first Baroque opera – something I am really happy about. That means, I am going to be a singer and a conductor at the same time. At first, both activities will mix, and by and by, I want to sing less and less in favor of expanding my time at the baton. I want to take more responsibility for my musical message.

Does that also give rise to your motivation for your music academy that you founded for children and young adults?

Jaroussky: I come from a family that was completely unmusical. My teachers told my parents to make music – so I started the violin. That changed my life. Twenty years later, I now have the chance to influence the lives of other children, positively, if I can. I was often asked if I thought that more should be done for musical education. I always agreed, but never actually did anything towards that ideal. I try to make up for this lack now at least with fifty students per year. And they don’t have to pay a cent for it.

Is that your kind of work-life balance?

Philippe Jaroussky: You can learn something from this for yourself! When you teach, you are forced to organize your thoughts, to express opinions, to sing something to the students. Some impulses also come from the pupils and students themselves. This shapes and enriches their own music-making immensely. And last but not least, it is a tremendous pleasure to be a teacher!

See Philippe Jaroussky’s “Ombra mai fu” from his eponymous album:

Album Tip

Ombra mai fu – Arien von Cavalli

Philippe Jaroussky (Countertenor), Emoke Barath (Sopran), Marie-Nicole Lemieux (Alt), Ensemble Artaserse

Erato

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2019-03-01_2 featured press

Crescendo – Musical Mask Player – Translation To English

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2019-02, Concerti, by Dorothea Walchshäusl

“Listening to Cavalli, it’s astounding how candid and courageous the material is. Despite all the tragedy, the pieces are full of humour and, by the way, they are are very sexually explicit – one part in the love duet, unequivocally, is about sex (laughs). Which means: the music is almost 400 years old; however, sometimes there’s more freedom there to be found than in our present time. That’s incredibly exciting. “

Translation to English
This is a fan translation; no infringement of copyright is intended. We believe it fulfills the criteria for “fair use,” discussion and study. Translation by *L

Musical Mask Player

Philippe Jaroussky

By Dorothea Walchshäusl – February 21, 2019

Philippe Jaroussky’s play with parody and irony in Venetian opera

With his warm countertenor voice, Philippe Jaroussky has sung his way to the top. On his new album, the 41-year-old artist now devotes himself to the Italian composer of early Baroque Francesco Cavalli, and fascinates with an exciting musical masquerade. A conversation about the creative sound-creator, new forms of masculinity and carnival in Venice.

CRESCENDO: You once called the countertenor Fach a new form of masculinity. What do you mean by that?

Philippe Jaroussky: I do believe that the countertenor is a symbol for a new form – or rather, a new old form (laughs). The division of the voices into female and male Fachs arises from the romantic categorization. The castrato voice always stood out as a special kind of voice. However, the castrati quite absolutely interpreted very strong characters. They had high voices, but that didn’t mean they didn’t take on male parts as well. It is certainly no coincidence that after the end of the Second World War, the countertenors suddenly played a role again. The war had been so terrible that people no longer wanted the rigid role models – the man who goes to war, and the woman stays at home with the children. The rediscovery of the countertenor and of high voices in music was a way to say: Women can be strong and men can show their sensitive side. A man can cry and a woman can fight.

You have discovered your voice relatively late as your instrument. How did that feel?

When I started to sing, I suddenly felt a great freedom. I had to fight much less than with the violin, but at the beginning I also felt veritably naked. After all, you cannot hide behind your instrument. But I worked hard, and found great fulfillment in singing. I never wanted to be a, or sing like a woman. The countertenor range is just the voice I feel at home with.

“When I started to sing, I felt veritably naked.”

As an opera singer, you dive into new characters again and again. How are you feeling about that?

We opera singers are sometimes almost too busy merging with a certain role. For me, the most important thing is to achieve a connection to the music. The music should influence how I sing, and not the other way around. When I’m learning a new role, I start with the score and let the feelings the music triggers in me pass into my voice. It’s a very intuitive process and sometimes exciting new things come of it: a really fast-paced aria gains a certain sweetness, or a slow aria gains something very dominant.

On your new album, you will be able to devote yourself to various arias and duets by Francesco Cavalli. Additionally, there are richly orchestrated orchestral works. How did you come across this composer?

My first contact with Baroque music in the opera was Monteverdi. Shortly afterwards, I discovered Cavalli’s music, and from the beginning, was fascinated by the variety of timbres, contrasts and moods. The collaboration with Gabriel Garrido and René Jacobs was pivotal for me as well. I learned so much from them and discovered how rich Cavalli’s music is. With only a few notes, he creates wonderful melodies full of charm. The operas of Cavalli have great dramatic potential, and with good reason, they are being playing extensively at many opera houses for several years now.

“Cavalli operas have great dramatic potential”

The operas of Cavalli were mainly on scheduled for Carnival time in Venice. Have you ever experienced the Venetian Carnival yourself?

I’ve been to Venice many times, but never during carnival. And I’m not sure that nowadays’ version truly represents what it used to be like. However, on myalbum, I wanted to highlight the contrast of the time. On the one hand, carnival was a moment of abundance and luxury, but at the same time there were also a grim side to it. After all, there were plenty of illnesses at the time, as well as severe epidemics like the plague. All the more, people wanted to enjoy life right now, because they did not know whether they would live to enjoy another year. Cavalli’s music reflects exactly that. Both sides – the light and the dark mask, the wealth, the poverty and death – are present in his operas. I wanted that yin and yang represented on the album. Carnival was the time of the year when people behind their masks were all on one level. That’s the reason for its great social significance. The rich could go incognito; the poor were a little less poor and everyone celebrated together.

“One possible lesson from Cavalli is: We should all be much freer and braver, and complain and lament less.”

Cavalli was a pupil of Monteverdi. How independent is his music?

First of all, it is clear that Monteverdi has created a style. Cavalli does not change it, but he remains faithful to the school of Monteverdi. However, during Cavalli’s time, there had been a substantial change: The first public theaters were opened! Until then, opera had been an entertainment exclusively for the rich. rich people. Cavalli now made opera accessible to everyone, and that’s probably why humor and comedy play such a big part in his music. Cavalli didn’t only want to portray kings and princes – he wanted to show people’s everyday lives and truly represent society including the common people.

His operas feature a multitude of different characters, and you can veritably feel the Venetian society. In this respect, only Cavalli finally made the style of Monteverdi really popular, and his catchy melodies resemble today’s pop music. Listening to Cavalli, it’s astounding how candid and courageous the material is. Despite all the tragedy, the pieces are full of humour and, by the way, they are are very sexually explicit – one part in the love duet, unequivocally, is about sex (laughs). Which means: the music is almost 400 years old; however, sometimes there’s more freedom there to be found than in our present time. That’s incredibly exciting.

Sometimes I feel like we’re getting less and less free. One possible lesson from Cavalli is: We should all be much freer and braver, and complain and lament less.

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2019-03-01 featured press

Das Opernglas – Great Fun – Translation to English

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2019-03, Das Opernglas, by Yeri Han

“When I will have done my first tentative steps towards conducting, maybe then, when it’s time, it won’t be quite as sad for me, to little by little, sing fewer performances – who knows!”

Translation to English
This is a fan translation; no infringement of copyright is intended. We believe it fulfills the criteria for “fair use,” discussion and study. Translation by *L

2019-03, Das Opernglas, by Yeri Han

Philippe Jaroussky

The Interview

Great fun

Just in time for the carnival season, Philippe Jaroussky surprises in some cheeky costumes. His new album offers the matching program. Yeri Han wanted to know more.

The last time we talked to each other was almost four years ago. In the meantime, a lot of good things have been happening for you. Where do you currently see yourself, and what are you looking forward to the most?

2019 will be a big trade Hänel year for me. For once, because I have the opportunity to sing “Alcina” in Salzburg, next to Cecilia Bartoli, with whom I am going to give my house debut at La Scala in Milan this autumn – as Sesto in “Giulio Cesare”. These will be my only two stage productions this year, but they are really big, fantastic projects! Then there is also the start of my Cavalli tour for my new Album, as well as the release of yet another album that is planned to go on sale in January 2020, and for which I am going to do a big German tour. With this new project, I am going to explore new avenues that may be unexpected for some. They’re in for a surprise.

Another project that continues to gain importance in my life is my “Académie Jaroussky” that I founded in 2017. Each year, we are giving lessons to 25 young talents with free master classes in the categories violin, cello, piano and singing. It is incredibly moving and uplifting to witness, how the children learn to play their first pieces. It makes me incredibly happy!

You already mentioned your upcoming debut at La Scala. What special significance does this debut hold for you?

As a young singer, you keep dreaming about singing “somewhere”. I’ve done enough of that in the meantime; I sang in so many places all over the world, most of which I never had imagined. The Scala never was a defined goal, but obviously, it means a lot, especially as it always irked me that, in spite of basically singing exclusively in Italian and frequently with Italian ensembles, I almost never sing on Italian soil. So it is almost fair to say that “Giulio Cesare”, after 20 years, is my Italian debut.

That’s one of the paradoxes of my job, and a little frustrating for me. I often gained the impression, that the Italians don’t like programs with works written for castrato voices. And after all, the matter has some ambivalence. On one side, it is about pure beauty and music, on the other, historically, it’s about mutilation of children. I often had the notion that it makes Italian audiences uncomfortable. Because of that, I hope that this “Giulio Cesare” is going to be one of the big events of the season, and a good opportunity to introduce baroque repertoire to the Italian audiences as well as inviting the listeners to engage themselves with the topic of the castrati.

How is it in other countries; do you have the feeling that a part of the audience is still a little wary of countertenor singing there as well? Can you relate to the scepticism?  

I can very well understand that some people quite plainly don’t like the specific timbre of countertenors very much, and even in Baroque music prefer mezzo-sopranos or sopranos. At the same time, there needs to be some credit given to fact that a lot has changed during the last 20 years; not only, that now there are far more countertenors around, who vary wildly concerning their vocal techniques, vocal ranges, and personalities, but across the board, a lot has changed. At the start, it has been said that our voices were quite small – which is untrue. It’s also been said we all sound alike – which is of course false as well. I still remember doing “Sant’Alessio” under the baton of William Christie; we were seven countertenors in total, and some members of the audience told me they had been afraid of hearing the same voice all the time – a fear that fortunately proved to be unfounded. Nowadays, there are countertenors whose voices have more facets than that of a many female singers.

Do you have any idea yet how the new “Giulio Cesare” at the Scala will look like?

No not yet. But I am pleased that Robert Carsen will be in charge of for the new production as a director. I like the feeling of knowing in advance that you are going to work with someone you already know. It means much less stress – because opera productions are stressful as a default. You travel there, and you are still unfamiliar with the costumes, the general aesthetic of the production, or what you have to do on stage. Then you are surrounded by a multitude of people who you never met before; there are a lot of rehearsals; you are nervous before the premiere, … A stage production really means a lot more stress than a concert tour!

Right at the beginning, you were mentioning your album shortly to be released: there you focus entirely on opera arias of Francesco Cavalli. What tempted you about this repertoire in particular?

For me, singing Cavalli is a little like returning to my musical roots. At the very beginning of my career, I was given the chance to sing three Monteverdi operas with Jean-Claude Malgoire. So Monteverdi and early Baroque became my first contact with operatic music in general. Shortly after, I met Gabriel Garrido and his ensemble Elyma, who have been playing a lot of Cavalli even back then – in fact, thy belong to the very first who were interested in this wonderful music. Since then, I always had this thought on my mind that once in my life, I wanted to realize a Cavalli project – and during the last years, it started to become more and more palpable: “Cavalli is in the air!” (Laughs) And not only because of the wonderful music. But also because the dramaturgical potential his operas have to offer – and there are 27 in total! They aren’t quite unlike Monteverdi’s – very lively, a bit like theatre plays, without any long arias, full of contrasts, with an abundance of comical passages, erotic and salacious bits, and veritably grotesque plot turns. I thought it was delightful to finally being able to show with my album how modern, funny, and free the genre of opera could be in its infancy. In Cavalli’s music, there are incredibly tragical passages with sublime lamenti – and right in the next scene, there’s capering about and fun. It is never limited to just one sentiment; everything is very rich in contrasts and lively.

“How modern, witty and free the genre of opera could be in its infancy!”

The cover as well as the promo pictures for your new album suggest you are a fan of carnival?

Well, I am not a fan of Venetian carnival in particular, but I definitely like to slip into a costume and become someone else. Even in, in private, I prefer it more subtle: the opera stage allows us to be eccentric. I’m not a born actor, but quite early on, I realized that Make-Up and costumes assist me a lot when it comes to become one with a role. With the cover, we wanted to give a cue to a modern take of carnival in Venice. I suppose you have seen that I am wearing a white shirt; but what seems to be the frills of a cravat, in reality, is a plastic bag. The cover, with white being the predominant colour, is supposed to be a contrast to the back, which is kept in black. A little like Yin and Yang. Venice was well known as a rich town, famous for its carnival season, when the rich and the poor mingled in the anonymity of the masks. That’s also mirrored in Cavalli’s operas: his operas feature gods, kings, wealthy merchants – but then there are poor people as well, which results in a wide range of society being depicted. We consciously decided on “Ombra mai fu”, because we wanted to tickle people’s attention and curiosity a little who might not be as familiar with Cavalli as they are with Händel and other composers of the 18th century. However, it’s Cavalli who wrote the very first “Ombra mai fu,” with exactly the same libretto we’re familiar with from Händel! So this track is surely going to cause some confusion and curiosity.

Which changes do do perceive yourself in your voice?

There definitely have been some, that’s why it isn’t entirely by chance that I am doing the Cavalli project at this point. It’s a lot less viruosic than, for example, my Händel album from two years ago; it contains fewer coloraturas – which doesn’t mean that it is easier to sing. Also it’s a lot more text based. In the future, I don’t want to focus this much anymore on the big castrato roles, but work to establish a repertoire that is a bit more “human”. Cavalli, for example, does not focus on any spectacular high notes or virtuosic coloraturas; it’s more about the vocal expression. And something else that is particularly nice about the music of the time: Not everything is notated, so as a performing artist, you have some freedom when it comes to embellishments or the choice of instruments. Which means, you get to pick the musical colours all by yourself. That was a lot of fun!

What plans and thoughts do you have for the future?

For quite some time now, I have had that dream to conduct and most probably, within the next four years, I am going to be able to do my first project in that direction. It makes me very happy, but I am nervous as well, because it is somewhat the start of a second career. And without wanting to start sounding sad or melancholy: it’s not easy to get older as a singer. Inevitably, there will be a moment, where you will be on stage, but suddenly, you don’t sound as exciting or brilliant anymore than you did in years past – and no one dares to say it out loud. And even if I love to sing: this business comes with with a huge amount of pressure. Only a few, I think, really can imagine, what it means to be uncertain, when you go on stage and sometimes, you are not sure whether you’re in top shape. I withstood this pressure now for twenty years – and they have been twenty fantastic years with wonderful projects and collaborations with a plethora of amazing artists! However: whether I am able to do the same in ten years from now, …? When I will have done my first tentative steps towards conducting, maybe then, when it’s time, it won’t be quite as sad for me, to little by little, sing fewer performances – who knows!

The new album: OMBRA MAI FU

Opera arias by Francesco Cavalli

Excerpts from Il Xerse, Statira, Erismenea, Calisto, Eliogabalo, Ercole Amante, Ormindo, Gli amori d’Apollo e di Dafne, Orione, Eritrea, Giasone, Doricla, Calisto, La Virtù dei Strali d’amore, Pompeo Magno

Release: 8. März


2018-02-23 featured press

blu – Whether King Or Girl – Translation to English

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2018-02-23, Blue Fm, by Christian K. L. Fischer

” … What a life I had! I was able to travel the world, never had money problems, had the chance to meet all these musicians. Plus, I had a lot of time for my friends. What a privilege! And I am allowed to sleep in!”

Source/Read more/Read original: [x]

Translation to English
This is a fan translation; no infringement of copyright is intended. We believe it fulfills the criteria for “fair use,” discussion and study. Translation by *L

Even if he doesn’t look like it, star opera singer Philippe Jaroussky is already past forty. And with age, some small problems occasionally appear – or just a lumbago.

“It was just a wrong move, … and it is really very painful. But at least, for the next few days, I don’t have to sing!” he says, laughing on the phone after having to cancel his trip to Berlin for our interview.
“My father already had back problems … something like that happens to me every two years. I really need to start doing sports – but I’m so lazy.” There, however, he is greatly exaggerating. After all, Philippe is one of the most sought-after countertenors, and on top of engagements at the major opera houses world-wide, and regular releases, two years ago, he founded his own academy.

(Image)
“Ombra mai fu” by Philippe Jaroussky is available HERE.

So, turning forty wasn’t a big deal at all? “That birthday is a big mark for everyone. But it was also a good moment for me to see what I have done so far, and what I still want to do. However, I confess, if I was going to die tomorrow, … What a life I had! I was able to travel the world, never had money problems, had the chance to meet all these musicians. Plus, I had a lot of time for my friends. What a privilege! And I am allowed to sleep in!” he concludes, laughing again. He isn’t even worried about his voice.

“When I was twenty, my voice was very flexible. When I listen to old recordings of mine, I know that I cannot do this anymore. In exchange, I now have awareness of melody and words. My voice might have lost quickness, but it became stronger and more expressive. And if I lost it tomorrow, I still could become a teacher.”

Which is one thing he seems to prepare for with his Académie Musicale Philippe Jaroussky. “I love the idea of accompanying people for a year, giving them opportunities and enabling them to start making friends. If I’m allowed to dream, then I want the Académie to survive me.” Even with his latest recordings, it seems he wants to teach the world, because while well-known composers and pieces are being recorded again and again, Philippe now dedicates his last project, “Ombra mai fu” to the Baroque master Cavalli.

“During the last five to ten years, there has been a revival of his music, because the dramatic potential of his music was finally being recognized. Most of his arias are barely five minutes long; it’s a style full of surprises. And his music if full of freedom.“

And then, there is something else that Philippe loves about his profession: the wonderful, opulent garments that are part of his performances. “I like dressing up! Above all, I’m a musician and have never been a born actor. Whether I’m a king or a girl on stage, the costume helps me a lot. We rehearse for weeks without the proper costumes. You sing in what you happen to be wearing, so it’s hard to get into character. But when the make-up and the costumes are there, … Now I can be different; now I can be crazy!”

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2018-11-07 featured press

Música Clásica – Interview Transcript/Translation to English – Philippe Jaroussky, an exceptional singer and a human being dedicated to passing on a legacy

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(Philippe Jaroussky, un cantante excepcional y un ser humano entregado a la transmisión de un legado)

2018-11-07, Música Clásica BA, by Alicia Perris

Abrigado, vestido con ropa casual azul, distendido, disponible, en su día libre de función, me recibe en una de las coquetas salitas de que dispone el laberíntico territorio desconocido del gran público del Teatro Real. Fue emocionante. Esto es lo que me dijo. Que lo disfruten, porque es singular y una verdadera exclusiva. […]

Transcript/Translation to English

This is a fan transcript/translation; no infringement of copyright is intended. We believe it fulfills the criteria for “fair use,” discussion and study. Transcript/translation by *MT

A: We will try to do a different kind of interview, with a variety of topics.

P: Ok.

A: Is an artist the same person on stage as in everyday life?

PJ: Not exactly, it’s a mix between the stage and your character, the role you’re playing and your own sensitivity, but the audience feels as if the artist also puts a part of himself, of his personality into his interpretation and appreciates that. Playing a role also makes you discover things about yourself; being on stage transforms you. It changes you in the eyes of the spectators, you are the most important one in the spotlight, in the eyes of others you are no longer a normal individual. The audience wants you to be ‘extra-ordinary’. However, it’s important to keep your personality – the essence of an artist.

A: After the last performance of this opera, you will take a long break.

PJ: Yes, I will stop for three months. I had planned to take a break of six months, but Cecilia asked me to act with her in Alcina, April this year, in Salzburg. If Cecilia asks me something, whatever it is, I will say “yes!” (Laughs)

I think it’s a privilege to have a job that is a passion, we never stop. However, I also have the chance to have tours planned – two, three, even four years in advance. This way, I can plan a break knowing that I will have work to do when I come back.

It is important for me, this break. I will not stop singing for three months; it will only be weeks, or one month, and then I will work on new projects that are important.

A: How would you describe the experience of Only The Sound Remains at the Teatro Real in Madrid?

PJ: It’s a unique opportunity, performing a contemporary opera created especially for my voice; it’s really something special. I know that a countertenor can sing a greater variety of works than the repertoire for castrati – that’s why contemporary music seems important to me.

Recently, I thought, if I think of my future self, thirty years from now, alive or dead, what will remain of my career in the people’s memory? What is it they are going to remember? Of course, they will remember me as a specialist when it comes to Baroque music, but this contemporary work will remain an equally important moment in my career. For me, Kaija approaches the genius of a Monteverdi when it comes to her way of composing, her connection to the text. To keep this fluidity because the text is in English, … Recently, I worked with some great directors. Before, I did quite a few operas, and it scared me. I could work with Peter Sellars for Theodora, and recently with Robert Carsen. In fact, I imagine working again with Peter Sellars in the future, maybe not a contemporary work, may be a Handel opera. To me, Peter Sellars is somewhere in between a singer and a director.

A: Are you Russian? do you like Russian music?

P My grandfather was Russian, So only my last name is Russian. But in fact, I have always liked Russian musicians, like Shostakovitch and Prokofiev, when I was about 17 years old. I’m not planning to sing in Russian though; maybe in the future.

I know I have a “joy” personality, but I also like slow arias, melancholic music, more than dramatic or hysterical music.

A: George Bertrand was your teacher?

P: Yes, when I was ten years old, he told my parents that I had to learn music. So I studied at the conservatory of my city, first violin, later piano. I have always had a complex, because I started to study music too late (ten years). Everybody said that I had started too late, that I would not be able to do it. (Maybe that is the reason why I founded the academy.) However, when I started singing at 18, … Everybody said I was too young! I had a good notion of high notes, possibly because of my training with the violin.

At 18, I started studying with my professor. Since 22 years ago, I always see her; she is my second mother (laughs). At the beginning, my voice was too flexible (metralleta) now I try to work with the lyrics.

A: How is your relation to Cecilia Bartoli?

P: I have a deep admiration for her. We have a deep connection. Even if we don’t see each other so frequently, we have a musical connection and we have the same understanding of “work” Cecilia managed to have a very natural contact with public.

I met her when I was 21 years old. I was still a student. I had been standing in line for an hour and a half with a disc to ask her to sign. When I was in front or her, I began to say that she was an example for me, and she stare her eyes on my eyes for a while, and she realized I was a student, and she wrote for me a complete sentence “For Philippe Jaroussky, future success in your life…,” and like this. I told her this 15 year later. When sometimes I am tired, signing, I always remember this moment of generosity with the audience.

A: what about Verlaine?

PJ: He is special for me. I had to read him at school when I was ten, eleven years. It was my first emotion that I encountered in poetry. That’s why I did the project I had have with Verlaine.

A: Do you think about another project with poetry? P: Not, no with poetry, but yes, in French language.

A: I want to ask you about two films which are, someway, related to you. One is “Farinelli,” and the other is “The Music Teacher.”

P: “The Music Teacher” is very important because it is about the difficulties of “not belonging to a certain world”. There is a new student; he was not from the right class and is difficult for him to insert himself into that new world. I come from a middle class family; it was difficult for my family to buy the instruments that were expensive ones. That is why I have founded the Academy, to help children with no possibilities.

About “Farinelli”: It is the story of the most famous castrato. He was a god on stage, but in the real life, he didn’t have a complete life. When I watched “Farinelli” at the cinema with a friend, I told her I didn’t like it. I was still studying violin, so I was used to listen to a different kind of music. But I didn’t know that a few years later I would be singing this music. So, musical tastes change.

A: How do you see France nowadays?

P: I think France is in a kind of an awakened stake. I’m thinking about projects with children, about a new generation. I see that little by little, young people are getting tired of social networks. They have been with mobile phones all time since they were children, and now, at 20, 21, they are beginning to feel tired of that.

A: Do you think about writing a book about your experiences?

PJ: No, because now I want to dedicate a lot of time to the academy. I learn so much myself teaching in the academy. If one day I write a book, it would not be only of my life, but principally about music, so that it would be useful for other people. Maybe I would write in 10/15 years.

A: What about your dreams?

PJ: I am dreaming. For example, I have projects concerning conducting orchestras, with a first work in 2022.

A: Can you tell us where?

PJ: eeeeeerrrr…..: No!

A: What about your career?

PJ: I know I don’t want to sing if I can’t do it as today. I don’t want people to say “He still sings ok, but he used to be better.“

I am 40 years old. It is an important moment; is a fantastic age. And all these years, I have lived a very intense life, so many travels, successes, meetings with great people…I think that from now on, my life is a bonus. If I die tomorrow, I will know that I have had a privileged life.

A: Do you want to tell us something important?

P: Yes. Related to the “bonus.” Until a short time ago, I have had a very simple relation with success. When people talked to me after concerts, I used to listen them, but with a distance about that success they speak about, like, the important thing was the music, not me. Now however, I can accept these things in a more intense way. If people say “your singing is important to my life,” I listen to them with more attention.

In “Only the Sounds Remains,” in the second part, at one time, I have to wait 15 minutes. And so, I try to enjoy for example, to be in the same place I was 18 years before for the first time. I was on that same stage, and I enjoy this, not create limits. And all these feelings, I want to memorize them.

A: Are you thinking of going to South America?

PJ: I have been in Buenos Aires twice, at the Teatro Colón, and I know I will return to Argentina again, not too far in the future. I think that two years from now, I will be at the Teatro Colón de Buenos Aires four times, and two times in Santiago de Chile.

 

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2018-08-01 featured press

Kronen Zeitung – For Fans Of Baroque Music – Translation to English

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2018-08-01, Kronen Zeitung, by Karlheinz Roschitz

In Salzburg traten Jaroussky, die ungarische Sopranistin Emöke Barath und das Ensemble Artaserse mit einer Nummernrevue aus acht Opern Händels an, wobei das Dramma per musica “Ariodante” von 1735 im Mittelpunkt stand.

Souverän beherrschen Jaroussky und Baráth die Kunst, erzählende Rezitative und Arien und Duette, in denen Emotionen ausgedrückt werden, mit großer Intensität dar­zustellen.

[…] Für Barockmusikfans ein Fest!

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Translation to English
This is a fan translation; no infringement of copyright is intended. We believe it fulfills the criteria for “fair use,” discussion and study. Translation by *L

For Fans Of Baroque Music

Baroque music at its finest at the Salzburg Festival: together with its founder, countertenor Philippe Jaroussky, and the soprano Emöke Baráth, the Ensemble Artaserse gave a guest performance at the “Haus für Mozart.” Comprising the program was a revue of recitatives, arias and duets by Handel – the “best composer of Baroque music”, according to Jaroussky.

Philippe Jaroussky is among the most brilliant countertenors of the international Early Music scene. A vocal virtuoso, a vocal acrobat, but also a master when it comes to the representation of the Baroque world of emotions! And finally, a favorite with the audiences, celebrated  everywhere with cheers, bravos and ovations – just like at the Haus für Mozart in Salzburg.

In 2002, Jaroussky founded the period instrument ensemble Artaserse – the name refers to the opera of the same name. With alternating line-ups, it is especially devoted to the the works of Antonio Vivaldi and Georg Friedrich Handel.

In Salzburg, Jaroussky, the Hungarian soprano Emöke Baráth, and the Ensemble Artaserse performed a revue comprising eight operas by Handel, with the Dramma per musica “Ariodante” from 1735 at its center.

Jaroussky and Baráth supremely master the art of portraying narrative recitatives as well as emotional arias and duets with great intensity.

Their performances of the arias are technically flawless, with ornate coloratura and adornments. Raffinement and finest nuances succeed in filling vocal bravurá with incredible tension. Moreover, the singers grant Händel the characteristic plethora of emotions,moods, and affects: love, cheers of joy, jealousy, rage, suffering and hopelessness. The duets of love and farewell they stage as if they were dramatic conflicts, fought by vocal means.

Framed by sections from Handel’s Concerto Grosso op. 6, which Artaserse’s musicians play with swinging elegance, the audience was treated to recitatives and arias from the operas “Lotario”, “Almira, Queen of Castile”, “Sesto”, “Rodelinda, Queen of the Lombards “,”Caesar in Egypt”, “Scipione” and the serenade” Parnasso in festa.” A celebration for fans of Baroque music!

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2017-10-22 featured press

Der Tagesspiegel – “When I’m ironing, I forget about singing.” – Translation to English

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2017-10-22, Der Tagesspiegel, by Susanne Kippenberger

“Ich will mein Hemd selber glätten. Dabei vergesse ich das Singen, höre auf, meine Stimme zu prüfen – ich bügle mein Hirn.”

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*This is a fan translation. If you have any problems with this being online, just drop us a line and we’ll remove it immediately. Translation by Lankin*

“When I’m ironing, I forget about singing.”

He is an enthusiastic traveler, dreams of his time-out in South America. Why Philippe Jaroussky, divinely gifted countertenor, does not want to be a slave to his voice.

Interview: Susanne Kippenberger

Monsieur Jaroussky, you sang at the inaugural ceremony of the Elbphilharmonie, were artist in Residence at the Konzerthaus in Berlin, have been awarded the Echo Klassik in the category “Singer of the Year” twice …

… sometimes I almost feel like the Germans adopted me. Right after France, it’s the country where I perform most often.

At the Berlin Philharmonic hall, you are doing a concert with arias by Georg Friedrich Händel. What is so fascinating about him?

He is the best! His harmonies are just so much richer than those of all the operatic composers of his time; there is a true dialogue between voice and orchestra. And what really moves me, is that sometimes I sense the admiration he had for certain singers. I also love the inconsistency. Händel was notorious for his difficult character, was said to be choleric, but his music has something very sensitive, sensual, and sweet to it.

On a tour like this one, you travel from one city to another. Quite exhausting.

I have an important ability: I can sleep well. Ten, twelve hours. While you sleep, your vocal chords take a rest. Before a concert, I don’t get up before noon, talk to no one after I wake up for two more hours, slowly wake up my body and only sing a few exercises. At the day of the concert, it is my job to do nothing. Perfect! Because I’m lazy. I am aware of my privilege – you can do what you like, no one is sitting next to you and pressures you to anything. Many people don’t even know that feeling, have family, are running around.

You must be joking about the laziness. You recorded thirty albums, to name only one thing!

I am curious! All the time, I have new projects in my head which I would absolutely like to do. There is a lot of talk that the CD is dying as a medium, but at the same time, a lot of them are being recorded. Maybe it’s just because of that – before it’s over.

To catch you at your home in Paris is luck of the draw.

I just returned from a two-week concert tour. First thing I had to do was cook. I had enough of restaurants and room service.

So what was it for dinner?

Pot-au-feu, that takes long to make, lovely. Cooking is a good method to let your mind go blank; there is nothing else you think about while you’re cooking. That’s why I always ask for an iron in my dressing room. I want to iron my own shirts. I am forgetting about singing then, stop checking on my voice – I am ironing my mind.

You are known for your outfit: black shirt, black tie, black jacket.

In Baroque ensembles, most musicians wear black. When I dress like them, I become a part of them. I consider my voice to be sort of another instrument. Also it highlights the hands and the face. Black signals sobriety, it guides the focus more towards the music.

You used to play a proper instrument: the violin. How would you compare the two?

In the beginning, maybe I treated my voice too much like an instrument, focused too much on technique, rhythm, phrasing. I didn’t really know how it worked, to express words, and being authentic. Especially when it comes to opera, we often exaggerate; there is permanent crisis, big drama. However, you have to get a clear idea of what you really want to say. Now I want to share this with young musicians; that’s why I founded my academy.

At the school on the outskirts of Paris there is not only a program for young musicians but one for children as well. Quite uncommon, or isn’t it?

In my family, no one made any music. If I didn’t have this one teacher at school who told my parents: “I believe Philippe has to make music,” I never would have done it. It changed my life! I want to give children the opportunity – children with difficult circumstances, immigrants as well – to get in contact with classical music. There are a lot of sports projects in the Banlieues of Paris. That’s great! However, there are also children who aren’t natural athletes, but have a musical talent.

And everyone is happy in the end?

Of course there are going to be difficulties. Some will give up. The program is intense; the children who learn the piano, the violin or the cello should be kept on track by the progress they make. I want them to be surprised about themselves. They will quickly move on to real music – not stupid exercises, but little pieces by Mozart or Schubert.

When did you know that you wanted to be a musician?

When I was eleven, I started playing the violin. Music totally fascinated me; I played incessantly. With 16, I knew that at least I wanted to try to become a musician.

And your parents supported you?

Yes, yes! A lot!

Your own story is a great surprise: you were studying composition, when you were sitting at the concert of a countertenor, and you decided: That’s what I want to do as well! What made you so sure?

That’s hard to explain. I hadn’t even sung in a choir before. At home, I sang a bit higher than most, and for a violinist, high notes have a certain attraction. When I heard Fabrice de Falco sing the Händel arias, deep down, I had this feeling: That’s mine! It’s a calling. That voice called out to me. Basically, it took one evening for me to reach the decision to become a countertenor. It needs to be said that I wasn’t particularly happy as a violinist. Again and again I got to hear that I had been starting too late. The biggest part of the lessons was spent on technique. As a singer, you talk about the body a lot. After all, your voice is inside there.

And, how was it?

When at 18 I started singing, I was enthusiastic like I’d never experienced it when I played any instrument. But the vocal range hit closest to my personality. I can give more of myself, of my soul.

Can you be more specific?

Well, we all have a masculine and a feminine side, and as a countertenor, you accept that. There are people who find that a man shouldn’t sing like that, that it was ridiculous – for others, it’s magical. Often we hear that we sound like women, but that’s not true. I rather noticed that many of my colleagues have something utterly boyish about themselves. Me too! Even at almost 40. Maybe the voice has a part in preserving that quality.

As a singer, does aging frighten you?

Of course, the voice is changing, is getting bigger, lower. Maybe you lose in terms of flexibility and agility. If you want to keep the two, you have to work on it. On the other hand, young singers often exaggerate in their acting. As you get older, it becomes more natural.

But isn’t it a threat, in the end?

I met a lot of singers who were devastated when they lost their voice. They had spent all their lives with it – and suddenly, they can’t do it anymore. That’s one of the reasons why I founded the academy and why I’m conducting as well. I was a musician before I became I singer, and I will remain one after I quit singing. When I’m telling my fans that I am not quite sure whether I’ll sing yet in ten years’ time, they’re shocked. I like the idea – that I could stop, that there is a limit. It makes me enjoy the moment even more.

It must be hard, to decide when the moment to quit has finally arrived.

I don’t want to be a slave to my voice. That’s why I took a sabbatical a few years ago, three quarters of a year. The first two months, I was feeling guilty that I wasn’t singing. After four month, I felt like I could quit forever. I thought, maybe it’s not as important as I’d always thought, after all; there are other important things in life.

How did that change your voice?

It’s like rebooting a computer. It’s also important for me not to become a music machine – traveling from one concert to the next, cash the money, and next stop – to stay fresh.

Wasn’t it a huge issue, to take some time off? You are booked years in advance.

In fact, that’s what makes it simple. I already know when I’ll be taking my next time-out: start of 2019, five months.

And what will you be doing in that sabbatical?

Traveling! I’m addicted. Spend the winter in South America. I enjoy speaking Spanish, and I like the culture there. The population is very young; there is this incredible energy. People are enjoying the present, they dance and sing in the streets. 

And that’s what you’ll be doing?

Maybe not. But the energy is contagious. The people there touch my heart; they are generous, enthusiastic.

But you’re on the road all the time anyway.

On a concert tour, I never have any time to go sightseeing, to really take time to see friends. When you are touring with an orchestra, you cannot just splice in a day off in between – that would be far too expensive. And as a singer, you become a baby. You’re being pampered, they pick you up at the airport, they bring you something to eat, you don’t have to care about anything. When you travel by yourself, no one knows who you are; you don’t get any special treatment.

And you really enjoy that?

Yes! Sometimes, people are even gruff. That’s life, isn’t it? When you’re a singer, everyone is so nice – but maybe only because you are a singer. That’s why it’s important to get back to reality.

How do you manage to maintain relationships, friendships?

I have been together with my partner for ten years now, and it works out well. However, he rather adjusts his life to mine than vice versa. Obviously, I cannot do my job from home. It’s more difficult when it comes to friends, even family.

Are your parents still living in the suburbs of Paris, where you grew up?

My mother, yes. My father died last year. He was 74. It was very quick, cancer, there was nothing that could be done. To lose a parent is a big cut. I had so much luck – a loving family, success, friends, a nice life in Paris, travels. Until then, I’ve always been sheltered, nothing really bad ever happened to me. His death has marked a huge change. Positive. We keep complaining about one thing or the other, and don’t even realize what a gift life is. And suddenly, someone who you love dies. His death has given me a certain distance, a new perception of what is important and what isn’t. That extends to the stage of course. I try to represent less, and just be there. It might shock you, but I got the feeling that I sing better now. With more depth to it.

Music is extremely emotional.

That’s right, but we have to have more confidence in the music, not push to the front. A conductor once told me: Maybe we should just sing the notes. Like they are written there. I am a huge Ella Fitzgerald fan. She just sings the right note, no more, no less. She is herself.

Your repertoire also contains religious pieces. Do you feel connected there?

I don’t believe in God, but I do have a connection to sacred music, to its spirituality. Maybe even more than I feel towards opera. There you are playing a role. It’s hard for me anyway, to be someone else, and that’s what opera is about of course – you have to become king, lover, murderer. Whether sacred music is about more than just yourself. It’s more universal.

On tour, you live the life of a businessman. You’re flying business class, stay in business hotels. When you’re in Paris, are you living more of an artist’s life?

Oh yes. That’s one of the reasons why I love this city so much. Even if the life there is a bubble too. I go to organic restaurants, try to live environmentally conscious, but on the other hand I am traveling by plane all the time – a disaster for the planet. I’m full of contradictions, like everyone. You have political ideas, and do the exact opposite.

Just the quarter where you live – diverse, lively – has been targeted in the 2016 attacks. Are you more afraid these days?

Back then, the possibility that a woman like Le Pen could become president truly terrified me. In my everyday life, I am not afraid. I’m only a little bit nervous when it comes to flying. But sometimes I think: I could die tomorrow – I’ve been leading such an intense life. Maybe it’s also connected to my father’s death, that since then I got the feeling: everything that’s happening now is an extra. That’s wonderful. What I am doing from now on is pure joy.

Philippe Jaroussky, 39, is considered the best countertenor of our times. Both critics and audiences celebrate the “Man for the Angel Fach” (Süddeutsche) – for the ease of his singing as well as for the versatility of his repertoire (from Baroque to French songs), and his genuine appearance. In 2008, Jaroussky was the first countertenor to be awarded the Echo Klassik “Singer of the Year” – a prize he was re-awarded in 2016. The Frenchman, raised in the suburbs of Paris, only started singing at 18. Before, he had been playing the violin and the piano as well as studied composition. In 2002, Jaroussky – who even has an asteroid named after him – founded his own chamber ensemble, the “Ensemble Artaserse.” Just now, he inaugurated an academy, located in the new concert hall “Seine Musicale” on the outskirts of Paris, teaching young professional musicians as well as children from low-income backgrounds. This Sunday, on 22nd October, the countertenor is giving a concert at the Berlin Philharmonic hall. He will be performing the program of his new CD: Arias by Georg Friedrich Händel (Erato/Warner Classics.) During the talk at a bistro in his quarter in Paris, close to the Place de la République, the musician – sweat shirt, five-o’clock shadow – was radiating enthusiasm. Despite the first grey hairs, he has an air of boyishness and relaxedness about him. The singer also told us about the origin of his distinctly not French name: his great-grandfather was leaving Russia, and told the border guard “Ya ruski” – I’m russian.

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