featured-journal-frankfurt-jaroussky

Journal Frankfurt – Keeping a Distance from Opera’s Hysteria

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“Abstandhalter zur Hysterie der Oper”
Journal Frankfurt, February 2015

The following is not a professional translation; no profit is being made, no infringement of copyright is intended.

On his current tour, the French countertenor Philippe Jaroussky surprises his audience with fin de siècle songs.

Interview: Christian Rupp

JOURNAL FRANKFURT: Philippe, you are one of the world’s most famous countertenors – yet relatively little about your private life is known to the public. Don’t you like to talk about it?
PHILIPPE JAROUSSKY: I don’t talk about it that often because, really, the focus is on my art.

But you’re a star …
Star? Well, I lead a normal life; I have been together with my partner for eight years now. All in all, it is a very settled life.

You have put your cards on the table about him right from the beginning…
Of course. When I started my career, I had to decide. So, right from the start, I said that I had a partner. Then there’s no fuss anymore. I’m not a pop singer who has to hide that for twenty years because otherwise he would lose the market section of all the teenage girls.

Another known fact is that you like to travel a lot. How frequently do people recognize you on your travels?
It depends. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. When I walk the street in Paris, of course, someone will always recognize me. But people react completely different than they would if I were a pop star. Because, primarily, it is in Händel, Vivaldi, Bach that they are interested– not in me. I don’t create songs, I don’t create a look, I am not a brand. That’s why people are much more respectful. Classical music stars are in a very comfortable position in this regard.

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2015-02-28-featured-press

Die Welt – Klassik-Star Philippe Jaroussky: Führe ein völlig normales Leben

by concert announcementgermangermanymagazinepersonalwebsite

1015-02-28, Die Welt

“Die Leute reagieren völlig anders als bei einem Pop-Star. Denn sie sind ja an Händel, Vivaldi, Bach interessiert – nicht primär an mir”…

Source: Die Welt

2015-02-27-featured-press

Le Figaro – Verlaine through the Ages

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2015-02-27, Warner, Le Figaro
Translated from the original French. Interview by Thierry Clermont in Le Figaro, 19 February, 2015.

So you’ve had this project Green in mind for a long time?

PJ: It’s been in the works for about eight years. I love Verlaine’s poetry and his universe, made up of languor and melancholy as well as lightness and humour. I find myself there. Just think of the themes and the characters of his second collection of poems, Fêtes galantes, with its baroque side and its pastoral atmosphere. Most of his poems are short, arrhythmic – even dissonant . As he says in his Art poétique he prefers the odd lines out. It’s very human poetry, sensual but with childlike simplicity.

Source: Warner

2015-02-27_02 press featured

NDR Kultur – Jaroussky in der Welt von Verlaine

by album reviewgermangermanygreen verlainenewspaperradiowebsite

2015-02-27, NDR Kultur

Jaroussky demonstriert mit dem Album seine beeindruckende Wandlungsfähigkeit und überrascht den Hörer auch mit Ausflügen ins leichte Repertoire. Die Lyrik von Verlaine hat nicht nur klassische Komponisten fasziniert, sondern auch Chansonniers wie Leo Ferré und George Brassens

Source/Read more: Ndr.de

 

2015-02-27_02-featured-press

Donaukurier – Pastellfarbene Gefühle

by concert announcementgermangermanygreen verlaineinterviewnewspapertranslated into english

2015-02-27, Donaukurier

Dann haben Sie ja noch einiges vor sich, oder?

Jaroussky: Natürlich werden die Alte und die Neue Musik für Countertenöre weiterhin das zentrale Repertoire sein. Aber ich bin davon überzeugt, dass heute Countertenöre darüber hinaus Weiteres erschließen müssen – auch ein Repertoire wie auf dem „Green“-Album. Für meine Stimme eignen sich übrigens auch die „Kindertotenlieder“ von Mahler, zwei oder drei habe ich bereits gesungen.

There’s a lot yet to be done then, isn’t it?
Jaroussky: Of course, early and new music will continue to be the core of the countertenor repertoire. I am convinced, however, that today, countertenors have to explore further – which includes a repertoire like the one on “Green.” By the way, the “Kindertotenlieder” by Mahler also suit my voice, two or three I have even sung already.

 

Source/Read more: Donaukurier (paid content)

The following is not a professional translation; no profit is being made, no infringement of copyright is intended.

Pastel-Coloured Feelings

 Ingolstadt (DK) He is one of the great countertenors of our time. On Thursday, Philippe Jaroussky performs at the Ingolstädter Festsaal, introducing his latest album “Green.” For this, the Frenchman has compiled different settings of Verlaine’s poems that were created around 1900 – amongst others, by Gabriel Fauré or Claude Debussy. Jaroussky comes to Ingolstadt along with his pianist Jérôme Ducros, to capture the sound-sensual atmosphere of the French “Fin de Siècle.

Mr Jaroussky, you are a countertenor. So why do you sing settings to music of Verlaine’s poems, created around 1900?
Philippe Jaroussky: Because, on one hand, I want to show that it is perfectly possible for an opera singer to give recitals. On the other hand, I feel very attracted by the settings to music of Verlaine and French song. In opera – more so, in Baroque, which is obviously the center piece for us countertenors – you have to give shape to hysterical feelings sometimes. You kill, you are jealous, insidious. At some very dramatic moments, I reach my limits. Whereas in French song, I have to express more pastel-coloured feelings, a lot of melancholia, just to name one. It might sound strange as a countertenor, but I feel at home in this repertoire.

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2015-02-25-featured-press

Opera Magazine – Een hebbeding: Jaroussky zingt mélodies

by album reviewdutchgreen verlainenetherlandswebsite

2015-02-26, operamagazine.nl (Piacer de l’Opera)

De cd is echt een hebbeding. Niet in de laatste plaats ook vanwege het omhulsel. In het doosje vind je behalve de twee schitterende cd’s ook een dik boek met liedteksten, veel informatie en tientallen sfeerfoto’s van de componisten en de dichter.

Source/Read more: Opera Magazine

2015-02-26-featured-press

Forum Opéra – Green, mélodies françaises sur des poèmes de Verlaine

by album reviewfrancefrenchgreen verlainewebsite

2015-02-26, Forum Opéra

Son ambiguïté est décadence, au sens le plus précieux du terme, sans qu’aucune affectation ne vienne en pervertir la sincérité. Au contraire, si paradoxal que cela puisse paraître, le naturel prédomine : naturel de la diction dans sa volonté de rendre compréhensible chaque phonème et, au delà de la compréhension, donner à percevoir la signification de chaque mot ; naturel de l’interprétation qui, à l’instar de Brassens et Ferré, essaye de débarrasser ces vers de leur empois poétique, de les rendre les plus proches possible du langage parlé ; naturel faisant la plupart de ces mélodies, non pas pièces de salon souffreteuses, mais chansons que l’on se surprend à fredonner comme un air à la mode.

Source/Read more: Forum Opéra

2015-02-25_02-featured-press

Forum Opéra – Philippe Jaroussky passe à la musique contemporaine

by concert announcementfrancefrenchgreen verlainenewswebsite

2015-02-25, Forum Opéra

“Apparemment, l’exploration de la mélodie française – on lira demain ici le compte rendu de son disque Green – ne suffit plus à Philippe Jaroussky pour échapper au répertoire baroque. En mars 2016 à Amsterdam, il créera un opéra de chambre de Kaija Saariaho, Only the Sound Remains ; bizarrement, ce vers d’Edward Thomas a déjà servi de titre à plusieurs œuvres contemporaines, en 2007 pour le compositeur iranien Amir Mahyar Tafreshipour, et en 2010 pour le Britannique Howard Skempton”…

Source: Forum Opéra

2015-02-24-featured-press

El Plural – Philippe Jaroussky, un contratenor que nos recuerda a los castrati

by concert announcementgreen verlainenewspaperspainspanishwebsite

2015-02-24, El Plural

Philippe Jaroussky, que se define a sí mismo como contratenor, publica uno de los discos con los que, según él “más ha disfrutado” tanto en la búsqueda de repertorio como en la interpretación y grabación del mismo.  “Green” es un merecido homenaje a la canción francesa y a uno de los poetas que más le han inspirado; Paul Verlaine (1844-96) pionero francés de los movimientos decadentes  y  un icono  del  Art  poétique del siglo XIX

Source/Read more: El Plural

2015-02-23-featured-press

Music Story – Critique de Green : Mélodies Françaises sur des Poèmes de Verlaine

by album reviewfrancefrenchgreen verlainewebsite

2015-02-23, music-story.com (Music Story)

L’auteur de l’Art poétique, qui vantait « de la musique avant toute chose », a fréquemment inspiré les compositeurs classiques ou modernes, de Fauré à Ferré comme l’annonce le slogan d’accroche de Green : Mélodies Françaises sur des Poèmes de Verlaine. Cela n’est que justice en vertu du rythme de sa versification, de la sonorité de ses mots. À commencer par Claude Debussy dont neuf mélodies irradient l’ouvrage, notamment les trois airs du premier livre des Fêtes galantes (« En sourdine », « Fantoches » et « Clair de lune »), interprétés avec une sensibilité éblouissante.

Source/Read more: Music Story