2017-10-28 featured press

Académie Musicale Philippe Jaroussky on Facebook – “À l’occasion de la sortie de son nouvel album …”

2017-10-28, Académie Musicale Philippe Jaroussky on Facebook

“À l’occasion de la sortie de son nouvel album, Philippe était hier dans l’émission Entrée Libre de Claire Chazal […]

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2017-10-22_03 featured press

La Dépêche – Philippe Jaroussky:«Haendel, Vivaldi, étaient des machines à tubes»

2017-10-22, La Dépêche, interview by Sébastien Dubos

Vous avez créé votre académie, c’est une manière de tendre la main à des jeunes qui ne pourraient pas accéder à cet univers ?

Il y a deux projets. Le projet plus social, pour apporter la musique classique dans des foyers qui n’auraient pas forcément pensé ou qui n’en auraient pas les moyens. ça, c’est le projet pour les enfants. C’est la première cette année, on a ouvert la classe au violon, violoncelle et piano. On a 23 enfants qui commencent totalement un de ces trois instruments. Tout est gratuit, on leur prête l’instrument et on leur offre deux heures par semaine de cours. L’idée est qu’ils progressent rapidement. De l’autre côté, un volet plus classique, quelque chose de pré-professionnel l’idée est d’aider les jeunes à rentrer dans la vie active après les études. Pour les musiciens comme pour les autres, l’arrivée sur le marché du travail, c’est un peu un parcours de combattant, notre idée est de leur fournir de l’expérience, de les aider à entrer de plain-pied dans ce métier de musicien. Pendant un an on leur donne aussi une certaine philosophie de ce métier. […]

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2017-10-22 featured press

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

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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2017-10-21 featured press

Die Welt – Philippe Jaroussky: „Inzwischen sitzt Händel wie ein Handschuh“

2017-10-21, Die Welt, by Manfred Brug

Nein, das hätte man jetzt nicht gedacht. Philippe Jaroussky, Frankreichs Antwort auf die antiken Sirenen, hat noch kein Händel-Album aufgenommen. Andere besteigen zum 40. Geburtstag Achttausender, der Pariser Countertenor hat sich zum anstehenden Jubelfest im Februar schon jetzt eine wirklich feine, mit Raritäten aufwartende CD mit Arien des „caro sassone“ gegönnt. Und ich habe mich anlässlich von Veröffentlichung und jetzt anstehender Tournee samt vier Deutschland-Auftritten mit ihm darüber unterhalten.

Kein Händel bisher? Wie kann das sein?

Jaroussky: Ich habe mich nicht getraut! Erst wolle ich noch ein wenig warten, an Sicherheit gewinnen, lieber in etwas unbekannterem Repertoire mich austoben. Dann haben es dauernd andere Kollegen und Kolleginnen gemacht, da fand ich dann ebenfalls die Beschäftigung mit Caldara oder dem Repertoire von Carestini und Farinelli, mit Musik von Johann Christian Bach oder mit Porpora-Arien interessanter. Porpora ist herrlich zu singen, er beflügelt einen, aber musikalisch ist er höchsten mit einer Arie auf Händels Qualitätsniveau, mit „Alto Giove“ aus „Polifemo“. Und deshalb wollte ich eben jetzt doch noch unbedingt auch meinen Händel-Stempel hinterlassen, bevor es dafür zu spät ist. Ich wollte also den richtigen Moment abpassen: Nicht zu jung, um auch etwas zu sagen, um Erfahrung gesammelt zu haben, schließlich ist die Konkurrenz riesig. Und nicht zu alt, um nicht nur herbstlich Herbes abzuliefern. Jetzt also hat es gepasst. Und ich habe wieder gemerkt: Händel ist der Meister! […]

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2017-10-19 featured press

concerti – “I belong to the Generation Concept Album” – Translation to English

2017-10-19, concerti, by Maximilian Theiss

” Ich möchte mit meiner Rolle überraschen und dem Publikum etwas bieten, was es so noch nicht gehört hat. Das macht schließlich die Oper so spannend.”

*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*

Interview with countertenor Philippe Jaroussky

“I belong to the Generation Concept Album”

Countertenor Philippe Jaroussky about the allure of recitatives, directors as puppeteers  – and his academy

By Maximilian Theiss, 19 October 2017

Even if in his late 30’s, Philippe Jaroussky is most likely closer to the start of his career than the end of it, a glance at his discography reveals a plethora of recordings. This considered, it was wonderfully fitting to conduct this interview on the premises of his record label.

Mr. Jaroussky, the number of your CD releases is just as impressive as their musical range. Is it a countertenor’s destiny, to re-discover and showcase his voice again and again?

Philippe Jaroussky: I keep saying that nothing was written for countertenor voices – not even Baroque music. Of course, that’s deliberately provocative, but what I’m trying to express is that every countertenor has the opportunity to choose the repertoire he is comfortable with for himself.

Does that mean that musical self-discovery was important for you?

Jaroussky: Sure! To sing a wide range of repertoire, for instance, helped me to discover new colours in my voice. When I was on the look-out for new repertoire, my personal taste in music often wasn’t the deciding factor, but whether I, as a performer, can find a musical approach to the piece. Next year I’m turning forty, and looking back, I think it was the right thing to do, to record such a multitude of CDs. Sometimes, I’m asking myself whether it’s too many, but right at the same time I get another idea for another project yet.

Whereas on your CDs, unknown repertoire seems to comprise the majority of the arias, not the famous ones.

Jaroussky: I belong to a generation of singers with a faible for concept albums, I’m Generation Concept Album, if you’d like. (laughs) Unavoidably, you encounter a multitude of unknown arias in the process. On the other hand, all the famous arias are famous for a reason – they are incredibly beautiful. And I don’t want to finally sing those once I reach 60, especially as the voice keeps changing as you grow older; it can always turn out to be too late for this one aria. Maybe that’s one of the reasons why I’m recording so much.

Your latest project, just released, is an album comprising arias by Händel.

Jaroussky: Obviously, a Händel album isn’t very original. However, I’d guess that the listeners won’t be familiar with about 80 percent of the arias. There is no Giulio Cesare, no Ariodante, no Rinaldo – instead there are arias from “Flavio,””Radamisto,””Tolomeo,””Imeneo”, … famous operas, but not super-famous. I chose the arias with great care, so I didn’t choose overly large numbers for my voice, like it was the case in some former projects of mine, for example on the “Farinelli” album. With the Händel CD, I’m focusing more on the music than on virtuosity.

Is that the reason for the many recitatives on the CD?

Jaroussky: The most important criterion for me to choose the numbers by was whether they are interesting. A recitativo is a nice way to guide the listener to the aria. If you’re only filing aria after aria, a lot might get lost on the way. Händel was a master when it came to composing recitatives. Sometimes they are so expressive and full of energy that they are packing more emotion than the aria itself. Just take the gorgeous “Stille amare” from “Tolomeo,” with its absolutely crazy harmonies! I’m not saying this often, but it is the album I am the most proud of. I think that I stayed exactly within my capabilities. I used to want to venture the 20 percent beyond, and eventually, it would have affected my voice.

This year, you’ve been inaugurating your “Académie Musicale Philippe Jaroussky” in Paris – is this one thing you are telling your students there?

Jaroussky: Yes and no. It’s not my intention to teach the pupils and students there how to sing – that’s what their teachers are for. Rather I want to aid them in developing their own vision of what they really want to do, and show them a way.

How was it for you? Did someone help you find your musical path?

Jaroussky: If it hadn’t been for this one teacher in school who told my parents that I absolutely should make music, I wouldn’t have become a singer. So this person changed my life, completely. Maybe, with the “académie,” I want to return just a portion of the opportunities I have been given by this one person. There was a huge portion of luck as well. With 18 years, I started to sing, and by 20, I was singing Nerone in Monteverdi’s “Lincoronazione di Poppea, which was a little crazy.

But apparently it was worth the risk!

Jaroussky: (laughs) Still, I was too young! My mind may have been ready, however, my physical means weren’t. On the other hand, this fearlessness has played to my great advantage: I never felt held-back when I sang, completely different from when I played the violin or the piano. I have met a lot of your artists who are highly talented and musically gifted, but who struggle to jump in at the deep end. As an artist, you have to take the risk.

We haven’t talked about yet another important part of the singing profession yet: acting. Does it come naturally to you?

Jaroussky: I’m not a natural actor, and I’m quite frank about that. However, you can learn the art of acting. I’m watching intensely what my colleagues do, how they move on stage. And I understood one thing: At your rehearsal, when you work with the stage director, you’re becoming their puppet. It’s not your job to question what she or he in the director’s chair is telling you – you just do it and focus on singing.

Let’s take Cecilia Bartoli, who is incredibly versatile and flexible. A director can ask her for the exact opposite of what she has been doing just before. And she just does it! That’s definitely a thing that takes work to learn: being no more than a doll. An opera house is a giant machine, with a multitude of passionate people in all professions. It’s expensive on top of it. A bad production, concerning craft or artistry, simply isn’t an option.

And vice versa: how should a stage director treat the singers?

Jaroussky: They have to understand the singer. It’s possible that during their conception, they had a completely different type of singer in mind. So next is, to adapt their own concept to the singer who’s actually on stage. That means stage directors have to be flexible as well, not just stubbornly pursue their initial idea. For me, what makes a good stage director is to have a clear concept of what they want, but being able to compromise in adapting it, taking into account the possibilities and personalities of the singers. Singers are absolutely different.

Do you feel that as a countertenor, you have more limitations on stage than, let’s say, a soprano, because you have a different technique?

Jaroussky: Not because I’m a countertenor. But we countertenors differ a lot from each other, have different qualities and consequently, different challenges. For my part, I would never sing Giulio Cesare by Händel.

Never or not yet?

Jaroussky: Never! Neither Ariodante. I am very careful in choosing my parts. I need to feel that I can to contribute something new and uncommon to a character. I want to surprise with my role, and offer the audience something they haven’t heard like that before. After all, that’s what makes opera so exciting.

Philippe Jaroussky sings Handel:

 

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2017-10-17 featured press

Deutschlandfunk – Erfüllung eines Lebenstraumes

2017-10-17, Deutschlandfunk, by Philipp Quiring

Mit einem eigenen Konservatorium auch für nicht privilegierte Kinder und junge Erwachsene hat sich der gefeierte Countertenor Philippe Jaroussky einen Traum erfüllt. Es befindet sich im Kulturzentrum La Seine Musicale in Paris. […]

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2017-10-16 featured press

Le Figaro – Philippe Jaroussky ou l’âge des passions

2017-10-16, Le Figaro, by Thierry Hillériteau

Avec lui, le doute n’est pas permis. Non que la virtuosité vocale et la pyrotechnie soient totalement bannies de l’album. Certains airs – à l’instar de l’impressionnant Agitato da fiere tempeste, de Riccardo Primo, ou de l’ébouriffant Vile, se mi dai vita, de Radamisto – rappellent que le contre-ténor est actuellement en pleine possession de ses moyens vocaux, tant dans l’aigu que dans le médium – même s’il s’est permis, comme c’était monnaie courante à l’époque, quelques transpositions. Une maîtrise qui transparaît d’ailleurs tout autant dans ses reprises da capo, souvent épurées et éthérées. […]

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2017-10-16_02 featured press

Silas Bassa on Facebook – “Avec Philippe Jaroussky …”

2017-10-16, Silas Bassa on Facebook

“Avec Philippe Jaroussky …” […]

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2017-09-30 featured press

France Musique – L’Académie Philippe Jaroussky à la Seine musicale

2017-09-30, France Musique, by Thierry Hillériteau

La chronique de Thierry Hillériteau
Par Thierry Hillériteau
le samedi à 7h40
MUSIQUE CLASSIQUE

L’Académie Philippe Jaroussky à la Seine musicale

La chronique de Thierry Hillériteau du samedi 30 septembre 2017

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2017-09-23 featured press

DakApp on Facebook – “We know you’ve been waiting for this …”

2017-09-23, DakApp on Facebook

“We know you’ve been waiting for this.” […]

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