Staalkaart #7

Great pictures! But - for God's sake!!! - it's all in Dutch!!!!!!!!! (or is it?..)

Yes, in Dutch...but maybe anyone can translate...?

Oh, allright then...

THERE IS AN ASPECT OF BEING A BIG CHILD TO OUR PROFESSION

Life has smiled upon Philippe Jaroussky, the french countertenor of whom is said that he has the voice of an angel, but the virtuosity of the devil. At age 32 Jaroussky can rejoice in an audience who will buy all his albums, no matter how unknown the repertoire he records. His CD's on a castrato, Carestini, and the youngest son of Bach, Johann Christian, turned gold without any trouble. In that same manner he will earn a gold CD with his newest CD on a forgotten composer, Caldara, that will appear next november. The only dark cloud on the horizon is a part of the music press who find this success, the ovations, the record breaking selling and the groupies at least a bit suspect for a classical artist. So, in view of that controverse, and the fact that soon, on dec.9 Jaroussky will perfom with his colleague Andreas Scholl in Brussels, we headed for Paris, to have an open and honest conversation with an artist, who, in his own words, has managed to find the balance between musical mastership and modern marketing.

More later. Too frustrated now. Just lost a whole page in the depths of the interwebs.

With superstars like PhJ the countertenor timbre has become an accepted one in old music. Jaroussky has the most skillful head register at the moment, with natural highs and an almost unlimited souplesse and colour. His way of singing has nothing to do anymore with the former old goat imitation that made us just want women on stage, even though they weren't around during the baroque era. Besides being a competent singer Jaroussky is also an irresistibly convincing actor on stage, like we could all witness in dec. 2007 at the Theatre du Champs Elysees, where he performed Landi's Il sant'Alessio and effortly wiped the floor with the competition on stage, and they were all renowned singers. Thanks to singers like Jaroussky it has become possible to perform such baroque opera;s nowadays. According to baroque expert William Christie, until recently there just were not enough countertenors around to fill the 9 CT cast of Alessio.

Jaroussky:"I remember him saying that, but I don't think he meant that there weren't enough countertenors as such, just that the ones that were around were not different enough when it comes to vocal colour and range. Alessio is a Roman oratorium that banned women, so these high parts were meant for a large variety of singing voices. I can imagine that posed some problems ten years ago. Also, it was not long ago that it was believed that the voice of a countertenor was simply not strong or high enough to do an opera. But these stereotype ideas have changed."

Q: Is it safe to assume that it is the interest in the baroque era that made this voice type so popular these past years? And where does this interest come from?

Jaroussky:"Well, certain tophits of the baroque reportoire were always being performed, like the opera's by Händel or Monteverdi, and they have become classics like Mozart or Beethoven. But indeed, there exists now a fascination with music that is virtuoso, with rhythmic charge and enlarged emotions. On top of that, this past decade shows a keen interest in the timbre gone lost of the castrati, as well as their personal history. Through the current countertenors, who are all still intact of course, people are trying to relive the impact these castrati had. "

Q: It all points in the direction of castrati both exciting and and rejecting their audiences. Castrati like Carestini were admired by the english audience, but were also suspected of being catholic agitators who were trying to undermine the anglican faith.

Jaroussky: "Let's be realistic: these people were monsters. And even though todays' audience is used to the idea of a castrato on a stage, it is not used to the idea of a castrato living a real life. Films like Farinelli are covering up this theme. The castrati of those days were both admired and ostracised. Farinelli was the exception to that rule because he was politically very active, and even made it to be a cabinet minister in Spain, but most of the castrati came from a very humble background. People always talk of their arrogance, their diva behaviour, their refusal to sing arias that were not written especially for them, but that was probably their revenge for what was done to them. If you take into account that only one percent of all these castrated boys made it on the operatic stage, you can imagine what a world of grief lies behind the practice, not to mention the atrocity of the medical procedure itself. "

carolineleiden,

thank you!
GRATIAS TIBI AGO.

Q: Did you see the movie Farinelli? You could not have been more than sixteen then?

Jaroussky: "actually, I did, but I was still only a violinplayer, not a singer. I thought it was an interesting movie that painted a portrait of the man Farinelli, apart from a few historic misses, but strangely enough I was not attracted at all to the aria's. To think I would be singing them myself just a few years later!(laughs) You see what an evolution people go through? I really only discovered baroque music when I was training my countertenorvoice, not the other way around. Baroque did not lead me to be a singer. "

Q: "I remember reading somewhere that you discoverd your vcoive when your mother was playing a Callas aria, that you could just effortless sing along."

Jaroussky: " When I was young I never sang in a choir, like many of my colleagues. It really is amazing that I only started singing at 18, and before that I just played the violin. Well, because, as a violinist I was part of a culture of high notes, and when I was an adolescent I sang along with aria's like Casta Diva, and that probably helped me keep some of my high timbre when I went through the vocal change, and the souplesse perhaps too. The funny thing is that I wanted to be a musician from a very early age, but I had never expected to become a countertenor. It's one of the surprises life has in store for you".

Q: "Your regular voice is a baritone, I understand."

Jaroussky: "When I started working on my voice my teacher told me: "listen, I will decide what your real voice is." And she had a point. You have to look at people wanting to become a countertenor with a little suspicion. Many singers want to become one for the wrong reasons. To express their sexual orientation, for example. But the moment we started to test both my chest and my headvoice, it was clear I was much better in headvoice. Longer breath, more expression, with more ease and more souplesse. If not, I would have become a baritone.
But there's more: being a countertenor is a way of life. It needs a certain attitude of youthfulness. There is an aspect of being a big child in our profession. When I sang with Andreas Scholl in Giulio Cesare, I noticed he has kept that adolescent in him alive."

Q: "They say you sing like an angel, but your virtuosity is very mature, diabolical."

Jaroussky: "This being an angel is going on my nerves, for a long time now. What is an angel? Just being an angel is not enough to bring to life the passion and virtuosity in baroque music. What made the castrati unique was the fact that they had a much stronger voice than us singing in that register, but they had kept something soft too. It is that mix of power and tenderness that fascinated me always, and which has to be maintained, as a countertenor. Sometimes you must let a state of grace and pure emotion sink into a melodic line, but at different moments you must have the power to express jealousy, hatred, treason and extreme pain. Combine that with the fact that the castrati had less technical limitations than us nowadays due to their larger tessitura, and you know that as a counytertenor you must always realise that in choosing your programme you have to be a kamikaze, you have to take a risk. That is what the audience likes in baroque: the extreme expression and the physical risk."

Q: "As a vocal late bloomer with an instrumentalist background, how did you learn to deal with lyrics and drama?"

Jaroussky: " For me it was hard to put words to the notes, mostly because I was quite shy in the beginning. I had a tendency to hide behind the instruments, because I felt so completely naked. I sang with my own voice, and I let my body express emotions that were much more violent than I was used to. An added problem was the acting. As a violinplayer, my background was the musical world, but a lot of singers come from a theatrical background. They discovered their singing voice when they received singinglessons to strengthen their speakingvoice. They have much better ideas on dramaturgy. I have said it before: I need time to get assimilated into a part. When I come to rehearsals in a room without a decor in my sneakers, and they tell me: hey, you are the emperor Nero, I need time to get that. In the end I always succed into singing a part towards me.

You know, i am a very independant artist, I get to choose what I sing and who I work with, I am so fortunate in that aspect. But when you are doing an opera, you are part of a microcosmos. You have to maintain the balance with the other singers, the musicians and the conductor. You have to say to yourself: "they want me to do this, and let's do it as good as I can".

Q: "Don't get me wrong, but on a stage you are intensely committed, and on a CD you seem so cool."

Jaroussky: "Interesting you should say that, because I have noticed it myself. In listening to the later CD's I find I dig deeper and deeper into the expression of colours, of relief, of the emotions of the music I sing. I have been working on that so hard for so long, and sometimes I become a charicature. Like performing according to a recipe on auto pilot, and then you are not completely happy with the result. And in the same way, CD recordings tend to wipe out a lot of depth and dimension. Nothing can replace a recital in that aspect, where audiences can see the physical intentions and the real emotions of the singer, where nothing is evened out by the conditions of the recording session, or the terror of the microphone. A few years ago I saw a fantastic mezzo at work, Jennifer Larmore, when we were doing Orlando furioso, and I was shocked because she almost spat her words into the micro, and I thought: she wasn't this extreme yesterday at rehearsal. When I listened to the recordings later I noticed it did not sound exaggerated at all. Personally I try not to go to far, not to overdo it. I am not a mezzo, it is too dangerous, too straining for my voice. "

Q: "Your next CD contains arias written by Antonio Caldara, one of the great composers of the 18th century, who nevertheless was completely forgotten".

Jaroussky: "I like dusting off forgotten music, I find it exciting. I made people rediscover a fantastic castrato, Carestini, who was every bit as good as Farinelli, who everybody knows. I brought to light another (Johann Christian) Bach, than the one everybody knows. Antonio Caldara is a bit like Alessandro Scarlatti. He is known in the baroque world, but he is hardly ever recorded. We have the wonderful Maddalena ai piedi di Christo, sung by Andreas Scholl and Maria Christina Kiehr, and we have some cantates recorded by my colleague Max Emmanuel Cencic. There is an opera, La clemenza di Tito, but that is only recorded partially. Not very impressive for somebody who wrote almost 80 opera's, and that is not counting all the oratoria. What convinced me to do Caldara is the enormous quality of his work and the fact you have so much to choose from. I remember preparing for this project, leaving the libary with my heart pounding because I had discovered as much as 5 complete opera's on microfilm. This treasure hunt is wonderful. You turn a page and there is another aria you want to sing, and you'll be the first to do that in 300 years.

One could say being a pioneer like that is comfortable, because nobody can compare you to others and this undiscoverd music really becomes yours, but there is an educational side to that too. I am not proud of what I record. When I listen to them, I want to get back and do it again. A recording is just a moment in time. But then somebody tells me that thanks to me he has come to know Bach or Carestini, and I am happy for being able to do that for people, to have been able to enlarge their knowledge, their repertoire. It is also nice to learn that a CD can keep on existing for longer than 4 months after its release, even in these times of crisis. I will keep working for that. If we want the music industry to survive, we have to find new ways. We have to make an appealing product, with a story behind it, that people will want to hold in their hands, and a booklet to leaf through."

More later. I am still hungover from yesterday...

Oh, thank you! Thank you a thousand times, dear carolineleiden!!!

Thank you very much!

Thank you, Caroline, thank you very much!
Happy Easter!

carolineleiden
Thank you!

Q: "The worldwide crisis does not seem to affect you. Your Vivaldi CD sold over a 100.000 copies. These are figures unheard of in the classical music industry."

Jaroussky: "It is true that I have a very loyal audience, that I managed to build up these past years by doing a lot of recitals and who are also following me in my recording adventures. The latest three albums all went gold and that is like.... kind of fantastic!One should never go blase over something like that. I know of artists who do not particularly like recording their work, but what attracts me to recordings is the extreme concentration it takes to be completely absorbed for two hours with one virtuoso aria. It takes a certain kind of energy to find just that right take, with the perfect colour and all the right emotions. Generally speaking you spent a very intense week with an orchestra with your ultimate goal to do the best possible recording. Doing that is an activity both intense and beautiful. "

Q: "You are an artist with clearly visible musical qualities that need no praise, but you cannot deny there is a very smart marketing strategy behind that succes, which also focuses on the non-musical aspects of you as a person. When I told my female colleagues I was going to do an interview with you they just sighed in extasy, and gave me a bunch of CD's for you to sign for them.... "

Jaroussky: "(laughs) Let's have them! Since I started working with Virgin classics we have been working on an image, together, but I do not believe it is an artificial or wrong image. The photographs on the CD covers are quite simple, except maybe the one on the vivaldi CD, with the jacket over my shoulder. I have no exceptional look, I stay within normal range for classical music. (Yeah right, with those eyes? Caroline) But what I just said is maybe contributing to the succes: I try never to be blase or arrogant, and I want the audience to feel they can always approach me. I learned a good lesson from Cecilia Bartolli, who I asked an autograph from long long before I was famous. What I saw was an incredibly generous and kind woman who took time for all her fans to come and get an autograph for two hours after a concert. I try to show that same kind of respect for the people who come to my concerts. I am well aware that is not my autograph they want, it's about the personal contact. Just a few words, a little eye contact, that creates an bond of affection. The era of the diva who was way out of reach of mere mortals is really over. Only moviestars and rockstars can still afford that kind of behaviour. "

Q: "Aren't you afraid of the controversy that seems to affect Cecilia Bartolli at the moment? She is beyond any doubt a fantastic singer, but to some she is also a hyped Decca-brand, and one can sense that not everybody is taking her serious anymore. Aren't you afraid of fame like that?"

Jaroussky: "What can you do when you get so famous that you start to outgrow the normal classical environment? You immediately get accused of just being a marketed brand name. To me it is amazing that an artist like Bartolli can record a CD full of unknown composers like Vinci, Porpora, Caldara or Graun and still sells hundreds of thousands of copies. That means she has brought a huge audience into contact with music that has never even been recorded before! I admire her because her CD's will turn out to be classics in 50 years time, and I am utterly grateful she has paved the way for artists like myself, by showing it is not necessary to record famous works to be succesful."

Q: "Isn't it true that Bartolli gives her audience what they want: something spectacular? "

Jaroussky: "You know, I am beginning to feel the pressure too, that an audience wants something spectacular from us. It is probably normal that they want more and more virtuoso performances. I remember a recital by Bartolli that had no musical intermissions: she sang non stop for two and a half hours, that was impressive! But I was surprised that the audience went through the roof after a spectacular aria written for Farinelli, but they reacted much cooler after an aria that is calmer, but just as beautiful, Arianna, by Haydn.

It is extremely hard not to limit yourself to the repertoire of which you know for sure that the audience is going to go wild over. That is exactly the reason that I will keep on doing recitals of 19th century french music -Debussy and Faure are everything but spectacular, and I will also do contemporary music. Next year I will be singing a modern opera about the life of Caravaggio, that is going to be a rather complex matter to listen to. I also try to do a lot of collaborations with other singers, which is a good way to stay out of the narcissistic and egotistical solo opera work. That is a very interesting thing to do, especially with colleagues like Andreas Scholl, later this year, or Max Emmanuel Cencic, next year. When I sing with another countertenor, people tend to think it will be some sort of contest, but that is not the case. If you put two countertenors on a stage next to eachother, you really start to notice their different qualities. We'll have a bit of ping-pong in the duets, and we will add some humour. I try to do that, to do something funny during the encore, but I am being criticised there too: it's too easy, too demagogic. But is only during the encores that you can play a little with the serious atmosphere of a classical recital.".

Q; "I wonder how you manage this murderous tempo of recordings, opera's, recitals and tours. "

Jaroussky: "Och, it is an enterprise with lots of variation. But I will be taking a sabbatical in 2013, with a completely concert free period from januari until august. I really want to contemplate what I want to do after that. Performing all year round, with only a week vacation from time to time prevents you from the distance you need to be able to do decide the direction you want to be heading in. So that is what I am going to be doing in 2013."

Finished!

Happy Easter everybody, and for our orthodox friends, who are celebrating Easter one week later this year : have a good Good Week. May He be with you all the days of your lives.

Wonderful! Thank you again!

Thanks a million for the translation, Caroline!! A very good interview. It's so nice to get to know about all the work that lies behind a finished album. - More, more!!

Dear Caroline, Thanks so much for the effort! It's such a great and informative interview.

Joanna

Great trove, thank you! The photos are....

carolineleiden

Many thanks for your translation!

Finally a chance for me to make myself useful. Glad to have been of assistence.

Thank you so much caroline!!!! Great interview and God knows we get so few of them in the U>S>!!! The pictures were so adorable too...with his short hair and beautiful eyes! I like that he keeps his feet on the ground always and he has firm and informed ideas about himself and others. A lot of work for you....