RTL & France Inter

Ecoutez Philippe Jaroussky en direct demain - 4 sept 2013
sur RTL à 9h dans "Laissez-vous tenter"
sur France Inter à 16h, invité de Frédéric Lodéon

(email I received from Philippe Jaroussky [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] on Tue, 3 Sep 2013 16:22)

Dans son nouvel album, qui paraîtra lundi prochain, Philippe Jaroussky aborde pour la première fois un ensemble d’airs chantés par Farinelli, le plus célèbre des castrats. Ces onze airs, dont sept inédits, dans lesquels la pyrotechnie la plus folle se mêle aux émotions les plus poignantes, ont été composés spécialement à l’attention du castrat par le fameux compositeur napolitain Nicolo Porpora, qui fut aussi son professeur dès le plus jeune âge. On découvre ainsi au fil des airs combien le maître chercha à développer le talent unique de son élève et combien l’élève servit la gloire du compositeur tout en cultivant la sienne. Tous deux écrivirent ensemble l’une des pages les plus palpitantes de l’histoire de l’opéra, la plume de l'un et la voix surnaturelle de l'autre menant la vocalité baroque à son apothéose.

Philippe Jaroussky, accompagné par le Venice Baroque Orchestra dirigé par Andrea Marcon, est rejoint par Cecilia Bartoli pour deux duos d’exception.

chablisuk
Egbertine

Thank you both!!!   

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Emission on 04.09.13 ( recorded).

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Thanks to Egbertine!  

If anyone would like a translation of the Qobuz video, please let me know. You may have to wait a few days for it though as I have a very busy week ahead ...  

A.

Everyone would like !!! 

And we´re willing to wait. 

Artemis  

Funny emission this morning on France Inter "On va tous y passer" with Philippe at 11 am
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Surprising improvisation! 
Impossible to translate!

Translation of the QOBUZ video interview -

Here's Part 1.   I reckon I'm about half-way through the interview now.   I hope to be able to finish the other half in a couple of days when I'll post Part 2.  Where necessary, I've paraphrased and I've tried to remove some of the hesitations and repetitions and "fillers" whilst still remaining faithful to Ph. J.'s speech patterns (I hope).  If this interview were in English he'd be   "Ah feenking"  all over the place ...

A.


MZ:   Hello, Philippe Jaroussky

Ph. J. Hello.

MZ: You’ve devoted your latest album to Farinelli.  Up to now, one couldn’t say that you’ve taken much interest in his repertoire, at least not in any depth.  Now you’ve recorded arias written for the famous castrato by Nicola Porpora.  You might say they were a bit like Dr. Frankenstein and his monster.  Where did you get this idea from?  Perhaps you could tell us why you have waited so many years before fully tackling this?

Ph. J.: Let’s say that Farinelli is a name that immediately conjures up – along with the film, obviously – the quintessential castrato, the very picture of a virtuoso castrato in all his glory.  At the same time, it was something that I was more than a little afraid of.  There have been many attempts to sing Farinelli’s repertoire and, as far as I was concerned, I didn’t want to reduce the entire history of the castrati to Farinelli only.  That’s why, a few years ago, I did an “anti-Farinelli” CD – “Carestini” – in order to put other castrati into the spotlight.  I’ve always been very wary – you know, there’s always a concert when someone tells me that I sing “Farinelli” – first of all, I don’t sing “Farinelli”; I sing his repertoire – and I hadn’t found an angle to approach it – to do something more original than just singing the 4 or 5 arias that are heard most often.  In the past few years, I started to do (concert) performances where I tried to recreate the rivalry between Farinelli and Carestini – and then I started singing some of Porpora’s arias, notably the wonderful “Alto Giove” from Porpora’s “Polifemo”, which is arguably the most beautiful aria that Porpora wrote for Farinelli.  I found that there was a large part of his repertoire which, to my great surprise, suited my tessitura, my sensitivities and suited me vocally – something that was unthinkable a few years ago.  That’s how the idea took hold.  The notion behind the CD – of course, dedicated to Farinelli – is to give an idea of what the art of Farinelli was like – obviously, I have no pretensions of passing myself off as Farinelli.  It’s really a CD to enable people to discover the music of Porpora.  In the last few years, the music of these Neapolitan composers – whether it’s Porpora, Scarlatti or Vinci – has really been focused upon – and there’s such a lot of fabulous music to discover.  Porpora is really one of those composers who deserve more attention.  

MZ: So some of these arias are unique to the CD …

Ph. J. Yes, quite a few.  It’s true that when you do a recital CD, it’s rather easy to just pick out the quintessential arias, the most beautiful arias from each of the operas.  I chose Porpora because Farinelli had sung such a lot of his work – that is to say, a good 10 operas or so, bearing in mind that he sang on stage for about 15 years.  So he’s one of the composers whose works he sang most. What I liked immediately about this music – and of course, there are some virtuoso arias – was that I quickly sensed the almost paternal, affectionate bond between the teacher, Porpora and the pupil, Farinelli.  Through Porpora’s music – particularly in some of the slow arias – you can really feel his great tenderness towards this singer, who he had probably known even before the castration, since the age of 8 or 9 years, whose (career) he had followed and whose talent he had nurtured and fashioned after his own tastes.  When Porpora needed a singer to compete with Handel and Carestini, he enlisted Farinelli who, obviously, had no choice but to help his former teacher.  

MZ: Let’s talk about the Neapolitan style.  What is it that you find particularly affecting about it – and Porpora?

Ph. J. I would say that there is something about it which grates but which charms me at the same time.

MZ: Were you charmed right away?

Ph. J. When you read some of the music – even with the manuscript – you find it – let’s say for the sake of argument – simplistic.  You say to yourself “Always the same harmonies, always the same harmonic formula …”.  It seems a bit facile but, all of a sudden, when the instrumental parts are being played and you begin to sing, you rediscover all the flavour and the intelligence of this music.  It’s music whose object is really to show off the voice to advantage, and to charm.  It dispenses with certain constraints like counterpoint.  It’s really very rhythmic music, sometimes with simple, even simplistic, harmonies but which seeks out the sensuality of the vocal line.  It’s also music which stretches and plays with the tessitura a lot.  Finally, what charms me about this music also irritates me – that is to say, a simplicity which is sometimes a bit disconcerting.  Porpora had certain effects in his composer’s bag of tricks, which he didn’t hesitate to use again and again, in every opera, simply because he knew that they worked well.  In the arias that he wrote for Farinelli, you have the impression that he was making a concerted effort to offer him music of a better quality than for the other singers.  That’s why the arias Porpora wrote for Farinelli are, for the most part, more interesting than the rest of the opera.  I think he had a lot of respect for the taste and the knowledge of this castrato – because – compared to the other castrati – Farinelli was the most cultured, the most sensitive, the most refined of them all.  He carried on a correspondence with the nobility, with Metastasio.  He was really very cultured.  He was also a composer himself and composed some arias which are very interesting.  I think that Porpora felt obliged to give the best of himself for his most well-known pupil.

(Short extract of “Mira in Cielo” from Arianna e Teseo”)

MZ: Leaving aside the historical facts which are well documented, let’s talk a bit about this singular relationship – almost like a father and son.  He composed knowing that it was Farinelli who was going to interpret the music.  It really was an extraordinary relationship.

Ph. J.: Yes, but at the same time – and there are some documents to support this – you can imagine the strictness of these Neapolitan schools and that of Porpora in particular.  You can imagine – when they began to sing with a great teacher from the age of 8, 9 or 10 – the iron discipline.  We know that they used to spend over an hour a day just practicing trills.  There is this story – not about Farinelli but about Caffarelli – where Porpora made him work for years on just one page of exercises telling him that when he had mastered that one page he would be able to sing.  (No wonder Caffarelli turned out to be such an arrogant bastard when he broke loose! A.  )  So they were under a yoke of iron discipline and I think that, despite all the affection, there was also an element of fear and respect.  He was a very imposing person.  What we do know about Porpora is that he took many of his pupils into his own home; he lodged them.  Farinelli’s father died when he (Farinelli) was relatively young.  Porpora also took in Haydn to give him lessons in composition.  In this light, you can imagine – because we don’t have much documentation – that behind the rather imposing figure of a strict teacher – because to arrive at this level of technical virtuosity you had to be strict – there was a person of real generosity.  Unfortunately, there are not many letters – well none at all really.  Farinelli rarely mentions Porpora in his letters but he mentions him at the end, when he hears of the death in poverty of Porpora, and then there is a sort of tenderness coming from him.  However, I think that the relationship was also a little coloured by fear and that’s why it’s such a complex relationship - which interested me very much for this project.  

MZ: Did you draw more personally on the relationships that you had with your former teachers or your teachers?

Ph. J. Yes, I’ve been working with the same teacher, Nicole Fallien, for more than 15 years now.  I think there is definitely a parallel to be drawn here.  Porpora was probably one of the first to hear Farinelli when he was a child and he followed his development – whether at a musical or personal level - for at least the first 10 years.  I think my own teacher has watched me mature both with age and with the concerts.  There were also moments of doubt.  I always maintain that a singing lesson can sometimes turn into a real psychological session!  There are doubts when one does concerts – “Can I manage to do this rôle?”, “Is this aria suitable for me?” In parallel with the technical work, there is always this relationship of trust, which is just as important.  

MZ: Re teaching, you have come a long way but you learn something new every day, to use a cliché.  How did you manage to avoid falling into the trap that you mentioned at the beginning of the interview of virtuosity almost for the sake of it, the bravura, the brilliant vocalization, the sort of freak show aspect that you sometimes see with countertenors?  You said at the beginning that you were a little afraid of taking on Farinelli and on this CD you have showcased arias which are beautiful but not of a particularly virtuoso nature.

Ph.J. Yes.  That’s probably why Porpora wrote so well for Farinelli.  It reminds me of a scene in the film, “Farinelli” – an incident which is totally invented by the way – where Handel comes to see Farinelli at the end of an opera and says “You have totally castrated my imagination”.  Farinelli the “Monster” was able to sing virtually anything that he wanted to and I think many composers were in thrall to this technical and vocal “monstruosity”.  I’ve looked at other scores written for Farinelli and sometimes there are never-ending virtuoso passages, perpetual double notes on two lines, ascending and descending.  You ask yourself “but where is the music in all this?”  Porpora was not in awe of Farinelli’s voice because he had seen him slowly mature and he fashioned him after his own tastes.  It’s surprising to see that Porpora didn’t go to any extreme lengths to show Farinelli’s voice to advantage.  What strikes me particularly is that he showcases the length of breath, the freshness, the beauty, the warmth and this mixture of limpidity and power.  We know that Farinelli’s personality was very different from the other castrati.  He was more reserved, perhaps a little less capricious than the others.  He had a loftiness of vision and a certain sweetness.  This is obvious in Porpora’s music, even in the virtuoso arias where he rather puts the stress on Farinelli’s ability to change the atmosphere and to interpret a text.  Of course, the virtuosity is still there but this is not the most virtuoso music written for Farinelli that I have found.  Over and above the technician, he shows respect for the musician.  

MZ:  Was there anything that helped you in your early career to go beyond that virtuosity, which you certainly have to learn, if only to forget afterwards, in order to just concentrate on the music?  Was there any particular person or any particular repertoire which helped you to go beyond this phase?

Ph.J.  Yes, there was some repertoire which helped.  I sang Vivaldi for many years along with Jean-Christophe Spinosi, who is a very forceful conductor.  He actually pushed me in this virtuosity sometimes.  I really had to work to attain the tempo that he wanted -which sometimes I had problems with.  My feelings about virtuosity have changed since the beginning (of my career).  When I first began to sing, I had the carefree attitude of youth – that is, the more difficult a piece was, the more I found it exciting.  It was very thrilling to take it on.  Now after several years of concerts, I feel that I’m a bit more cautious.  I don’t want to gloss over pieces any more; I want to work in greater depth whether it’s more spiritual or deeper works or even virtuoso works.  As the violinist Itzhak Perlman interestingly says “I want to sing all the notes”.  Even with virtuosity, I want there to be something behind it – a sort of sincerity and truth – not just something to impress (people) with.  Baroque composers like Porpora and others were very intelligent and really knew how to set up a dramatic situation even when writing music of great virtuosity.  That’s the strength of this music.  The virtuosity is not just there for the sake of it.  This virtuosity is impressive when it supports the dramatic situation.

(Short extract from Polifemo – Placidetti Zeffiretti – with Cecilia Bartoli

Artemis

 and  as well.

May I defend Sig. Caffarelli  just a little?  He wasn´t that " arrogant bastard" at all - rather an very complex personality. Of course, he wasn´t also that kind "angel" like our dear  inimitable Carlo, but we should take a look at the whole story . 

Here we are the famous sheet Porpora´s exercise. Any volunteers to try?  

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Jana,

I didn't mean any disrespect to Sig. Caffarelli. I was just being flippant (as usual).  In fact, I'm eagerly awaiting the day when Franco Fagioli's Caffarelli album plops through my letter box. I don't think I'll be taking on Porpora's exercises though - just looking at them gives me a headache!  

Here's the rest of the translation of the QOBUZ video interview. Just one thing, Philippe (in common with a lot of singers) never refers to "MY" voice. He always says "THE" voice. I guess it's a way that singers have of distancing themselves from their "instrument". For the sake of clarity, I have translated this as "MY" voice here as "THE" voice sounds really strange to non-singers (and I guess that's most of us!).  

A.


QOBUZ INTERVIEW - PART 2.



MZ: You’re taking Cecilia Bartoli along with you in this musical enterprise in the form of two arias. Did you invite her? (Ph. J. nods) We last met when your “Opium” CD came out. At that time, we talked about the people who influenced your musical education and you mentioned her name. You said that she was a “musical magician” and that you always had the impression that she was telling you something and that her great gift of (musical) rhetoric was very important to you.

Ph. J.: Oh yes, enormously. This is exactly what we were just talking about – this virtuosity nourished by a situation, a sentiment, or an expression – and she has all of this deep within herself. Of course, it involves a lot of hard work. She is someone who is constantly re-evaluating herself. I worked quite a lot with her last year on ”Giulio Cesare” in Salzburg and on the duets that we did on her album – and also on mine. It was very moving for me but at the same time, when I did the recordings with her, I couldn’t (allow myself to) be emotional – it wasn’t the moment for that! I had to give the best of myself and when working with Cecilia, it’s a real challenge to be expressive, since she herself overflows with expression. She has this “Italian-ness”, this generosity that I would have to strive all my life for – being French, it is not inborn. She also has this precision, this positivity, this charm. What’s very touching when you sing with her is that she adapts herself vocally to the other singers. As I’ve already said, this is the most wonderful gift. She could very well just be content to sing as divinely as she does but during the recording she really made an effort for our voices to sound alike. It was very moving for me and when I listen to it again, I think that this is perhaps the greatest gift that I have received during 15 years of concerts and operas. To fulfill a dream like this is an enormous thing for me, something which I treasure.

MZ: What was the most difficult thing concerning your own contribution to this CD? Were there any particular difficulties?

Ph. J.: Yes, there were some difficulties. Oddly, what sometimes makes these arias so treacherous is that there are hidden dangers. That is to say, with some of the arias I chose, I initially thought that they were not so very difficult – in fact, there are some passages, that a (casual) listener might not find so virtuoso and impressive, but which gave me more problems than the great virtuoso arias of Handel. It’s really very ornamental music. It’s sometimes difficult to find something (that sounds) natural. You really have to work at it. It’s also very physical. I love recording. A recording session is a very intense experience for me because there are times when you push yourself to the limits. Sometimes, you can spend 2 or 3 hours recording a really difficult aria which normally, on stage, you would sing in one go. Sometimes, even when you’re very tired you have to look out for (and improve) the deficient note, the deficient virtuoso passage. It’s stretching oneself, a sort of long distance race. A recording session is also a kind of total isolation because you spend more than a week singing, eating, sleeping, and preparing the arias to be recorded on a certain day. It’s really a very intense experience. You could also say that this is the most “Italian” of my recital CDs. It’s the first time that I’ve done a recording with an Italian orchestra, an Italian conductor – and Cecilia, of course. In some ways, it’s a kind of love letter to Italy. Ever since I began to sing, I’ve been fascinated by Italian art, all the Italian exuberance. I’ve gained a lot working with Andrea Marcon who has opened my eyes and changed my ideas about certain ways of expression. He’s someone who likes to play with rubato – that is, not necessarily putting the consonant where it is written, but placing it where one wants to accentuate a word. He’s someone who brought a lot to this recording. He has a certain poetry and sweetness about him and he really set my mind at rest during the recording (session). It’s also essential to work with conductors who actually like your voice. I need a conductor who trusts me, who brings me certain things as well, but who basically trusts me and likes what I do. I think we singers need a bit of pampering. (Behave yourselves, ladies!   A.) It certainly helps when making recordings, which are a huge challenge for a singer and for a countertenor in particular.

(Short extract from Orfeo: Dall amor più sventurato)

MZ: A voice grows, matures and changes over the years. How do you feel that your voice is developing today in comparison (with the past)?

Ph. J. Strangely, a few years ago, I thought that my voice would become much deeper but in the end, my tessitura has not changed all that much. It’s still that of a mezzo-soprano; you couldn’t really say that I’m an alto countertenor. Of course, I think my voice has become richer, freer, with better projection (without yelling!). I feel that the timbre has become more robust over the years and that I interpret the texts better. Basically, I’m an instrumentalist – and that’s where I had the most work to do – that of interpreting a text. I stopped all activity voluntarily during 8 months. I’m very keen to get back to work. I’ve started to sing again. The idea behind this break – when one sings a lot, there are certain things that one would like to correct but you just don’t have the time – you’re always running out of time, working on a new programme, a new recording. To have the possibility of stopping singing in an almost radical way - to bring down the house of cards and rebuild it – was something that I felt I really needed. A few days after taking things up again, I’m rather optimistic about the results. I feel that my voice has found its agility and fullness again. It’s not that it had lost these qualities but it was a little overworked by all the (concert) tours and various other projects. 2012 was a particularly busy year. Now I feel that I can work on future projects more proactively. What I think is very important – and it is a bit problematic –is that you have to keep surprising your public. Even if your audience follows and loves you, it’s important that they sometimes think: “Well, that was a pleasant surprise” – whether (the surprise) is at your skills of expression, your vocal health or your dramatic play. I really intend to work more on stage, to diversify my repertoire and to take the time to find out what I really want to sing in the future and at what age. My break has helped me a lot with this.

MZ: What kind of repertoire would you like to do, compared to the present (repertoire)?

Ph.J: Sometimes you say certain things and then you don’t keep to them. I always swore that I would never do a “Farinelli” CD and now I’ve done one! My current feelings are that I would like to go back to repertoire which is a little less virtuoso. I’m not sure whether this “Farinelli” CD will be the last one devoted to the castrato repertoire. In any case, I’d rather like to get closer to repertoire like Bach and Purcell, which is a little less virtuoso. I also have some projects with the Mélodies Françaises.

MZ: Which you have already worked on …

Ph. J.: Well, I’m going to keep hammering away at that again (“enfoncer le clou”). I’d like to sing a calmer repertoire where I feel able to show the full extent of what I can do musically – not to have huge technical barriers - and to really feel able to touch people in a deeper way that goes beyond mere technical virtuosity.

MZ: How will you be able to reconcile what you’ve just said with the commercial side of things – the expectations of the public at large and the recording companies? Sometimes there are problems – you have to get a recording company to accept a certain programme, a producer to agree to put on a certain show or a recital tour. How will you manage all this?

Ph. J.: Frankly, I’ve had the good fortune right from the beginning to be able to record more or less what I want. I’m fully aware that this is incredibly lucky. In the next few years, I’d like perhaps to be the driving force behind an operatic project – that is, not to wait until a rôle is suggested to me, but perhaps try to put on a production (myself). I understand that this is particularly difficult when a work is relatively unknown. In opera, there is this tendency to put on the same 15 or so operas – whether it’s French or Italian baroque opera. There are the 3 operas of Monteverdi, 6 or 7 of Handel’s best known operas that make up the basic repertoire of all the opera houses. I think things are beginning to change, notably as far as baroque opera is concerned. We’re aware of an enormous number of fantastic libretti; I’m thinking of the operas of Cavalli or the Neapolitan operas. Quite apart from the music, there are really some magnificent shows that are waiting to done. It would be a substantial task to try to persuade opera directors, to find your singing partners, etc. That’s quite another sort of work.

(Short extract from Ifigenia in Aulide: Le limpid’ onde)

MZ: Have CDs always accompanied you on your musical journey from your apprenticeship years until today?

Ph.J: I was a glutton for CDs. I’ve always bought a huge number of CDs whether vocal, piano or violin. The last time I moved (apartments), I put my music library in order and I thought “How is this possible”?

MZ: Did you have a sort out?

Ph.J.: I just can’t throw (things) away – but the number of CDs I bought when I was studying at the Conservatoire is unbelievable. I listen to recordings a little less now. If I’m singing works that have already been recorded, I tend to avoid listening to them before interpreting them myself – because one is easily influenced and I prefer to listen to them afterwards.

MZ: When you put (your music library) in order when you moved, were there one or two CDs that were more sacred to you than others, ones that you played again and again?

Ph.J.: Yes, there are a few CDs like that. It might seem surprising for a singer, but one of the first classical CDs that I bought when I was a student was Paganini’s 24 Caprices (for violin) by Itzhak Perlman which I’ve listened to a lot. Then there was a live recording of Callas in Aïda at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires. That’s something which still fascinates me and I need to listen to it from time to time because it’s so unearthly. The recording that has accompanied me a great deal in the last 10 years is Cecilia Bartoli’s Vivaldi album. There was a “before” and an “after” with this CD – whether you are talking about the discovery of the repertoire or the interpretation of baroque vocal music. Of course, it was a best seller and had an enormous success, but there was definitely a “before” and “after”.

MZ: Will you be performing these arias by Porpora for Farinelli on the concert platform?

Ph.J.: Yes, there will be a tour in France and in Europe and next year, in 2014, there will be a tour of the United States and, for the first time, an Asian tour. I’m really eager to discover new countries through this music. It’s one of the programmes that I will perform most often this year.

MZ: Otherwise, are there any other projects in the short and medium term?

Ph.J.: Yes, there will be a recording of an opera in November – I can’t tell you exactly when and there will be another album coming out in December. There are quite a lot of projects foreseen but unfortunately, there’s not enough time to do everything that I would like. As far as future work is concerned, I’d like to avoid spreading myself (too thin) and being too greedy. I’d like a large enough time frame to take on new repertoire and interpret it sufficiently long enough to give the impression that I’ve covered it fully.

MZ: This spreading of yourself (too thin) that you talk about, do you think it has harmed you in any way?

Ph.J.: No. It very well could have done but I think some people like that I do very varied things. It’s true that if you do loads and loads and loads of different programmes in the same year, I’m not sure that you can assimilate these all programmes physically. I don’t want to go on tour with just one programme but I’d like a sufficiently large time frame to digest and cover the music I sing fully.

MZ: Well take the time to relish these arias by Porpora for Farinelli which are coming out under the Erato label. Thank you, Philippe Jaroussky.

Ph.J. , Thank you.

Artemis,

many many thanks!  

Dear Artemis,

Thanks so much for your efforts. My French is getting better but it's great to have some extra help!!