Philippe Jaroussky on France 2 and Canal+

This is the best interview with Philippe Jaroussky on France 2
enjoy and Hope someone can upload on YT , it touched me , It would be great if it translate in English specially segment ( DOS A DOS )
Thanks
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Also there is nice interview With philippe Jaroussky on Canal +
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enjoy

If anyone wants, I don't mind having a go at translating the France 2 interview if someone can download it in some permanent form.(These interviews sometimes disappear from the ether quite quickly).  The "Dos à Dos" section is quite short but you might have to wait a bit (i.e. until I have some time available) for the rest of the interview.

A.

OK Artemis
The ( Dos à Dos ) is very fast , I can wait until someone download and share on forum
Thanks Artemis

Download link for Thé ou café, hope it works
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Thank you both

Here's the translation of the "Dos à Dos" section - beginning at around 53'.



Philippe Jaroussky – Back to Back



Interviewer (Catherine Ceylac):  Philippe Jaroussky – back to back and answers straight off the bat, please!

CC: Your worst nightmare on the night before a show or a concert?

Ph. J. It’s true, I do have nightmares.  I’m constantly dreaming that I’ll never manage to arrive on stage on time. (In my dreams), I take the bus or a taxi and I’m always late and always running.

CC: The last thing that left you speechless?

Ph. J. A video that I watched with some singer friends - Leontyne Price – a wonderful singer who I would recommend everyone to listen to. (He's not wrong there - A.)

CC: Which language to you dream in?

Ph. J.: Italian.

CC: What music do you find absolutely unbearable?

Ph. J.: Rap.

CC: Your own favourite physical feature?

Ph. J.: He, he.  I suppose I’d have to say the eyes.


CC: Any unpardonable fault?

Ph. J. I’m lazy.

CC: I don’t believe you.

Ph. J. Yes. (It’s true), I assure you.

CC: Any kind of rudeness that you hate?

Ph. J. As far as I’m concerned – people who constantly show their bad moods in front of others – it’s a form of rudeness.

CC: A luxury that you can’t live without?

Ph. J. Good wine.

CC.: Your worst habit?

Ph. J. Rotting in bed (inability to drag oneself out of bed).

CC: I don’t believe that either.

CC: Your craziest purchase?

Ph. J.: My last apartment.

CC: The compliment that you hate being paid?

Ph. J. “You have a beautiful voice”.

CC: Would you like to have been born a woman?

Ph. J. No, honestly, no.

CC: Anything (you find) a total turnoff?

Ph. J. Stupidity.  (Well, I guess that includes most of us mere mortals  - A.)

CC. Under what circumstances would you tell lies?

Ph. J. When do I lie?  When I do interviews …

(Actually, I wouldn't blame him a little bit for telling lies if he does - it's probably a way of preserving at least something of oneself from the relentless gaze of the public.   I suspect that in most of these interviews - not just Philippe's - the interviewer is told what the interviewee thinks they want to hear. - A)

CC. You lied then.

Ph. J. Perhaps.

CC. Your last “intoxicating night” in every sense of the term?

(The interviewer probably means a "night on the tiles" and Ph. J. seems to interpret it that way.  The term makes me think of the great love duet from "Les Troyens" - "Nuit d'ivresse et d'extase infinie"   - A.)

Ph. J. My last “intoxicating night”?   It was in Spain.

CC. What happened?

Ph. J. I’m someone who loves the night time.  There’s a certain intoxication about the night.  Time passes differently and I find one thinks and lives differently.  I love the night.

CC.: A task that you always put off until tomorrow?

Ph. J. As I told you at the beginning, practically everything.  Anyway, anything to do with paperwork I can put off for (at least) a month.

CC: The last time you cried?

Ph. J. On the death of my grandfather.

CC: The most sensual word of love?

Ph. J. The most sensual word of love – for me it’s a look, a glance.

CC: And the most sensual jazz voice?

Ph. J. Ella Fitzgerald.

CC: I knew you would say that.


Thanks for the link, Wolfie.   I hope it works - I won't be able to do the rest until sometime next week.   In any case, there's quite a bit that will have to be eliminated - extracts from the previous programme and interviews that have nothing to do with Ph. J.

A.

Of course, Artemis, thank you so much for the translation. The Dos à Dos section has made my day already!

My pleasure, Wolfie!

A.

Thank you Artemis you did good job
you made my day, Thanks Alot wolffie for download link Now I can watch Interview several times this interview is Unforgettable ,

Dear Artemis!

Many thanks for this amazing translation!!!

Thank you so much, Artemis!

Thank you very much for the translation!!

Here's the first ten minutes or so of the Thé ou Café interview to be going on with.   I'll do the rest as and when I get time.


Philippe Jaroussky – Thé ou café


Catherine Ceylac:    Hello, are you in good shape?

PJ: Very much so.

CC: We’re here together for (about) an hour and I’ll introduce you presently.

(A summary follows of the previous week’s programme, so you can now happily skip until 05:06 – A.)

CC:  Who is it facing the screen this morning?  Please introduce yourself.  First of all, what is your profession?

PJ: I’m an opera singer.

CC: Your family situation?

PJ: I’m in a civil partnership (Pacte civil de solidarité, aka Pacs).

CC: Your obsession in life?

PJ: Alarm clocks!

CC: Do you have a (personal) motto?

PJ: Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow.

CC: Your name and surname?

PJ Philippe Jaroussky

CC: Come and join me.  A spectacular career, always leap-frogging ahead, 4 Victoires de la Musique Classique, 3 Golden Discs …  I’ve wanted to meet you for a long time because you’re an absolute wonder.  Isn’t it true – you’re like a pop star, you make appearances (on stage), you sell a lot of albums and CDs, but you do things that are completely out of the ordinary, you’re very eclectic, multi-faceted.

PJ. Yes, I know.

CC: – But that’s what you enjoy, isn’t it? And to surprise (people)?

PJ: Yes, I like to surprise (people) – although with a countertenor voice, surprising people is already a given.  I’ve always enjoyed surprising people with my voice.  

CC: Let’s explain a bit.   The countertenor is a special kind of voice … (Here we go AGAIN - that the poor lad doesn’t expire from boredom during these interviews never ceases to amaze me! - A.)

PJ: Yes, I said “Opera singer” but it’s true that in the family of operatic voices, the countertenor voice is (just) beginning to find its place.  It’s no longer considered freakish.  The countertenor voice is the highest male voice.

CC: It’s a woman’s voice, in fact.   (NO, IT ISN’T   - A.)

PJ: You could categorize the countertenor voice as an alto, mezzo or soprano, just like the equivalent female voices.  It’s true that (in general) it’s specific to the repertoire of the castrati.

(You can skip again to 06:49 while CC takes time to introduce another guest on the programme.  - A).  

CC: Your name is of Russian origin.  Have you retained anything of your Russian roots?

PJ: Not much.   My great-grandparents fled the Russian Revolution but they didn’t even teach their children (my grandparents) the Russian language.

CC. That’s a shame.

PJ: It’s a real pity – but what I have inherited is a predilection for Russian romantic music.

CC: With a surname that really isn’t easy, that you probably have to constantly spell out, people must get it wrong …

PJ: Ah, Jaroussky – I always maintain that it isn’t easy enough to spell correctly but it’s not difficult enough for people to pay sufficient attention to write it correctly – but I like my name, I like the (Russian) sound of it.

CC: Did it never occur to you to take a stage name?

PJ: No, never!  In the classical milieu such a thing is not done very often.

CC:      I’ve a vital question to ask you.  Do you prefer hens or bells?  (CC has chocolate eggs and bells on her desk; the programme must have been recorded over Easter – A.)

PJ: Oh, I see why you’re asking.  I’m more inclined to bells – it’s more musical!

CC: Did you hunt for eggs in the garden when you were little?

PJ: My family had a country house in Burgundy and I remember that we did, indeed, hunt for eggs in the garden.

CC: What did your parents do (as a profession)?

PJ: My parents belonged to the suburban middle class.

CC: In Sartrouville?

PJ: Yes – my father was a sales executive and my mother worked in a physics laboratory but she stopped working when I was born.  Indeed, I had a suburban childhood in Sartrouville.

CC: Did music play an important part (in this childhood)?

PJ: No, not really.  My parents weren’t great music lovers but they used to listen to more or less everything – from Johnny Halliday to Callas.  They used to listen to classical music a little, but they had no (formal) background in classical music.  

CC: Is it true that you used to imitate Maria Callas?

PJ: Some of my first memories are of singing along to “Casta Diva” – instinctively, little realizing that this would later be my profession.

CC: At the age of 2, is it true or is it part of the folklore, that you used to sing along to the publicity jingles (on the television)?

PJ: You’re very well informed.  Yes, it’s true.  My mother very quickly noticed that as soon as I heard a sound, I would try to reproduce it.

CC: What on earth did it sound like?

PJ: I don’t know – “baby jingles”, I expect – but even as a very small child, I could hold tunes.


More to follow later ...

A.

Artemis,

endless thanks as well again!
Then, our Monsieur is already in a PACS, so so.... Congratulations to the both!

Another instalment.

Philippe Jaroussky – Thé ou café – Part Two

CC. Do you remember when you first stepped on stage?

PJ: Yes, I do.

CC: At 13 years old.

PJ: It was really rather special.

CC: 1500 people in the audience …

PJ: It was at Sartrouville and (I sang) a song that my music teacher had written for me.

CC: “Le Petit Prince”.   You could have had a career like Patrick Bruel!

PJ: It was at a time of youthful over-excitement and exuberance – that’s why you see all those cigarette lighters waving about in the background.  It seems that I was already quite a little show-off.

CC: You liked playing to the gallery even then and it’s still going on …

PJ: What I do remember is the vague feeling of being quite at ease (on stage).  It’s never been very hard for me to get up on stage.  

CC: That’s not your adult voice (we hear in the videoclip).  At that time, your voice had not yet broken.  

PJ: It’s the only record of my childhood voice.  Unlike other singers, and countertenors in particular, I never sang in a choir as a child.  I really came to singing quite late.

CC:   Your portrait … do you like to return to the past? We have some footage from the archives – that’s where those others came from.  It started well, so we’ll carry on.

Report by Magali Defer:  I’ve always had this vision of an opera singer in my head – somewhat mature and with a certain build – a deep and powerful voice (rather stereotypical footage of Pavarotti and Domingo belting out popular arias – I think this lady should take a good look at the Barihunks website    - A.) – until the day I discovered Philippe Jaroussky – the look of a choirboy and a slender figure and, above all, a voice that blows you away.  (All these comments are interlaced with archive footage of PJ – A.)

PJ: The countertenor voice generates a lot of interest but raises many questions.

MD: That’s true.  One asks: “How is it possible for a man to have such a feminine voice”.  

PJ: I sing in a head voice instead of a chest voice.

MD: True.  But it’s this uniqueness that makes you an extraordinary artist.

PJ: I didn’t think I’d be able to make it professionally with such a voice.

MD: Yes, and you can even have a career – yours is spectacular – singing lessons at 18, Révélation Artiste Lyrique at 26 and you picked up three more awards.  Idolized by the public on stages the world over, your Golden Discs proliferate whether you’re singing Vivaldi arias or the repertoire of the castrati – and with the same success when you interpret the Mélodies Françaises.  It’s your personality which charms as much as your virtuosity.  Behind the facade of a good student, there hides a facetious kid who doesn’t take himself too seriously – and when you are not singing …

PJ: I do all the things that I’m not supposed to do – staying up late, smoking, drinking.  

MD: Clearly, with you, the clichés about opera singers don’t apply.  One might even wonder which planet you are from and it’s not your friend, Cecilia Bartoli, who would say otherwise.

CC:   Do you feel like an extra-terrestial?

PJ: Sometimes, yes.   At the beginning, I kept saying that the countertenor voice was just like any other but I think that you should retain a certain amount of mystery.  I think what the public likes is to travel across the centuries with this voice.  You can conjure up the great castrato voices of the 18th century and reflect upon the (musical) genre as well.

CC: Who is Cecilia Bartoli for you?

PJ: Big question.  I’ve always been a huge fan of hers even before I began to sing.  

CC: Is she the greatest singer of the present time, according to you?

PJ: Yes.  For me she is the greatest because she really revolutionized the way of interpretation.  Cecilia is someone who never sings a note just for the sake of it.  She’s someone who really tells a story (with her singing) and for me this has always been fascinating.  There are a lot of colours in her voice.  Perhaps as a countertenor I have fewer possibilities with my palette of colours and that’s why I’m so fascinated by her.  

CC: And then, such modesty.

PJ: In any case, she’s a great lady.

CC: When you were watching Magali’s  archive footage, were there any outstanding moments that struck you?

PJ: What I find amusing in a typical operatic career – perhaps people are not aware of this – when you see a parade of all those opera costumes – you realize that it’s a life full of fantasy and surprise.

CC: And discipline as well.

PJ: Discipline, yes – but I’ve always tried – and this is why I sometimes say in a rather provocative way that when an opportunity arises, I do all the things that I’m not supposed to do – it’s a way of not being a slave to one’s voice and feeding one’s voice by other life experiences and not thinking about one’s voice from morning to night.  


More later.

A.

Thank you Artemis for the efficient and excellent translation as always. The last paragraph really touches me, even though he said similar sentences before.

You're very, very welcome, Wolffie!

Here's a little bit more.    My PC is going to be out of action for the next three days but I'll get back to the translation as soon as possible afterwards.  I think that we are about half way though the interview.

A.



Philippe Jaroussky – Thé ou café – Part Three

CC : Your career went along at breakneck speed.  Isn’t it risky for things to go quite so quickly?

PJ: Well, yes and no.

CC: You started late at the age of 18.

PJ: I started singing very late but my first engagements, even in opera, came very quickly – before I was 21 I was already appearing on stage thanks to my background as a musician – as a violinist and pianist – but physically my body just wasn’t ready.  Around the age of 22, 23, 24 I experienced some difficulties simply because the scores I was singing from were too difficult for me.  

CC: Your 4 awards at the Victoires de la Musique Classique not only earned you the recognition of the public at large but also the respect of your fellow professionals.  Is that what’s most important for you?

PJ: I’m not sure you earn professional respect just by the awards.  I think these are more likely to impress the public and the media.  I think professional respect – and this is one of Cecilia’s great gifts – is earned by establishing relationships of trust with people in the business – it could be a theatre or a festival director who hires you or the conductors.  You won’t forge a career based on your voice alone; it’s done by establishing relationships of trust and friendship.

CC: And with the critics.  For example, Laure Mézon from Radio Classique follows you and knows you well.  We asked her what it is that makes you stand out from other countertenors and she tried to analyze your career.

LM: A countertenor is a man who sings in a voice that is similar to that of a woman – that is very high – and who sings in a head voice, not in chest voice (surely they need their chest voices for low notes – look at Fagioli - A.)  It’s impossible to know exactly how many countertenors there are in the world but I’d estimate that today there are about a dozen or so countertenors who are well-known to music lovers and who appear on the big international stages.  It’s a voice that was practically inexistent in France where there was no great tradition of countertenor singing.  It’s a voice that comes largely from England.  To begin with, there was not a huge repertoire for countertenors to sing and the countertenors appropriated the castrato repertoire which enabled them to shine in opera – even if the castrato repertoire was not originally meant for countertenors.  It’s not the same voice (as a castrato).  (Clip of Moreschi murdering Tosti again – A.)  Castrati had small vocal cords but a huge lung capacity.  Composers wrote extremely virtuosic arias for them because they had an exceptional vocal agility.  The repertoire of the castrati is extremely difficult to sing.  Obviously, PJ has that agility and can sing those arias.  A few years ago, it was an astonishing voice that one was a bit fearful and wary of – “Who are these men who sing in such a high voice?” – but PJ has familiarized the countertenor voice for us and it’s a voice that we have learned to know and love.  The voice of PJ - that of the countertenor - has often been compared to the voices of angels.  I would rather compare it to the voices of childhood.  There is this closeness to the world of a child.  It has the (same) purity and that’s what fascinates and enchants us.  

CC: Is this the result of a very precise technique that can be learned or is it an innate talent?

PJ: Both, obviously.  I think Laure has put her finger on it and I’ve often said the same things myself.  I have never tried to sound like a woman.  I think I try to retain something of the innocence and recklessness of childhood (with my voice).  I’ve always wanted to be a countertenor.  When my teacher, Nicole Fallien, heard me for the first time at the age of 18, she was not convinced that I could be a countertenor but I said that I knew I could.  There was this little interior voice which told me:  “This is what you’re going to do”.  It gave me motivation.  It’s a true vocation which motivates me to surmount obstacles that are practically insurmountable.  I’ve worked a lot on my voice because at the beginning my voice was very agile, very high but very small.   It’s taken many years to acquire the necessary fullness and velvety texture – like with a good wine.  I’ve had to be very patient too, because you can’t do this at breakneck speed.

Thanks for sharing this and a thousand thanks to Artemis who enthusiastically made the translation:giverose: This is perhaps by far the most unique interview about Pj I've ever seen. And I noticed some "fresh" video clips I see for the first time. e.g. the one at 12:15', think it should be from Victories de la Musique 2004 or 2005? Anyone saw that before or had more information? thanks!

wusuosi,

Do you  mean the moment where Philippe is very very young with a black turtleneck- pullover ?
I ´m also curious about this moment, the background looks like Salle Gaveau, maybe it was one of his concerts there, in his "early years"?
I´d love to watch the whole recording of it.

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Dear Artemis!

I´d like to upload this interview on YouTube and add your precious translation, if you don´t mind!

Thank you so much for all your passionate work !

Hi AlexanderBendo,

I also love this young Philippe you mentioned, such a cherubic face! But what I really mean is the one after that, in which he was given an award by Roberto Alagna (if I'm not wrong?). Think PJ sang an aria by Vivaldi on that ceremony, you may find it on youtube [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Hope we can get longer video for that event.

Jana,

Of course I don't mind if you use my translation for subtitles! Now that my PC is back in business, I'll finish the translation as quickly as possible, starting sometime tomorrow. I think I'm actually over half way with the translation - the Dos à Dos section at the end has already been translated and I'll be able to skip a lengthy interview with Agnès Soral (?) which has nothing to do with Philippe.

A.

Artemis,

I just added your translation to the describing of the video, I don´t have time to make subtitles. I guess, it is fine, too. Many thanks!
I´ll cut videos according to your translation. )))

Another installment ...


Philippe Jaroussky – Thé ou café – Part Four

CC :   And if you didn’t work as you do on a daily basis, what would happen ?

PJ: For a start, I’d get bored!  What’s amazing is that although I’ve been singing for over 15 years, I still find new things (to do), new ways of approaching works or tackling technical difficulties.  I really need to feel as though I am making progress.  Obviously, if I stopped working, I wouldn’t make any (more) progress and I’d run the risk of getting bored pretty quickly.

CC.: And your voice would suffer?

PJ: It depends.  I’m convinced that you really need to take a break sometimes.

CC: Which you did - take a sabbatical …

PJ: I did this over two years ago – a break of 8 months.  You know, you want to correct things but the body is so used to doing certain things automatically (by reflex) that one really has to break one’s habits  (by taking a break) in order to rebuild.  For me it’s important to work as intensively as possible during the periods when I am working and then to have periods when one thinks about other things and rests up – because what is difficult to believe is that, even when you’re not singing, your brain continues to function and think about singing.

CC: In what way is it taxing physically?

PJ: It’s not so much the act of singing itself which is so taxing – obviously, with years of experience behind you, you know how to warm up your voice and do the right exercises.  Usually, before a concert, I try to warm up, wake up my voice as late as possible.  What is taxing is the pressure before a concert, the travelling, jetlag, air-conditioning, tiredness and stress.  Will my voice be up to performing in large concert halls?  What’s difficult for an opera singer is the fact that you change halls practically every day, each with a different acoustic, because we don’t use microphones and you have to be on your best form.

CC: Is your voice insured?

PJ: No, my voice isn’t insured.  I haven’t even made any enquiries about it.  I have colleagues who are insured but the mere fact of taking out insurance would just be another source of stress for me.

CC: At the moment, you’re not able to sing, although we would very much have liked you to.

PJ: Yes, I’m really sorry.

CC: Because you’re taking Cortisone …

PJ: I’ve had bronchitis and the first thing to disappear if you’re coughing a lot is the head voice, which is rather fragile.  (tee,hee, according to Iestyn Davies, it’s the first thing to disappear if you’ve been out partying the night before as well  – A.)  This also puts things a little into perspective.  I’ve always tried not to make a huge drama out of the cancellation of a concert and such like.  At the beginning of my career it was more difficult because as a young singer, it’s one of the most important things to happen to you – to be able to sing in good concert halls, something you’ve dreamed about ever since you started singing – and then you’re sick!   Now I try not to make a drama out of it by telling myself that, after all, it’s only music – it’s not so serious.  There’s also the pressure when you tell a promoter that you’re unable to sing on a certain evening that he’ll do everything in his power to make you.  You have to resist this.

CC: Under those circumstances, do you follow your own counsel?

PJ: Yes, because I know when I can (afford to) take risks.  I know when I am sufficiently able to perform to avoid cancellation but I’d rather that people were disappointed by not hearing me sing than by hearing me (sing)!

CC: Could you envisage working with an artiste de variété or a rock star?

PJ: Yes, I could.  I’ve done a few things like that in the past.  I think a voice like mine could work very well in duet with a variété singer.  

CC: David Bowie, for example …

PJ: David Bowie?  Oh, yes.  He’s a wonderful personality.  He has a very deep voice, beautiful, very captivating, which I like a lot.  

CC: That’s why we’ve chosen to go along with you to the Philharmonie (spanking new concert hall, as yet unfinished – A.) in the 19e district.  (With Magali Defer and Julien Clavet).  Wonderful, isn’t it?

PJ: Yes, it’s marvellous and I would recommend everyone to go there.  It’s in a rather unique setting …

CC: … and the concert hall is out of this world.  Off you go!

PJ: This is the first time that I’ve been to the Philharmonie and I’m delighted.  I can’t say that I find it beautiful.  It’s certainly surprising – but the most important thing for the Philharmonie is the (concert hall) inside which I’m really anxious to see.  It’s very impressive.  I admit that it makes me want to sing here.  It’s less intimidating than I would have thought.  I think it’s very warm and quite magical.  The Philharmonie was not designed just to accommodate classical music;  it’s very adaptable and David Bowie could very well sing here.

PJ: Why did I want to see the David Bowie exhibition?  It doesn’t necessarily have much connection with my work as a countertenor but there is a connection with his way of playing with the concept of masculinity.  I think it was quite revolutionary in those days to say that there’s more than one way of being a man and that there are many other ways.  I may not have the visual eccentricity of David Bowie but to get up on stage and sing in a high voice is nevertheless some form of eccentricity.  It’s also a kind of madness.

MD: Do you have a favourite David Bowie song?

PJ: “Let’s Dance” – but I’m not a great dancer!   It’s very funny to come across this video where David Bowie sings with Klaus Nomi, a countertenor famous for his rendition of Purcell’s Cold Song.  David Bowie obviously liked high male voices.  David Bowie’s gestures are very similar to the gestures in Baroque opera – arms like this, hands posed in this way.  As well as being a musician, David Bowie was an artist who was keen on turning himself into a work of art.

More later.

A.

And some more ...

Philippe Jaroussky – Thé ou café – Part Five

PJ : A costume like that, for example, it’s at the same time both austere and completely crazy.   I’ve actually worn even more outlandish costumes than that on stage in operas, which might strike you as surprising in the classical milieu, but the act of wearing one costume or another changes your way of being.  David Bowie was one of the first to wear skirts for men; he was even refused entry to a restaurant because he was wearing a skirt.  It’s easy to see that he had a crusading side, very provocative but which encouraged people to think about themselves and what they could tolerate.  I wouldn’t dare to be so extrovert in my daily life myself.  I prefer to go unnoticed.  This is making me feel a little nostalgic.  I think we have lost some of our freedom and that we are regressing a bit in our ideas.   There was a certain carefreeness at that time which we’ve lost.  It’s striking to see how much David Bowie liked to play with his image and was always looking for ways of re-inventing himself via his image.  He was very much a chameleon which is quite inspiring for me.  It makes me feel that I could allow myself much more (freedom of expression) than I do at the moment.  It feeds my imagination.  

CC: Is there a sexual aspect to singing?

PJ: Yes, very much so – even with the “voice of an angel”.

CC: (angels) who are supposed to be a-sexual …

PJ: Yes, it was something that I heavily denied at the beginning – perhaps because I was an instrumentalist – for me then, it was all music, music, music – but I can see that (some) people have a special connection to a voice – to mine and those of others – which is very addictive, personal and intimate.  There are people who tell me that they need to listen to me every day.  Obviously, it’s very gratifying but it’s a bit scary as well – such proximity.  People are very close to a voice; it’s very interesting.

CC: Could you compare singing to an orgasm?  Many people say this …

PJ: No, but you could liken it to some form of (intense) pleasure.  When singing you need to experience outright pleasure, gourmandise, to be in a permanent state of sensory awareness – visual, physical, aural.  Singing puts you into a state of euphoria.  

CC: In a state of trance, even?

PJ: Yes, you could almost say that.  For example, it’s very difficult for me to get to sleep after a concert; the energy level is so high that you need many hours to come down (to earth).


CC: Do you play on the (sexual) ambiguity of your voice?

PJ: If I play on it, it’s more sub-consciously than consciously.  As I said in the previous report, I like to go unnoticed.  I have colleagues who play on this much more than I do.  They really like to challenge by means of their physical androgyny, by wearing certain clothes and costumes, etc.  It’s not something that I like to do very much.

CC: Do you feel sorry about this?

PJ: No.  I don’t want to drag the countertenor voice into the areas of cliché and caricature.  As I told you before, for me, singing as a countertenor is not about singing like a woman.  For me, it’s a way of expressing my sensitivities as a man, with a special kind of voice, of course – but for me, it’s basically a masculine voice.

CC: What about your feminine side?

PJ: My feminine side is perhaps expressed more by my sensitivity than by my voice.  I’m someone who has problems with violence – it’s something that really frightens and paralyzes me.  Physical violence paralyzes me completely and I don’t know how to react.  My feminine side is also expressed in my tastes.  In general, I like things that are refined, muted and sophisticated.

CC: “Green” – it’s a massive project.  How long had you been thinking about it – 10 years?

PJ: It’s about 10 years since I first thought about doing a CD with Verlaine’s poetry as a theme.  This might seem strange for a countertenor who normally sings the baroque repertoire since this music belongs to the period from the end of the 19th to the beginning of the 20th century.  Verlaine is the poet who is set to music most often.  

CC: Do you have a special affinity with Verlaine?  

PJ: Yes, as much with his life as with his work.  My first contact with Verlaine’s poetry was in school with a French teacher who made us study “Prison”.  He analyzed the poem with us as well as talking about Verlaine’s amazing, tragic life.  The combination of these two things in this hour’s lesson about Verlaine triggered something, struck a chord with me.  

CC: Specifically, it’s 43 mélodies with different versions (of the same poem).

PJ: Yes, I could have chosen 43 poems but I concentrated on about a dozen poems as I wanted to offer between 2 and 4 versions of each poem to show how, through different composers and personalities, a poem could be interpreted musically in very different but equally legitimate ways.


More to follow ...

A.

Part II.

Artemis...

Philippe Jaroussky - Thé ou Café - Part 6

CC : You’ve drawn from the classical repertoire as well as that of French Variétés (for this CD)  …

PJ: Yes, I certainly didn’t plan it that way in the beginning.  I remember when the idea came to me, I listened to songs on the internet and all of a sudden I stumbled upon this “Colloque Sentimental” by Léo Ferré.  I found the music absolutely pure, simple, modest and magnificent and I told myself that I really must sing it – and it was also a way of showing that Verlaine can still inspire many artists with his vision of the world.  It wasn’t at all pre-meditated although it was perhaps a tad provocative on my part.

CC: You like to do that (provoke).  We’ll get back to the 19th century and since we can’t hear you sing (live), we’ll take a look at this excerpt and I think we’ll be able to understand your work better.    (videoclip of PJ et al performing “Fisch-Ton-Kan”)

CC: We should perhaps mention the Quatuor Ebène and your pianist (Jérôme Ducros) and the alto (Nathalie Stutzmann).

PJ: I’ve worked with Jérôme Ducros for many years and he has done all the (musical) arrangements for this CD.  I’ve known the Quatuor Ebène for a long time.  I admire them a lot.  They have this ability to cross over from the classical repertoire to much more unexpected things.  I chose this piece because it shows another side of Verlaine – a much more comical and lighter side.  It’s an excerpt from an operetta by Chabrier called “Fisch-Ton-Kan” with a rather exotic theme and “Fisch-Ton-Kan” leads one to think of the can-can.   It’s very rousing.  When you take on a project like this, you want to work with as large a palette as possible and try to find ideas which will give some rhythm to the recording.  The unique feature of this project (and I’m very lucky as an artist to be able to do this) is that it’s a double CD.  It’s very rare to record a double CD with nearly 2 hours of a different repertoire (from the usual).  I wanted it to have as much variety as possible.  Oddly, it’s one of the projects most close to my heart because through this CD, I’m sticking up not only for the repertoire of Mélodies Françaises but also for poetry.  I think in the world in which we live now (and it might seem a bit smartass to say this), poetry is needed more than ever as a form of escapism and to develop a kind of artistic sensitivity.  It’s a way of sticking up for poetry.  

CC: Talking of the world in which we live, you were in Barcelona last week when two opera singers were killed in the air crash – the 320.  Did you know them?

PJ: I didn’t know them personally but we dedicated the concert at the Liceu to their memory.  I was in Barcelona myself and had taken a flight to Düsseldorf the week before.

CC: It wasn’t your turn (to die).

PJ: No, it wasn’t my turn.  I travel a lot and travelling makes you aware of the fragility of life.  I take a lot of flights so there are times when you really need to take advantage of and enjoy the present moment.  

CC: You say that you are obsessed with death …

PJ: Oh yes.

CC: But you’re really young …

PJ: It’s not a morbid obsession.  It’s a way of making you aware that things are not eternal and forever.  For me, it’s more of a help than a hindrance.  Many artists have this slight obsession with death which enables them to be creative; it can be very creative.

CC: You like things that are quirky, offbeat – we talked about fantasy earlier.  There’s an illustration of this in your “best of” album – “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” which you sang with the Quatuor Ebène.  It’s quite funny.  Was this done on a whim, a moment when you had been drinking a bit?

PJ: No, not at all.  It may strike you as odd, but this was the piece that we had to work on the most for that concert.   It was Rafaël Merlin (the cellist in the Quatuor Ebène) who did the arrangement.   We had to put a lot of serious work into it.

CC: But this would be something really easy for you …

PJ: No, no – it’s when you take on repertoire which is different from your usual (repertoire) that you have to work the hardest and you have to do it to the best of your ability.  I chose that song – “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” because I thought it would work well with the countertenor singing the high part and I was lucky enough to have a fantastic “boy band” backing me up.  

CC: How far ahead are you booked up?

PJ: At the moment we’re working on 2019.

CC: Do you like that?

PJ: Yes, I like it because it enables me to prepare operatic roles well in advance and to work on a role.

CC: When you are booked up so far ahead – sometimes it must be a long way from your current state of mind.

PJ: Yes, I admit that you won’t always know how your voice will evolve in 4 years time.  Planning so far ahead could have a rather frightening aspect.

CC: Do you know what your nearest and dearest (colleagues) say about you, what they think about you?

PJ: Yes, I know what they say to my face but I don’t know what they say behind my back.  

CC: We asked the conductor, Emmanuelle Haïm and the violinist Renaud Capuçon to take a close look at you.

EH + RC (alternating): Philippe is joyful, sunny, extremely gifted, and generous.  I’ve done a lot of CDs with many singers but with Philippe you can easily tick all the right boxes.  It’s fun to work with Philippe – he’s very joyful, extremely professional, very serious and extremely well prepared but at the same time he’s capable of – I’m thinking about the concert for the anniversary of my orchestra – going completely crazy.  He’s someone who can create an ambience.  I think that despite his phenomenal success, Philippe has not only managed to keep his feet on the ground but has also retained his way of dealing with life and people.  He hasn’t changed, in fact.  Orchestras adore him.  He’s someone with great charisma who takes everyone along with him.  We’ve even played together.  I can remember us playing a Shostakovich duet together.  It brought tears to my eyes.  (It was amazing) to see this well-known singer so much at ease with the violin.  He was not at all frightened – he was very much at ease, but very concentrated.  I said “Don’t worry, it’ll be alright”.  He played divinely.  He played so well that it was me who got stage fright when it was time to play.  I think the day when I ask to sing (a duet) with Philippe will never come.  We would need some really effective double-glazing and Philippe would have to be supplied with ear plugs.  

CC: Renaud is also the director of the Aix-en-Provence Festival which is taking place this Easter weekend.  Will you be appearing there?

PJ: Yes, he invited me.  I adore Renaud because I’m a failed violinist and wanting to play the violin with him on stage was a kind of fury and a way of righting the wrongs!  I’ve worked a lot with Emmanuelle and she has known me since I was a very young artist.

CC: Would you like to be in her position – that is, to become a conductor?

PJ: Yes, it’s something that I would like to do.  I don’t know how much longer I’ll want to carry on singing, although it’s difficult to stop when one has spent one’s whole life singing.

CC: You’re 38?

PJ: 37 – You never know (in life) and I might perhaps change my mind but I can well imagine myself in 10 years time beginning to conduct other singers.

After this there is an interview with Agnès Soral which runs into the Dos à Dos section at the end of the programme which I've already translated - so I guess that's it, I've finished ...

A.

Thank you very much for the translation! It is a great work!

Dear Artemis,

such a marathonlike translationwork as Yours deserves to be rewarded by a triple laurel wreath! Chapeau!

I myself do understand written French rather well. But if spoken - it's a real different thing. Your translation serves me as a lighting up catalyst.
Pour cela un grand merci!  

Thanks everybody for the bunches of emotikon flowers - there's nothing like a bunch of emotikon flowers to set a girl up for the day! Seriously though, the fact that someone appreciates it makes the work worthwhile.

A.

Dear Artemis,  

you get another bunch of flowers from me!!! (sorry, that there are no bigger ones!!!)
Like jufilfan I'm able to understand written French (with the help of a dictionary), but spoken in this speed....
So  thank you very much for this hell of work - it's a really interesting interview!

Dear Artemis,
I can only repeat what has been said before: Thanks and bunches of flowers for your gorgeous work! Such a wonderful help to understand better what they talked about!

I guess the link to the "The ou Cafe Bonus" must be here too.

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or to download

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Dear Artemis,
let me join the chorus of thanks and add that your translations greatly facilitated the translation into Russian, which made Coder for Philippe's admires in Russia. I think, that this great interview was an important and not so easy stage for Philippe, so the more necessary the completeness and accuracy of the transmission of meaning. Thanks.

Let me,

Golly gosh! *blushes* I'm very happy to have been of help.

A.