Stockholm, 09.06.10

Some reviews, in Swedish.

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Photos:

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And the post by karenpat :

"review from expressen.se:

Hanna Höglund forgets everything else when she hears the countertenor Philippe Jaroussky at Stockholm Early Music Festival.

There are people who hate countertenors. I don't understand them.
Take for instance Philippe Jaroussky, the French countertenor who opened Stockholm Early Music Festival yesterday. The 32 year old Jaroussky's singing is made up of equal parts "how-the-hell-does-he-do-that-he-sounds-like-a-soprano" and empathic musicality. It's been said about this perhaps best countertenor in Europe today, that he's 15 years too late - he missed the countertenor-hype that blossomed around the release of the castrato movie Farinelli in the 90's, that which Andreas Scholl ended up in.
However I don't care much about that when I hear Jaroussky's Carestini CD, where he enters the most subtle castrato reportoire of the baroque period and comes out on the other side as a force of nature itself.Live in Stockholm's German church with Ensemble Artaserse he sounded less Malena Ernman-metallic and more organic, and he looked so young - like a boy with an angelic voice that has stuck with him even into adulthood. On stage he is magnetic.
I noticed that his English has a charming French accent, that he had a slight frog in his throat at some point before intermission, and that he leaves the really high notes out in the first 3 songs. Wise decision.
Even the Thrice Happy Lovers aria from The Fairy Queen sounds fantastic; it has a tendency to sound cheesy when handled the wrong way.
What is a poor reviewer to say other than that Jaroussky has the sweetest recorder duets to accompany him and a skill in ornamentation that is out of this world? If Stockholm Early Music Festival keeps this level throughout, it will be a great festival.
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(sorry it's not very well translated, Swedish/Norwegian has a very different sentence structure than English, but at least you can understand the words)".

here's the translation of the other review:

Throngs of faithful baroque-fans hanging outside the German Church while
the bell marks the opening of the festival is becoming a familiar sight
in Gamla Stan.

Just like 6 years ago, Stockholm Early Music Festival opens with a countertenor star. Back then Andreas Scholl
interpreted Dowland with his flutelike alto accompanied by lute, this
time around the Frenchman Philippe Jaroussky applies his instrumental
virtuosity to Henry Purcell's songs and arias, backed up by Ensemble
Artaserse.
Temperament and colour of the voice separates the two
stars, but they both possess an enormous musicality.
After Purcell's sonata in F major Jaroussky takes the stage with "'Tis nature's voice",and the theme of the evening is meta-musical. Song numbers are elegantly followed by instrumental pieces, a harmonious flowing landscape with islands of silence, hypnotizing ostinato alternating with declamatory song.However the changes in the mood don't always seem perfectly interpreted in this repertoire which is completely new to the singer - even the language, judging my the varying diction in "All the
night", where sunrise and bird's singing are visualized by flute trills
and poetic finesse.
The musicality also tends to take over the body language. Jaroussky started his career as a violinist, and his gesturing with the left hand suggests an unconscious longing for the violin. Philippe Jaroussky's voice is at its best in two sparingly instrumented arias: the dark "Solitude", accompanied by lute, which shows almost shocking register changes as he descends into chest voice. In "O let me weep" from The Fairy Queen, the solo violin by Jaroussky's side evokes the warmth and vibrato in his voice, which up to that point seemed confined in a vibrato-free, almost pop-affected style. But the boyish singer didn't really manage to bring out the sweet fragrance of Purcell's sensual softness in "Sweeter than roses".

Opening speaker Fredrik Österling calls SEMF "the true love festival", turning the attention to the idealism that drives the festival crew, including
the festival director Peter Pontvik. He also emphasized the need for a
solid platform where the festivals can come back with a promise of
continuity and safety.

A night like this, where international powers make the audience go bananas for the chance to see a real star perform rarely played repertoire, shows it's not just empty words.
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From dn.se:

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"'Tis nature's voice" is Philippe Jaroussky's first musical number at the concert that marks the opening of Stockholm Early Music Festival. However it doesn't seem like nature has any part of what greets the listener - it's more like something supernatural has descended into the German church.

The composer himself, Henry Purcell, must have given the same impression, according to reports given at the time, when he sang this number with "incredible graces" in Stationer's Hall in 1692. Purcell developed a softly rounded countertenor voice after his voice broke and he alternated between this and his other, significantly deeper voice. But no matter how well he was said to have performed, one can ask if he would have managed to excel the way Jaroussky did this particular evening, for example the soprano notes of "Bid the virtues".

Philippe Jaroussky differs from other countertenor with his softly rounded voice which never sounds forced, sharp or nasal. In the more powerful passages there is only an increase in volume, not in sharpness. In this recent program of Purcell, where virtuosity is not a goal in itself, his voice blends well with the instruments of Ensemble Artaserse.

Some of the songs are taken from Purcell's semi-operas, that is works where the vocal passages have a more prominent role than in regular plays, but still not the full center of attention that they would get in the opera genre which had not yet blossomed in England at that time. In several of these semi-operas the stories take place in faraway corners of the world, though this can not be heard in Purcell's music.

Stockholm Early Music Festival is not in the need of those kinds of exotic touches anyway, since music from all over the world is regularly heard here; this year Africa is even represented. Music by the abbess Kassia, who has now taken over for Hildegard von Bingen as the earliest female composer, can also be experienced here.

This festival, though under constant threats of being closed down, really challenges the notions of genius otherwise promoted by churches and opera stages. And the audience is faithful in their support.

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Karenpat! Thanks for your translations! [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]





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You're welcome! I'm glad to be of help since in this community I always seem to be at the receiving end...
I'll translate the review from aftonbladet later today [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

A musical miracle
Claes Wahlin is entranced by the music at Stockholm Early Music Festival

Stockholm Early Music Festival is currently being arranged for the 9th year in a row. It has the most international popularity and the highest artistic quality of this country's classical festivals. Peter Pontvik, the artistic director, is an enthusiast in the field and fills the criteria of the modern political term "culture entrepreneur." And due to the stringent logic of the culture authorities, regardless of political sympathies, this festival also gets the least financial support.


Despite that fact, yesterday's opening concert was nothing short of a musical miracle. The French countertenor Philippe Jaroussky, one of the world's most requested singers of the baroque repertoire, and his Ensemble Artaserse performed a program of Henry Purcell - whose 350 year old anniversary was last year. Perhaps most famous for his short oper Dido and Aeneas, he also composed cantatas, songs and sonatas, in addition to the semi-operas King Arthur and The Fairy Queen.

Purcell's music is a strange phenomenon, it has a freshness which makes it sound new every time it's played. The notes soar softly and melodiously through the room with its simple harmonies. The first time I heard Jaroussky was about a decade ago; he was then 23 and already with a fully developed voice with unbelievable clarity and strength. Today he is 32 and has polished his technique and phrasing. The voice of an angel is the most frequently used comparison, and with good reason.

When he, only accompanied by Claire Antonini's theorbe, lets the notes of O Solitude embrace the vast space of the German church, it seems like the musical melancholy becomes a beautiful condition. Wond'rous machine (from Ode to St Cecilia), on the other hand, where the music literally should be conquered, shows Jaroussky and the ensemble taking control over the rhythms with the subtlety of cotton.* Ensemble Artaserse in itself has a soft and unison sound, there is a lightness very well suited for Purcell's music, and makes Jaroussky's astonishing vocal abilities shine.
This is probably the closest we get to heaven and to hear angels singing on this earth.

*) The expression used here translates directly to "cotton balls", and I have no idea what he meant by that paragraph. I had to guess...

THANK YOU SO MUCH!! This is the kind of recital I would give anything to have in CD-DVD!!!

Stockholm, you have been blessed!!!