Customer Reviews

Opium: Mélodies francaises

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Even if you're not a fan of the French Melodies I can't recommend this CD highly enough. Jassousky has a beautiful countertenor voice and is one of the most musical singers I've heard in a long time. Add to that his sensitivity to the text and the poetry of these songs and you have something special. Definitely one of my desert island disks.

Also, I recognize to be a fan of Philippe Jaroussky. This CD will be on my 2009 best recordings list. One word: perfect. The voice of Jaroussky is at his best, and the execution is magnificent. Also, add the rarity of the french melodies registered.
A plus: the performances of Jerome Ducros (piano), Emmanuel Pahud (flute) and the Capucon brothers (violin and cello). They complete this true jewel.

Philippe Jaroussky continues to please and at the same time startle with his intelligent and daring selections for recording. This is an outing with French chansons that span a large period of time. One might ask why a countertenor would elect to enter this genre of music - but the answer is quite evident after listening to even the first few tracks of this beautifully modulated performance. The music is by Hahn, Fauré, Dukas, Chaminade, Chausson and Caplet - and many of the songs have never been recorded until now. They do appear on the recital programs of our finest recitalists, but few singers can transmit that special otherworldly sound to these voluptuous lyrics in the manner that seems so natural to Jaroussky.

An additional aspect of this recording that makes it even more important for the collector is the group of musicians Jaroussky invites to collaborate with him. Some of the finest young talent in the French repertoire, names such as Jérôme Ducros, Renaud Capuçon, Gautier Capuçon,and Emmanuel Pahud. The concert is unerringly right and seductive and beautiful. One wonders what Philippe Jaroussky will offer next...Grady Harp, March 11

This disc is absolutely gorgeous!! The voice of Jaroussky, heard by me for the first time today, went to my head like a drug! Words like decadent, voluptuous, come to mind. Couple that beautiful sound with the poetry of turn-of-the-century France and the sensuous music of composers like Massenet, Chaminade, Faure, Chausson, Hahn, Debussy and Saint-Saens, and you have an unbelievable event in the making! I've already gone shopping on Amazon for other cd's by Jaroussky. If you don't hear this voice in this repertoire, you are missing something important!

Melodies francaises - with these, I think we are entering the territory of French art songs.
There are some top countertenors who specialises in art songs or lieder - to name but two outstanding ones, the musically superb Andreas Scholl (who could sing almost ANYTHING for an alto voice), and the quite wonderful male soprano Jorg Waschinski (who has recently released a Schumann lieder album).
As for Mr. Jaroussky, we are much more familiar with his post-renaissance and early baroque vocal repertoire, and he is justly famous for such works.
For a change, he issued this album from romantic and early contemproary composers of his native country.
I have heard some of the works here sung by other sopranos. To measure the success of Jaroussky's performance, one inevitably draws comparison from other soprano performances.
I personally have strong reservations for the ability of a countertenor or male soprano to 'substitute', so to speak, a woman soprano. The reason is simple - the countertenor technique employs a vastly different approach of vocal production from women sopranos. The countertenor focuses almost solely on the head voice, and the volume in this area is inevitably limited, lending very little room for dynamic expressions.
The same old problem certainly soils the performance in these works.
While the limitation in dynamic scope is not as apparent or important in baroque compositions and early music, which are mostly contrapuntal and do not require a vastly dynamic melodic line, in these romantic pieces the lack of a dynamic range rings its toll on even the best male soprano voice.
However, given such limitation, I am inclined to the view that the German counterpart of male soprano Jorg Waschinski is by comparison more able to express the musical requirements in his Schumann album than Jaroussky in this French album. And this is an interpretive and not purely vocal aspect that the serious listener must admit, even by the most ardent Jaroussky fan.

Just a wonderful interpretation from a young artist who has an incredible voice. That's a great pleasure to listen to him in the evenings, after a very tiring business day.