Customer Reviews

Philippe Jaroussky - Carestini (The Story of a Castrato)

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For me, this is, hands down, best classical album of 2007. Not just because Jaroussky's voice has achieved a sort of perfection, doing whatever it is asked of it without any hint of effort and with great innate artistry; he has wonderful, very natural coloratura, incredible dynamic control, beautiful tone and sweet high notes that put other countertenors, Scholl included, and even many haute-contre tenors to shame. In the second track, Ciel Nemico, he does a sequence of interval leaps that sound out of this world; and that is just the second track! Right afterwards, he sings the living daylights out of Scherza Infida, which has been sung by many great singers before him, notably Lorraine Hunt, and yet he puts his stamp on it - and how. That is not to say that the prevailing tone on this album is high drama, quite the opposite. The material is mostly wonderful Baroque fluff, created for the great castrato Carestini, and of course it is chockful of showy vocal tricks and juicy ornamentations. Hearing it made me grin like mad right from the start, and it gets better and better upon repeats.
I need to mention few other things: the orchestra conducted with great gusto by Emmanuel Haim, the marvelous recorded sound, and really good CD booklet with liner notes on Carestini, great illustrations, and access to Open Disc content: a video of the recording sessions, and Jaroussky's musings on the life and art of Carestini. I love the cover, too; it's about time a countertenor had embraced the castrato showmanship. This album is, shall a say, le package total: great thematic concept, great music, played and sung to perfection, and with a sense of urgency, energy and plain fun.

We live in a great musical age with the abundance of historically informed male sopranos who possess both beautiful voices and stylistic intelligence. Arguing for just who is the best male soprano today would be like arguing over Milanov, Tebaldi or Callas a half century ago. Jaroussky, by any standard, has got to be among the finest of today's team of male sopranos. I had the good fortune of hearing him for the first time in London last May and, as a result of leaving the Purcell Room walking on air, I have begun to collect Jarousksy's recordings.

What I enjoyed about this particular recording is the singer's phenomenal vocal accuracy, the beauty of his sound (lighter than David Daniels, not as other-worldly as Andreas Scholl) and the extraordinary imagination of Jaroussky's ornamentation. The purchase price is more than justified on the merits of one track alone. Handel's great aria "Scherza infida!" from the opera Ariodante receives a performance that is breath-takingly beautiful. Recordings of this aria have major competition as far-ranging as those of Janet Baker, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, David Daniels, Ian Bostridge, and many more. What distinguishes Jaroussky's version is the singer's ornamentation. It is much freer and more extensive than competing versions. Let's face it, who would want to be without any of the recordings of "Scherza infida!" listed above? But missing Jaroussky's version is to deny yourself of a very enormous musical pleasure.

I would unhesitatingly recommend this and any Jaroussky recordings to anyone who loves Baroque music, great singing or just the fun of jaw-dropping virtuosity.

There's something unearthly about Philippe Jarousky's voice. It's almost too perfect, compared to a meatier, fuller countertenor voice, like David Daniels. The art of the countertenor is still young enough to acommodate widely different sound qualities, unlike much of the rest of classical singing, where a certain homogenized sound is more prevalent (with certain exceptions, it is true).

This is a wonderful recital, combining the familiar (Handel) with works by some of his fine contemporaries such as Porpora and Hasse. Jaroussky's interpretation of "Scherza Infida" from Handel's Ariodante is particularly interesting, in that he varies the repeat of the A section of the aria not just by ornamenting it, but varying the melodic line in some very creative ways. A wonderful voice and good musicianship to boot. What's not to like?

Carestini was Farinelli's main rival. This album collects 12 arias from 7 different composers, all written for Carestini. The sonics, singing and orchestral accompaniment are superb. Jaroussky's voice sounds even higher than some mezzos who sing the Handel arias. There are no orchestral-only tracks to break monotony - there IS no monotony. The choice of arias, slow and fast, ensures that the CD can be listened to in one sitting without any problem. I own many versions of "Scherza infida" and "Sta nell'Ircana" and can say that Jaroussky sings the A section repeats for absolutely all they are worth. His lack of restraint here might not endear him to purists, but it's definitely exciting. If you love Jaroussky and don't own this CD yet - what are you waiting for ?

I really enjoy listening to this fantastic voice of countertenor, its natural and relaxing, a great voice , highly recommended for those who want to begin to go inside this beautifull music and also its a superb honor to Maestro Carestini,the real divo of the old times, congratulations to Monsieur Jaroussky as well to Madame Haim that conducts the orchestra in a precise and delightfull way, dont miss it!

... but the singer makes the music work! Composers of the 18th Century wrote many of their best opera roles for specific singers whom they knew could make those roles work. Thus we know the identities of singers long dead and obviously never recorded - Senesino, Farinelli, Carestini - and by studying the music written for them, we can get a good idea of how they sang. That's the core method of "historically informed" performance practice, the method that is fundamental to the development of countertenor technique in modern times. Development doesn't occur spontaneously; it's taken decades to achieve the artistry of countertenors today. All great singers are specially endowed by nature, but all great singers reach performance level by studied development. Philippe Jaroussky is not an exception; he's the rule.

Listening to this CD of selections from operas by Handel and Gluck... and Porpora and Hasse.....!! and Gruan, Capelli, and Leo...??? one might easily suppose that every Baroque opera by any forgotten composer must have contained at least one superb aria. I'm willing to grant that supposition, but it was Carestini who sang these arias originally, with his "exquisite taste," and it's Philippe Jaroussky today who makes them so musically convincing with his exquisite technique.

Jaroussky sings in operatic soprano range, but his voice is not a woman's voice. It has timbre that are as masculine as a Russian basso's. There are other "sopranists" performing, but none of them sound as unforced and nuanced as Jaroussky. Let's make it simple: he's the best.

Emmanuelle Haim and Le Concert d'Astree has been establishing a niche for powerful, full-throated performances of early music. Some of their efforts are way overblown, but this time they are note perfect. The historical castrati like Carestini were not wimpy singers; they were acclaimed for their thrilling power of delivery. These selected arias include some powerful orchestral frames - trumpets and horns, resonant reeds, vigorous fiddles - and Jaroussky fills each frame with his vocal intensity. This is a recording that stands to define the art of the male soprano in our times.

I believe all reviewers had discriped more on their appreciation on this album. So that I just want to share a little on it.
At first in this album we could touch some unpopular songs, which are beautiful but not seldom having chances to listen from others,
ex Porpora's Tu che d'ardir m'accendi
Capelli's I fratelli riconosciuti
Hasse's Se mai senti
Graun's mio bel nume
Second, I enjoy these songs and they are good to show Jaroussky's better skills as a successful countertenor. The more important thing is that we could find him maturing to play various role and get the broad range of voices. Comparied to his eariler albums, ex Vivaldi. So I strongly recommand it to you, even if you had listenned Jaroussky.

If fluency is the ability to speak or write a given language well, then Philippe Jaroussky is fluent in the language of the Baroque opera and proves to be an excellent translator for the rest of us. Here are a dozen tracks of some of the most difficult vocal music ever written brought back to ravishing life by the exciting combination of Jaroussky under the direction of Emmanuelle Haim. The orchestration is creamy; the voice delicate and agile. The composers range from luminaries like Handel to lesser knowns like Graun. This is a must for serious countertenor fanatics and for Baroque connoiseurs. Highly recommended.

This is the recent happenings in a Chinese website - Handel's "Lascia Ch'io Pianga" from Rinaldo as 'amalgamated' in the soundtrack for the film 'Farinella Il Castrato' as highlighted in a discussion of the best voice and singing. Apart from the soundtrack, performances by Brightman (Sarah), Sissel, Izzy (Isobel Cooper), Gheorghiu (Angela), Scotto (Renata) and Bartoli (Cecilia) plus Hayley Westerner and Charlotte Church were being compared, but none carried the day until Philippe Jaroussky appeared with the aria - when unamimous approval was granted to this 'super belcanto' exponent's performance as being the BEST of the best.
The present disc carried 4 arias from Handel's two operas Alcina and Ariodante, and really, in my view, represent the best of Jaroussky's artistry, though the rest of the ablum are nonetheless superlative performances.
It seems that Jaroussky's voice has a striking power of affectation that carries Handel's music to the greatest effect, and in my view again, much better than Vivaldi's.
The timbre is very sweet and very full, and the singer is fully capable of employing it in a manner that dwells beyond what is purely superficial.
Of course, one should not, at this stage, be tempted to conclude that young Jaroussky has the striking emotional depth of Lorraine Hunt Lieberson in Handel. But even so, the voice carries sufficient degree of musicality to convey the composer's meanings and nuances to a high degree of fidelity.
By no means miss this outstanding album from one of today's brightest classical vocal talents.

What is there to say....just close your eyes and indulge yourself in this wonderful music.The breathtaking control,tone,colour and pure agility of Phillipe Jaroussky's voice carries you off into another world. If you don't already have this disc and also "Vivald's Heroes" then your collection of Baroque music is lacking. Look forward to his next recording.