The career of my favorite (classical music) singer Philippe Jaroussky is already spanning twenty years. The French countertenor first appeared on stage with Gérard Lesne and Il Seminario Musicale at Royaumont and Ambronay in September 1999. He gave his first recital that November at the Théâtre Grévin, where his waxwork double has just been installed.
On CD, Philippe Jaroussky’s career started with Scarlatti’s Sedecia – King of Jerusalem aka in the Italian original: Sececia, Re di Gerusalemme (1999 / 2001 Virgin Veritas, EMI; Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.fr, Amazon.de).
Philippe Jaroussky is not from a musical family. He finished his high school with a Baccalauréat scientifique. However, at 9 already, he discovered his love for music at his school in Sartrouville. At 11, he began to take violin lessons and even won a first price at the conservatoire national de région (CNR) in Versailles. At 15, his musical interest made him adopt the piano. He received his diploma from the Early Music Faculty of the Conservatoire de Paris. At 18, at a Baroque music concert in a church in Paris, he had the chance to listen to the countertenor Fabrice di Falco sang. It changed everything. The same year, he began taking lessons with Nicole Fallien who brought him to the top. Six years later, he cofounded the ensemble Artaserse.
To celebrate his twenty years as a singer, Philippe Jaroussky has just released a sequel to his first anthology of seven years ago (La Voix des rèves (The voice of dreams), with just two arias from the first compilation making a return appearance: Vivaldi’s famous “Vedrò con mio diletto” and Handel’s “Ombra mai fu”. On his brand new, 2019 box set called Passion Jaroussky (Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.fr, Amazon.de), the countertenor wanted to offer something never-before-heard, as well, the fruit of new collaborations: like Kosma and Prévert’s “Les Feuilles mortes” (which I sang at the foot of the Eiffel Tower on Bastille Day) and his first Dowland recording, “Flow my tears”, both recorded especially for this release with the talented young guitarist Thibaut Garcia.
In addition, on Passion Jaroussky (Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.fr, Amazon.de), the countertenor offers a sneak peek at his upcoming Schubert album, due for release in January 2020. There are two of the new lieder recordings with Jérôme Ducros, his pianist of more than ten years. Furthermore, Philippe Jaroussky features the Baroque with an aria from Mysliveček’s L’Olimpiade, which marks his debut collaboration with Collegium 1704 under Václav Luks. The compilation offers some 20th century music as well, e.g. a duet version of “Cet air” with Matthieu Chedid, recorded live for Radio France, and the John Lennon song, “Oh My Love”, with Rosemary Standley.
The remainder of the anthology Passion Jaroussky (Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.fr, Amazon.de) contains tracks Philippe Jaroussky has chosen from recent albums: the recital discs with his ensemble Artaserse (Pietà, The Händel Album), with Andrea Marcon and his Venice Baroque Orchestra (Farinelli. Poropora Arias, 2013; Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.com) and with Diego Fasolis and I Barocchisti (Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Gluck’s Orphée, La storia di Orfeo); the album Green, featuring poems by Verlaine, with Jérôme Ducros and the Quatuor Ébène; and collaborations with Christina Pluhar (Music for a While) and the Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra (Niobe).
The anthology Passion Jaroussky is also a way of celebrating his 20 years with the same record company, directed by Alain Lanceron, first on the Virgin Classics label, then on Erato.
Philippe Jaroussky photographed by Simon Fowler in 2019. Photo copyright: Erato, Simon Fowler.
Philippe Jaroussky photographed by Simon Fowler in 2019. Photo copyright: Erato, Simon Fowler.
Passion Jaroussky. Erato, 2019, 3-CD box. Order the anthology from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.fr, Amazon.de. If you read German, have a look at our German biography of Jaroussky.
Article added on October 24, 2019 at 16:50 Paris time.
