PASSION – PHILIPPE JAROUSSKY

The album Passion Jaroussky was released in 2019, when the French countertenor celebrated 20 years since his debut that propelled him to the spotlight.  With this release the countertenor and world star Philipp Jaroussky had one main aim: to share with us his great and never-ending passion for singing, which is transmitted in any of the varied pieces he tackles: from very different arias by Vivaldi, Porpora and Agostino Steffani through the early Bohemian classic Josef Mysliveček to Gluck, Massenet and even John Lennon compositions. 

The triple album, which contains new and well-known recordings, is a sequel to his album The Voice, presented seven years ago. It’s a selection of the key pieces from his previous record releases that creates the basis of this compilation.  Among this collection of works, we can find pieces recorded with his own group Artaserse, Andrea Marcon and the Venice Baroque Orchestra, the Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, Diego Fasolis and I Barocchisti, Jérôme Ducros and the Ebène Quartet, and Christina Pluhar and L’Arpeggiata. This compilation includes works by Bach, Händel, Telemann, Gluck, Monteverdi, Cavalli, Purcell, Saint-Saëns, Massenet or Charles Trenet and others. 

The countertenor wanted to involve his audience and to make them part of the choosing procedure, he announced: “It was you, my followers, who chose the first track for me, after receiving more than seven million views on YouTube in just two years. It is the beautiful Sileant Zephyri by Vivali. This composer has definitely been my lucky charm! ” 

Surrounded by all this great artist and friends, Jaroussky’s virtuosity shines even more, and the result is an outstanding release. His talented voice keeps on shape, consistently displaying the qualities that have made him one of today’s most popular countertenors: angelic timbre, precise agility, melancholic phrasing, and overflowing powerful expressiveness.  

He is brilliant, and what kept him at the top for so long is the fact that he excels in many different areas. He has no rival when it comes to muscular castrato arias from Handel like “Furibondo spira il vento,” from Partenope, HWV 27.  Jaroussky’s velvety voice blooms in the Works of Porpora, Gluck, Pergolesi, and the later Vivaldi, all represented here. Jaroussky is also a charming interpreter of 17th century opera with which he feels a deep emotional bond. And just as a final proof of his admirable versatility, he includes here a rare selection from his performances of Romantic music, very unusual for a typical countertenor repertory. The wide range of different historical periods that the album covers, reaches as far as John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Oh My Love, the last piece of the program.  

All of the pieces in this collection are masterfully performed by the artist who once again proves to be of the great singers of our time.