Green - Mélodies françaises Philippe Jaroussky

• Léo Ferré:
• 1 Ferré: Colloque sentimental 03:27
• Gabriel Fauré:
• 2 Fauré: 5 Mélodies, Op. 58 dites 'Venise': I. Mandoline 01:41
• Deodat de Severac:
• 3 Severac: Prison 02:55
• Josef Szulc:
• 4 Szulc: 10 Mélodies, Op. 83: I. Clair de lune 03:14
• Claude Debussy:
• 5 Debussy: Fêtes galantes, FL. 86, Book I: I. En sourdine 03:01
• 6 Debussy: Fêtes galantes, FL. 86, Book I: II. Fantoches 01:17
• 7 Debussy: Fêtes galantes, FL. 86, Book I: III. Clair de lune 03:10
• Gabriel Fauré:
• 8 Fauré: 5 Mélodies dites Venise, Op. 58: V. C'est l'extase 02:47
• Ernest Chausson:
• 9 Chausson: Ecoutez la chanson bien douce 02:52
• Gabriel Fauré:
• 10 Fauré: 5 Mélodies dites 'Venise', Op. 58: III. Green 01:41
• Charles Bordes:
• 11 Bordes: O triste, triste était mon âme 01:43
• Camille Saint-Saëns:
• 12 Saint-Saëns: Le vent dans la plaine 01:21
• Gabriel Fauré:
• 13 Fauré: 5 Mélodies dites Venise, Op. 58: II. En sourdine 02:54
• Emmanuel Chabrier:
• 14 Chabrier: Fisch-Ton-Kan, D. 23: Qui je suis, qui je suis (Fisch-Ton-Kan) 02:34
• Reynaldo Hahn:
• 15 Hahn: 7 Chansons grises: IV. En sourdine 03:13
• Gabriel Fauré:
• 16 Fauré: 2 Mélodies, Op. 83: I. Prison 02:18
• Claude Debussy:
• 17 Debussy: Mandoline, FL. 29 01:29
• Ernest Chausson:
• 18 Chausson: Apaisement 02:18
• Arthur Honegger:
• 19 Honegger: Un grand sommeil noir 02:00
• Gabriel Fauré:
• 20 Fauré: 4 Mélodies, Op. 51: III. Spleen 02:07
• Jules Massenet:
• 21 Massenet: Rêvons, c'est l'heure 03:44
• Edgar Varèse:
• 22 Varèse: Un grand sommeil noir 02:55
• Léo Ferré:
• 23 Ferré: Ecoutez la chanson bien douce 02:38
• Gabriel Fauré:
• 24 Faur?: 2 M?lodies, Op. 46: II. Clair de lune 02:38
• Reynaldo Hahn:
• 25 Hahn: 7 Chansons grises: I. Chanson d'automne 02:10
• André Caplet:
• 26 Caplet: Green 03:11
• Claude Debussy:
• 27 Debussy: Ariettes oubliées, FL. 63: II. Il pleure dans mon coeur 02:30
• Irène Poldowski:
• 28 Poldowski: L'heure exquise 02:34
• 29 Poldowski: Colombine 01:40
• Charles Trenet:
• 30 Trenet: Chanson d'automne 02:53
• Irène Poldowski:
• 31 Poldowski: Mandoline 01:28
• Florent Schmitt:
• 32 Schmitt: 3 Mélodies, Op. 4: II. Il pleure dans mon coeur 03:00
• Reynaldo Hahn:
• 33 Hahn: 20 Mélodies, Book I: XVI. D'une prison 03:01
• Emmanuel Chabrier:
• 34 Chabrier: Fisch-Ton-Kan, D. 23: J'engraisse (Poussah) 03:01
• Charles Koechlin:
• 35 Koechlin: 4 Mélodies, Op. 22: IV. Il pleure dans mon coeur 03:06
• Gabriel Fauré:
• 36 Fauré: La Bonne Chanson, Op. 61: III. La lune blanche luit dans les bois 02:50
• Charles Bordes:
• 37 Bordes: Promenade sentimentale 03:31
• Claude Debussy:
• 38 Debussy: Ariettes oubliées, FL. 63: V. Aquarelles, 1: Green 02:17
• Joseph Canteloube:
• 39 Canteloube: Colloque sentimental 04:44
• Claude Debussy:
• 40 Debussy: Fêtes galantes, FL. 114, Book II: I. Les Ingénus 02:19
• 41 Debussy: Fêtes galantes, FL. 114, Book II: II. Le Faune 02:09
• 42 Debussy: Fêtes galantes, FL. 114, Book II: III. Colloque Sentimental 03:45
• Georges Brassens:
• 43 Brassens: Colombine 01:48
• Total Runtime 01:51:54

Info zu Green - Mélodies françaises

In his second album of French song from the 19th and 20th centuries – following the ground-breaking Opium, released in 2009 – countertenor Philippe Jaroussky explores settings of poems by Paul Verlaine (1844-96). One of France’s most revered fin-de-siècle poets and a pioneer of the decadent and symbolist movements, Verlaine famously declared his philosophy in the first line of Art poétique in 1874: ‘De la musique avant toute chose’ – ‘music before all else.’ In his poetry, the sound and the shape of each line carries meaning and expression, adding resonance to the words, which often evoke a twilit world of ambiguous emotions.

Verlaine has duly inspired many French composers – from his contemporaries, such as Debussy (whose piano piece Clair de lune draws on the poem of the same name and features on this album), Fauré, Saint-Saëns, Massenet and Chabrier, through the following generation (Honegger and Varèse) to songwriters from the 1940s-1970s, including Georges Brassens, Charles Trenet and Léo Ferré.

The album takes its title from one of the poems in the collection Romances sans paroles (‘Songs without words’ – the musical connection again). Verlaine himself gave it an English name, ‘Green’, and there are no fewer than three settings in Jaroussky’s recital – by Debussy, Fauré and André Caplet, the latter best known for his orchestrations of Debussy piano music.

Jaroussky, speaking of a Verlaine setting by Reynaldo Hahn, has said that poet and composer “conveys a feeling of both moonlit abstraction and of the allusive, but very sensual caress of the beloved. There is always a sensual element in Verlaine’s writing.”

That languorous yet understated sensuality belongs to a different world from the Baroque repertoire most closely associated with Jaroussky. When he recorded Opium with pianist Jérôme Ducros (who returns for the follow-up), he said: “Many people will probably wonder why a countertenor should sing these songs, but if you think about it, the countertenor voice as such has no repertoire of its own, except the modern music written specifically for it. For the most part we sing music written for castratos who – as we know – had very different voices from ours. So why not venture into other musical worlds if we feel they are suited to our voices?

“I’ve always felt a special affinity for French song,” he continues. “Even if a singer has to master a number of languages, his own language always retains a special flavour – especially French, which has so many vowels and secret nuances ... In Debussy, Massenet or Reynaldo Hahn, it’s all a matter of shades of colour.” It is this sensitive, insightful approach that Jaroussky brings to Green.

If the essence of this kind of French song can be elusive, Forum Opéra praised Jaroussky for capturing it in Opium: “His attention to diction, bringing it close to spoken language, draws out all the meaning of the poems. Thanks to his musical intelligence and long-breathed phrasing, each of these songs is spun out to the fullest effect ... They haunt the memory ...”

For Green, Philippe Jaroussky and Jérôme Ducros are joined by some distinguished guest artists: the contralto Nathalie Stutzmann (on whose Handel album Heroes from the Shadows, Jaroussky sang in duet), and the Ebène Quartet, whose award-winning recordings of French chamber music form a pillar of the Erato catalogue.

Philippe Jaroussky, counter-tenor
Jerome Ducros, piano
Nathalie Stutzmann, contralto
Quatuor Ebène

Philippe Jaroussky
born in 1978 has established himself as the most admired countertenor of his generation, as confirmed by the French 'Victoires de la Musique' awards (‘Revelation Artiste Lyrique’ in 2004, ‘Artiste lyrique de l'année’ in 2007 and in 2010, CD of the Year 2009 ) and the Echo Klassik Awards in Germany in 2008.

Jaroussky's technique allows him the most audacious nuances and impressive pyrotechnics. He has explored a vast Baroque repertoire, from the refinement of the Italian Seicento with Monteverdi, Sances and Rossi, to the staggering brilliance of Handel and Vivaldi arias (singing more music by the latter composer than any other over the last few years). He has worked with renowned period-instrument orchestras such as L'Arpeggiata, Les Arts florissants, Ensemble Matheus, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Le Concert d'Astrée, Le Cercle de l'Harmonie and Europa Galante with conductors including Christina Pluhar, William Christie, Jean-Christophe Spinosi, Marc Minkowski, René Jacobs, Jérémie Rhorer, Emmanuelle Haïm, Jean-Claude Malgoire and Fabio Biondi. With pianist Jerôme Ducros, he has looked beyond the Baroque – to fin-de-siècle French song (the album Opium), as well as premiering contemporary vocal music composed for him by Marc-André Dalbavie (Sonnets de Louise Labé, which Jaroussky sang most recently at the 2014 Salzburg Festival).

He has been praised for performances in all the most prestigious concert halls in France (Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Théâtre du Châtelet, Salle Pleyel, Salle Gaveau, Opéra de Lyon, Opéra de Montpellier, Opéra de Nancy, Arsenal de Metz, Théâtre de Caen) and abroad (The Barbican Centre and Southbank Cente in London, the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels, Grand Théâtre du Luxembourg, the Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Staatsoper and Philharmonie in Berlin, Teatro Real in Madrid, Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center in New York).

Philippe Jaroussky is signed exclusively to Erato and has received numerous awards for his recordings with the label. With Heroes (Vivaldi opera arias) and La Dolce Fiamma he achieved Gold disc status; his tribute to Carestini (with le Concert d'Astrée and Emmanuelle Haim) won CD of the year at the Victoires de la Musique and the Midem Classical Awards in 2009; his Stabat Mater with soprano Julia Lezhneva and I Barocchisti picked up the 2014 International Classical Music Awards for best Baroque Vocal Album and Best Opera Album. Of the 2013 release Farinelli: Porpora Arias, Gramophone wrote: “Jaroussky's rapid passagework in quick heroic arias is precise...but the outstanding moments are slow arias that could have been tailor-made for Jaroussky's sweetly graceful melodic singing”.

In recent years he has collaborated with singers including Cecilia Bartoli and Nathalie Stutzmann. With Ensemble Artaserse, which he founded in 2002, he gave the spectacular modern revival of Vinci’s opera Artaserse, as one of five exceptional countertenors in the cast.

Booklet für Green - Mélodies françaises