Forgotten Arias
Works by Bernasconi, Piccinni, Gluck, Ferrandini et al
Philippe Jaroussky (countertenor); Le Concert de la Loge/Julien Chauvin
Erato 5419763388 73:28 mins
Philippe Jaroussky has a list of splendid recordings, awards and an asteroid named after him – so his fame is already established in the heavens! He has specialised in roles from the early 18th-century high Baroque; this recording takes him a little later with arias c1750-c1770. Behind his selections often lies his admiration for the castrato Giovanni Carestini who sang some of these pieces and had a powerful and clear soprano voice, a wide range and an extraordinary virtuosity.
All of these features are mirrored in Jaroussky’s peformance of Bernasconi’s ‘Siam navi all’onde algenti’ from his opera L’Olimpiade in which the lovers are like ships in a storm and their passions blow like icy winds. He tears up and down the runs, ornamenting at will, and offers great firework cadenzas that draw us into the situation and emotion. The same agility is true of Jomelli’s ‘Fra cento affanni’ (from Artaserse) with the addition that the more subtle harmonies draw out changes of colour from Jaroussky’s voice. One or two items do present challenges of interpretation for the performer. For example, Valentini’s music for ‘Se mai senti’ is a little blank for expressing the tender text. Finally, in historical terms, this selection provides a marvelous introduction to the composition models that Mozart would have come across in his youth. Indeed his earliest arias set the same texts as those found on the last five tracks. Anthony Pryer