Giving it a Fauré chance...

..not that I normally need to be persuaded to buy a CD with Philippe Jaroussky's name on the cover. However certain choral works and especially requiems have always had an emotionally negative effect on me. My first memory of Fauré's requiem was sitting through a performance at the local church, not understanding much of the music but feeling overcome with sadness and focusing on the knitted sweater of the woman in front of me to keep me from crying. When I heard another church performance of it in my teens, it was to hear a friend of the family sing in the choir and as my musical tastes were stuck in the top 20 charts at the time, I probably couldn't have cared less about the music - or I remembered all too well how I'd felt the last time I'd heard it, and wanted to distance myself.

So I was a little skeptical about this one, despite the fact that I knew Philippe Jaroussky was involved in the project. Curiously, EMI/Virgin classics seems to market it as Philippe Jaroussky's solo album even though he only lends his vocals to a single track, namely the famous Pie Jesu. As I didn't remember anything of the piece as a whole since I heard it 10-12 years ago, I must admit I had expected a few more solo parts or even a duet (Matthias Goerne is the other soloist) - instead my inexperience with listening to choir works made me long for something to stand out from that blurry mass of blending voices (which is also probably the reason why I prefer concertos to symphonies). Then again, my inexperience (or as it were, bad experience) with the piece could also be the reason, as the additional pieces on the album (Cantique de Jean Racine, Elégie for cello and orchestra, Pavane for orchestra and mixed choir, and Super flumina Babylonis) left me feeling a lot more positive about my recent purchase.

As for the Pie Jesu, which is, I suppose the hit single of the piece (EMI/Virgin even released it as a digital single), Philippe Jaroussky makes a great effort. In the EPK video he explains that it's difficult to sing mainly because it's very high and you can really tell from the recording that it reaches up towards the limit of Philippe's higher register. I suppose we all have different tastes when it comes to tone in a voice and personally I've always been more partial to Philippe's lower register, as when he did Vivaldi's Stabat Mater - I felt the highest notes of Pie Jesu seemed kind of laboured compared to the rest, whereas the last note which seems to be suspended in mid air is nothing short of perfection.

Conductor Paavo Järvi mentions in the EPK that this is the first time a countertenor has recorded Pie Jesu as part of Fauré's Requiem, so in this sense it's a kind of controversial recording. There are probably those who think it's a bad decision, almost like a sacrilege, and I can see their side too (as I get upset when contraltos are cast as Giulio Cesare or Nerone). However, keeping in mind Philippe's statement that his voice sounds like more like a child than a woman and that he uses his voice as means of holding on to a childlike side of himself, the so-called controversial decision makes sense. The vocal quality of a countertenor and that of a boy treble are very different, but both convey a sense of purity and innocence. To compare and decide for yourself, I'll leave you with Philippe Jaroussky's recent version along with Aled Jones' version from the mid 80's.

The first cut is the deepest...

Christine Schäfer in the title role as Theodora.

That’s what came to my mind after I watched the DVD release of the Salzburg Festival’s staged production of Theodora. It’s my favourite Händel piece, and I saw and heard it for the first time on youtube of all places, in the form of a magnificent Glyndebourne production from the mid 90’s. The story, the staging, the singers, the acting, everything seemed to have an emotional impact on me. So when I heard of the new DVD I knew I just had to have it, if only to quench my curiosity. And it is indeed difficult to not compare the two.

In terms of overall singing I still might favour the earlier version – however Bejun Mehta makes a very convincing Didymus and can certainly fill the shoes of David Daniels (amusingly, Bejun Mehta credits Daniels for indirectly kick-starting his adult singing career), and Bernarda Fink sings the role of Irene with a kind of maternal stage authority. I find Christine Schäfer in the title role sometimes sings more dramatically staccato than is required – somehow the Italian Bel Canto passion seems out of place in this oratorio – and a rather thick accent sadly doesn’t help the flowing of lines along.
As for Didymus’ friend Septimius, Joseph Kaiser does a pretty good job. The fast coloratura sometimes gets the better of him, but his tone is pleasant, powerful but still restrained, and his acting is superb.

My initial disappointment for omitting Irene’s aria ”Bane of virtue” was replaced by the breathtaking rendition of Didymus’ aria ”Deeds of kindness”, which had been just another ”good aria” in the previous version, but here it really stands out. Bejun Mehta can sometimes overdo things a little with his powerful vibrato and creative ornamentation, but in this he held back and the piano parts were deliciously soft and subtle.

No other big arias were excluded as far as I can remember (although a few small ones were turned into recits) but they did however add an organ concerto in the middle of act 3. I was a little confused at the idea at first but it did add another nuance to the acting as, during the four movements of the concerto, the psychological tension between the characters was highlighted and a shift in psychological power from Valens to Theodora was even implied.

The end of the third act, where Theodora and Didymus are given their death sentences and even executed in the Glyndebourne production, has always been among my favourite moments. This version seemed to play more on the couple’s strength and their contentment with their fate, underlining a victorious ending to the oratorio instead of a merely tragic one. The final duet is powerful and beautiful, but in this production, even more so the last chorus, where the camera focuses on the crying Septimius, who previously torn between loyalty towards the separate parties, now realises what he allowed to happen.

I watched this last night and already I want to watch it again. And because I’ve already spent a good hour trying to find the right words to describe my listening and watching experience, I’ll let you watch the final duet ”Streams of pleasure ever flowing” and make your own judgements.

These are a few of my favourite things...

...well, in this case, favourite songs.

Ever since I was little I've had a special feeling about my favourite songs. I would play them over and over and it seemed like they were some kind of magic shield against whatever negativity going on in my life. I still feel the same way about some songs.
Here are some of my new and older favourites:


Corsican vocal group Barbara Furtuna also does a lot of religious/sacral music and it was difficult to pick one favourite track, however the melancholy and passion in this one is beyond description.



The first time I heard this I had to play it over and over. It seemed like a little vulnerable bubble of perfection.



An old favourite. Odd Nordstoga made his big break with the album Luring which this track is taken from, there's a lot of up-tempo fun tracks on it but I always liked the quiet ballads better. This song still has the magic..although it's even better in acoustic live versions.



Genius.

And now for a couple of classical favourites (again):

An aria that I first heard when I started to get interested in classical music and I've heard numerous renditions and recordings since. This one is at the very top of my list. Note: the aria itself starts a couple of minutes into the clip.



I've heard several versions of this as well, but this is by far my favourite - Of course I'm a little biased as a Philippe Jaroussky fan, but I also love the "real" quality to the recording. I love to turn up the volume during the intro to hear creaking of chairs or floorboards, rustling of papers in the score and other subtle background sounds. But when the vocal starts to soar it's like a piece of divinity.