Forgotten Arias

by Philippe Jaroussky, Julien Chauvin, Le Concert de la Loge

Overview

One attraction of this release, which made classical best-seller charts in the autumn of 2023, is that it lives up to its title; the music is generally obscure, and it is well worthy of revival. It might be called "Unjustly Forgotten Arias." These are countertenor, originally castrato arias from the late Baroque period (or early Classical, depending on how one looks at it), composed between 1748 and 1770. Texts are by Pietro Metastasio, the greatest librettist of the age, and there are several instances in which multiple composers set the same one. So the album is of interest to serious students of the period. For the general listener, though, the attraction is the voice of countertenor Philippe Jaroussky, which is in fine form. One might even argue that this material fits his now middle-aged instrument perfectly. There are some fiery runs of the type that made him famous, but these are, for the most part, arias in which sheer passagework is beginning to break up into more variegated melodic expression. They are quite virtuosic, but this is not always a question of runs of 16th notes. Instead, there are big leaps of an octave (or even two), and the composers force the singer down into a lower register, even down to low C; Jaroussky's low notes are rich and tough. Some of the pieces are melodically quite attractive; try "Per quel paterno amplesso" from Johann Christian Bach's Artaserse, probably the most famous opera libretto of the time and one in which composers strove to outdo each other. Jaroussky gets excellent support from Le Concert de la Loge under conductor Julien Chauvin on an album that makes an especially strong entry in Jaroussky's distinguished catalog. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	04/12/2024
Label:	Erato
UPC:	5054197633881
Rank:	33058

Tracks

1. L' Olimpiade~Act II. Scene 5: Siam navi all'onde algenti
2. Il re pastore~Act III. Scene 6: Sol può dir come si trova
3. Catone in Utica~Act I. Scene 3: Che giurai? Che promisi?
4. Catone in Utica~Act I. Scene 3: Che legge spietata
5. 24 Arias~No. 11. Gelido in ogni vena
6. L' Olimpiade~Act III. Scene 3: Dove son? Che m'avenne?
7. L' Olimpiade~Act III. Scene 3: Gemo in un punto, e fremo
8. La clemenza di Tito~Act II. Scene 15: Se mai senti spirarti sul volto
9. Demofoonte~Sinfonia. I. Allegro
10. Demofoonte~Sinfonia. II. Andantino
11. Demofoonte~Sinfonia. III. Presto
12. Demofoonte~Act I. Scene 4: Ma che vi fece, o stelle
13. Demofoonte~Act I. Scene 4: Sperai vicino il lido
14. Demofoonte~Act III. Scene 5: Misero pargoletto
15. Artaserse~Act II. Scene 6: Per quel paterno amplesso
16. Artaserse~Act I. Scene 2: Fra cento affanni

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Philippe Jaroussky   Primary Artist,Counter Tenor (Vocal)
Julien Chauvin   Primary Artist,Conductor
Le Concert de la Loge   Primary Artist,Orchestra

Technical Credits

Yannis Francois   Research,Editing
Birgit Spalt   Liner Note Translation
Michelangelo Valentini   Composer
Johann Adolf Hasse   Composer
Tommaso Traetta   Composer
David Ylla-Somers   Libretto Translation
Marco Borggreve   Photography
Niccolo Jommelli   Composer
Niccolo Piccinni   Composer
Christoph Willibald Gluck   Composer
Daniel Fesquet   Libretto Translation
Robert Sargant   Libretto Translation
Andrea Bernasconi   Composer
Susannah Howe   Libretto Translation
Alain Lanceron   Executive Producer
Philippe Jaroussky   Research,Liner Notes
Gudrun Meier   Libretto Translation
Johann Christian Bach   Composer
Paula Kennedy   Libretto Translation
Giovanni Battista Ferrandini   Composer
Pietro Metastasio   Librettist
Daniela Wiesendanger   Libretto Translation
Saul Lipetz   Liner Note Translation
Baptiste Chouquet   Mixing,Engineer,Producer,Mastering
Ian Mansbridge   Libretto Translation
Marina Bettineschi   Libretto Translation