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T h e W i l l i a m T. K e m p e r I n t e r n a t i o n a l c h a m b e r M u s i c s e r i e s Venice Baroque Orchestra and Philippe Jaroussky Friday, February 14 8 pm Yardley Hall Andrea Marcon, director PORPORA Overture from Germanico in Germania “Mira in cielo” from Arianna e Teseo “Si pietoso il tuo labbro” from Semiramide riconosciuta LEO Overture from L’Olimpiade HANDEL “Mi lusinga il dolce affetto” from Alcina “Sta nell’ircana” from Alcina INTERMISSION HANDEL “Agitato da fiere tempest” from Oreste “Scherza infida” from Ariodante CIMAROSA “La Tempesta, in tempo di Ciaccona” PORPORA “Alto Giove” from the autograph version of Polifemo “Nell´attendere il mio bene” from Polifemo This concert is co-presented byThe Friends of Chamber Music and the Performing Arts Series of JCCC This concert is underwritten, in part, by the National Endowmnet for the Arts The Early Music Series is underwritten, in part, by The Friends of Chamber Music Endowment Funds The International Chamber Music Series is underwritten, in part, by the William T. Kemper Foundation The Venice Baroque Orchestra is supported by Fondazione Cassamaraca in Treviso. Phillipe Jarousky records exclusively for Virgin Classics. Additional suport is also provided by: the friends of chamber music | Live Performance. Be There. program notes This evening’s program focuses on a grand operatic rivalry between German-born George Frederic Handel and the Neapolitan composer Nicola Porpora. The competition unfolded in London in the 1730s, dominating the city’s cultural life and involving Frederick, Prince of Wales as a central figure. Handel’s Italian operas were immensely popular in England in the 1720s and 1730s. (Only later did he focus on English language sacred oratorios, most famously the Messiah.) Initially, his Royal Academy of Music stage productions were mounted at the King’s Theatre in Haymarket. In 1733, with the backing of the Prince of Wales and other aristocrats, the Opera of the Nobility was formed to challenge Handel. Many of Handel’s singers from the Haymarket Theatre – including the celebrated castrato Senesino – defected to the new company, which had invited the famous Italian master Nicola Porpora to England as its music director. The company opened in the 173334 season at the Lincoln’s Inns Fields Theater with Porpora’s Arianna in Nasso. The following season, they displaced Handel’s Royal Academy from the Haymarket, and lured the famous castrato Farinelli to London to sing for the Opera of the Nobility. Handel was forced to move his productions to the newly constructed Covent Garden Theatre. The two companies went head to head against each other for three seasons, at which point both were plagued by debt. Porpora returned to Italy in 1736; Handel suffered a physical breakdown in April 1737. By then, Italian opera was waning in popularity with London audiences, but the competition had inspired Handel and Porpora to compose some of their greatest music. Dramatis personae: The Composers Nicola Porpora (1686-1768) was an opera composer and the foremost voice teacher of his age. He was educated in his native Naples and composed his first opera for the Neapolitan royal theatre. The Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt, stationed in Naples with the Austrian army, NAPLES AND ITALIAN OPERA Italy was the birthplace of opera. The genre flourished in all major Italian cities and many minor urban centers. Naples boasted a particularly rich, diverse, and influential opera culture that derived in part from the city’s unique political history. From the 16th through the 18th centuries, Naples was one of Europe’s most important musical capitals. Though we think of Naples as Italian, the city actually lost its independence in 1503, becoming a vice-royalty of Spain. During the two centuries of Spanish rule, Naples became a natural meeting point for Italian and Spanish traditions. Science, philosophy, and literature all flourished, but music most of all. During that time, Naples also boasted the largest and most important royal chapel in Europe. In an overwhelmingly Catholic kingdom, that meant sacred music, which was essential to the image of a royal court. The nobility wanted entertainment as well, leading to a vibrant culture of opera. Members of the aristocracy sang, played instruments, and learned to dance as part of their general education. In 1707, Naples came under Austrian rule, which lasted until 1734, when the city regained its independence. During the Austrian decades and Naples’ initial years as an independent kingdom, Neapolitan music blossomed as never before. The Teatro San Carlo was part of a surge of new construction in the late 1730s, rising up in an astounding 270 days in 1737. The years between 1720 and 1750 were a period of great prestige for Neapolitan composers, whose influence affected opera throughout Italy. Francesco Durante, Nicola Porpora, Nicola Logroscino, Leonardo Vinci, Leonardo Leo, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, and Niccolò Jommelli were all active during these years. Though their names are known primarily to specialists today, in their time, the music of these composers was performed all over Europe. Equally important was Naples’ dominance in the school of Italian singing. The combination of a large number of gifted composers, an influential approach to singing, and a bevy of accomplished vocalists all helped elevate the city’s reputation for operatic excellence. Between 1725 and 1740, Neapolitan operas dominated the stage in Rome and Venice and flourished throughout Europe. The most popular composers were Leo, Vinci and Porpora. This evening’s program is dominated by music of Porpora, a Neapolitan native who traveled widely, and Handel, who spent many years in Italy but settled permanently in England by about 1716. We also hear an overture by Leonardo Leo, who spent his entire career in Naples, and a work by the later 18th-century composer Domenico Cimarosa, a contemporary of Mozart who studied in Naples and became a central figure in late 18thcentury comic opera. – L.S. ©2013 38th season 2013-14 71 program notes was an early patron. Between 1715 and 1721, Porpora was Maestro di capella at the Conservatorio di San Onofrio, where he gained a reputation as an excellent singing teacher. His students included Farinelli, Caffarelli, Salimbeni, Appiani, and Porporino, five of the most famous castrati of the day. George Frederick Handel (1685-1759) was born in Halle and at the age of ten, demonstrated considerable talent as an organist. He moved to Hamburg in 1703, playing violin and harpsichord in the opera orchestra while learning about the business of theatre. He composed his first operas in Hamburg, then was invited to Italy by Gian Gastone de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. Between 1706 and 1710, he worked in Florence and Rome, mastering the Italian style. After returning to Germany, Handel was appointed Kapellmeister in the Electoral Court of Hannover. The position allowed him considerable latitude for travel. He was in England from 1710 to 1711 and again in 1712. His music enjoyed enormous popularity there, and when his German employer fell heir to the throne of England, Handel’s career became anchored in the British Isles. He was appointed music director of the new Royal Academy of Music, an opera venture, in 1719 and remained there until the company collapsed in 1728. Handel was then hired to produce operas at the King’s Theatre. He soon faced competition from a short-lived English Opera at Lincoln’s Inn Fields, then from fledgling Opera of the Nobility. When that troupe took over the Haymarket Theatre, Handel moved his company to the new Covent Garden. By the late 1730s, Italian opera was waning in popularity with English audiences. Handel reinvented himself, focusing on English language oratorios, the most famous of which is the Messiah. He was blind in his last Domenico Cimarosa years, but continued playing organ until his death in As his reputation grew, Porpora wrote for the Vienna 1759. Leonardo Leo (1694-1744) was a Neapolitan Hoftheater, then took a position in Venice in 1726. composer of oratorio and opera who spent most of In 1733 he traveled to London at the invitation of the newly-formed Opera of the Nobility. Porpora wrote five career in service to the Neapolitan viceroy. He began as an organist and held some church jobs early on. After of his best operas for them, including Arianna in Nasso and Polifemo. His London compositions include chamber Alessandro Scarlatti died in 1725, Leo was appointed first organist in the viceregal chapel. He composed cantatas and other instrumental pieces for the Prince of Wales, who was a competent cellist. Porpora returned primarily opera seria, but he also experimented with comic opera and intermezzi. He often supervised to Venice in summer 1736, less than a year before performances of his operas in Roman and Venetian both London opera companies collapsed for lack of theatres. The pinnacle of his career was the mid-1730s, public support. including the 1737 L’olimpiade. Porpora spent his later career in Venice, Dresden (where he was singing teacher to the Electoral Princess), and Vienna. Haydn studied with him in 1752 and 1753, also serving as his valet. The Italian composer spent his last years back in his native Naples. Domenico Cimarosa (1749-1801) was born in Aversa, just outside Naples. He studied the organ, singing, violin, harpsichord, and composition at the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto, producing his the friends of chamber music | Live Performance. Be There. program notes first opera in Naples in 1772. He spent four years at the court of Russia’s Catherine the Great from 1787 to 1791 as maestro di capella, but disliked the climate and returned to western Europe, accepting a position in the Viennese Imperial Court of Leopold II until 1794. Cimarosa composed primarily opere buffa, several of which were among the most popular in Europe. The Librettists Pietro Metastasio (1698-1782) was trained as a notary in his native Rome. He traveled to Naples in 1719 and began writing poetry for music. He became the greatest Italian poet of the 18th century, producing 27 opera seria libretti, each of which was set by dozens of composers: more than 1000 operas in all. His career took him to Rome, Venice, and eventually Vienna, where he was appointed court poet. Writing in the 1780s, Stefano Arteaga observed in his History of Opera: No one better than [Metastasio] has known how to bend the Italian language to the nature of music . . . No one better than he has understood the needs of opera in accommodating the lyrical style to drama. Leonardo Leo adapted Metastasio’s libretto for L’Olimpiade; Porpora set his Semiramide riconosciuta. Paolo Antonio Rolli (1687-1765) was the son of a Burgundian architect, who probably introduced him to great French literature. He studied with Gian Vincenzo Gravina, who also trained Metastasio, and had his first plays produced in Rome by 1714. Within two years he went to London to teach Italian and translate literary works between the two languages. He forged an excellent relationship with the Princess of Wales. When her husband became King George II in 1727, she appointed Rolli tutor to the royal children. 16th century, castrati had become the norm for soprano and alto parts in sacred music. With the invention of the new genres of opera and cantata, castrati were called upon for secular music as well. Properly trained, these singers achieved astonishing levels of skill, in part because their training could begin so many years earlier than training for female singers, whose voices are not fully mature until their late 20’s or early 30’s. Naples became an important center for schooling singers, with four major conservatories. The poverty of the area prompted many parents to forfeit one of their sons to this practice in the hope of achieving wealth and glory. The best castrati enjoyed high social status and immense prestige, especially in their youth. Their androgynous appearance made them attractive to both sexes, and their musicianship was unimpeachable. Caffarelli (born Gaetano Majorano; 1710-1783) was a student of Porpora in Naples who made his debut in Rome in 1726. He took his stage name from his first teacher, Caffaro. He sang in several major Italian cities before accepting a position as chamber virtuoso to the Grand Duke of Tuscany in Rome in 1730. From 1734, he was based at the royal chapel in Naples, where he continued to perform mezzo-soprano roles for another twenty years. In his day, he was ranked as second only to Farinelli; however, he had a reputation for arrogance and a short temper that landed him under house arrest or even in prison on several occasions. Porpora wrote the role of Arminio, Prince of Germania in Germanico in Germania for Caffarelli. Giovanni Carestini (c.1704-c.1760) was from a small town near Ancona, on Italy’s Adriatic coast. He was under the protection of the Milanese Cusani family after his castration and made his debut in Milan in 1719. During the 1720s he sang in Rome, Venice, and Rolli remained in England until 1744, writing and Munich; he was also at the Viennese court during the revising libretti for dozens of operas. He was the librettist 1723-24 season. In 1733 he followed Handel to London, for Porpora’s Arianna in Nasso and Polifemo. appearing in five Handel operas during the next two seasons, including Alcina and Ariodante. He was back in Naples by 1735, and his career declined after 1740. The Singers Handel’s writing for Carestini took advantage of The arias Mr. Jaroussky sings were all composed for castrati. The 1730s was a golden age for this phenomenon of music history. The rise of the castrato can be attributed to the Catholic Church, which proscribed women’s voices in church from about the 4th century AD. Initially boys and falsetti sang high parts. By the late the singer’s astonishing two-octave range. He was apparently an excellent actor, and was considered handsome by contemporaries. Farinelli (born Carlo Broschi; 1705-1782) was the most celebrated of the castrati, and is one of the most famous singers of all time. He appeared in more than 38th season 2013-14 73 program notes 60 operas over the course of 17 active years on the stage. Farinelli began study with his father in his native Apulia, the studied privately with Porpora in Naples, making his debut in Porpora’s Angelica in 1720. He soon made triumphal appearances in virtually every important musical center in Italy, as well as in Vienna and Munich. He made his debut in Venice in the 1707-08 season, soon appearing in Genoa, Rome, Reggio, Brescia, and Naples. By 1717 his reputation had spread beyond Italy and he took a position in Dresden, but soon made enemies there because of his prickly personality and volatile behavior in rehearsals. Handel heard Senesino in Dresden and invited him to London, where Senesino created the title role of Giulio Cesare and sang in more than a dozen other Handel operas. Composer and castrato had a falling-out in 1733, prompting Senesino to defect to the newly-formed Opera of the Nobility. There he appeared in five operas by Porpora and a couple by other composers. In the late 1730s he returned to Florence and Naples, where his last documented performance took place in 1740. Senesino did not have an especially wide range, but he was renowned for his coloratura technique in heroic arias, his declamation in recitative, and his expressivity in slower passages. Overture from Germanico in Germania Nicola Porpora Farinelli, by Wagner after Amigoni 1735 Porpora brought Farinelli to London in 1734 as the flagship star for the newly-formed Opera of the Nobility. After that troupe failed in 1737, Farinelli left for Paris, then received an extraordinary summons from the Spanish royal court. He sang exclusively for the ailing Spanish monarch Philip V and his successor, Ferdinand VI, until Charles III ascended the throne in 1759 and dismissed him. Farinelli retired to Bologna, where his distinguished visitors included Padre Martini, the boy Wolfang Mozart, Casanova, and the Austrian Emperor Joseph II. Senesino (born Francesco Bernardi; c.1686-1759) took his stage name from his home town of Siena. He was as renowned for arrogance as for his vocal prowess. Germanico in Germania is a two-act opera seria first produced in Rome in February 1732 at the Teatro Capranica. The libretto is by Niccolò Coluzzi (fl.1730s), an obscure figure who was also active in Turin; he is best known for this libretto. As its title implies, the plot concerns Germanicus’s adventures in the northern outposts of the Roman Empire. The convoluted plot deals with love, patriotism, betrayal, and military conflict between the Romans the the Germans. “Mira in cielo” from Arianna e Teseo “Si pietoso il tuo labbro” from Semiramide riconosciuta Nicola Porpora These arias come from two of Porpora’s most popular works. By 1711, Porpora had become maestro di cappella under the Prince of Hessen-Darmstadt at Naples, and two years later, following the departure of the Prince, became the maestro di cappella for the Portuguese ambassador. In 1714, he received a Viennese Court commission for his opera Arianna e Teseo. At Court during this same time, was the young librettist, Pietro Pariati, just beginning the first years of his appointment the friends of chamber music | Live Performance. Be There. program notes in Vienna. Pariati was to write the libretto for Arianna e Teseo. He added new subplots and two new characters, the lovers Alceste and Laodice, to the Greek story. 1737. L’Olimpiade was only the second production in the theatre, which is still standing and is one of the city’s Baroque glories. The story unfolds on the island of Crete where several young Athenian men and maidens await ritual sacrifice to the fearsome Minotaur who dwells in the labyrinth. Among the Athenians is Arianna, the daughter of Minos (Minosse), King of Crete, who was abducted as a child by King Aegeus. Also in the group is the disguised Prince Teseo, son of Aegeus. Teseo is determined to kill the Minotaur in order to save Arianna’s friend Laodice, whom Arianna believes that Teseo loves. In spite of her doubts, she whispers to Teseo a secret plan to kill the Minotaur. The work ends with Teseo’s victory and reconciliation with Arianna. Porpora would compose the second half of Arianna’s story, Arianna in Naxos in 1733 and debut it at the Opera of Nobility in England. The opera takes its title from the Olympic Games that take place in the ancient city of Sicyon. The principal characters are lovers, rulers, and competitors, some in disguise. They interact through the plot devices of deception, banishment, rescue, and attempted assassination. Virtue triumphs, and the strong women at the center of the story are successful in being united with their lovers. A revival of L’Olimpiade in the 1742-43 season included chorus for the first time in a Neapolitan opera. Semiramide riconosciuta (‘Semiramis Recognized’) is earlier. Porpora wrote it for the Venetian Teatro di San Giovanni Grisostomo for performance during Carnival season 1729. His was only the second setting of this Metastasio libretto; Leonardo Vinci’s Roman production was the first, also in early 1729. The title character is an Egyptian princess who elopes with an Indian prince and survives an attempt on her life and false accusations of infidelity. When Semiramide riconosciuta begins, she is disguised as Nino, the ruler of Assyria. Both her Indian husband and her brother, the Egyptian prince Mirteo, believe her dead. Semiramis dramas were popular in Spain and France throughout the 17th and 18th centuries; Rossini’s Semiramide attests to the topic’s ongoing appeal into the 19th century. Metastasio’s libretto was set by some 30 composers between 1729 and 1819. The cast for Porpora’s 1729 production featured Farinelli in the role of Mirteo. Overture from L’Olimpiade Leonardo Leo Metastasio’s libretto for L’Olimpiade was one of his most popular. First set by Antonio Caldara in Vienne in 1733, it was subsequently inspiration for dozens of composers including Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Baldassare Galuppi, and Niccolò Jommelli. Leonardo Leo’s version is among the finest. The premiere took place in Naples’ new Teatro San Carlo on December 19, CASTRATO A castrato (Italian, plural: castrati) is a type of classical male singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano, or contralto. The voice is produced by castration of the singer before puberty, or it occurs in one who, due to an endocrinological condition, never reaches sexual maturity. Castration before puberty (or in its early stages) prevents a boy’s larynx from being transformed by the normal physiological events of puberty. As a result, the vocal range of prepubescence (shared by both sexes) is largely retained, and the voice develops into adulthood in a unique way. Prepubescent castration for this purpose diminished greatly in the late 18th century and was made illegal in Italy in 1870. As the castrato’s body grew, his lack of testosterone meant that his epiphyses (bone-joints) did not harden in the normal manner. Thus the limbs of the castrati often grew unusually long, as did the bones of their ribs. This, combined with intensive training, gave them unrivalled lung-power and breath capacity. Operating through small, child-sized vocal cords, their voices were also extraordinarily flexible, and quite different from the equivalent adult female voice. Their vocal range was higher than that of the uncastrated adult male. Visit Youtube to hear Alessandro Moreschi, a castrati, who was First Soprano of the Sistine Chapel Choir for 30 years. This was recorded between 1902 and 1904 when Moreschi was around 50 years old. www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQo2PNnwOww 38th season 2013-14 75 program notes “Mi lusinga il dolce affetto” from Alcina “Sta nell’Ircana” from Alcina George Frederick Handel Alcina was presented at the newly-constructed Covent Garden Theatre on April 16, 1735; it was the last opera in the 1734-35 season. The anonymous libretto was based on two cantos from Orlando furioso (1516) the masterpiece of the 16th century Italian poet Ludovico Ariosto about adventures of paladins in Charlemagne’s court. The opera deals with a sorceress, Alcina, who lures brave men to her island, seducing them before she transforms them into boulders, trees, streams, or wild animals. Her latest captive is the knight Ruggiero, who has not yet been transformed. Ruggiero is besotted with the sultry Alcina. Living in sin with her, he has forgotten his betrothal to Bradamante, who has pursued him to the island, disguised as a youth. Eventually Ruggiero succeeds in destroying Alcina’s magic powers. All the enchanted heroes are restored to their human form and Ruggiero is reunited with Bradamante. This type of magical opera provided opportunities for elaborate staging and special effects that were immensely popular with Handel’s audiences. The two numbers that Mr. Jaroussky sings are both da capo arias, but could not be farther apart in character; one is leisurely and introspective, the other bold and aggressive. In “Mi lusinga il dolce affetto,” Ruggiero has been freed from the enchantment and his affections are restored to his fiancée, but he fears that Alcina may have disguised herself as Bradamante in order to further deceive him. The melodic line stresses expressivity and lyricism. Handel wrote the part of Ruggiero for Carestini, taking full advantage of the castrato’s technical skill in coloratura arias like “Sta nell’Ircana.” In this virtuosic number, Ruggiero resumes his heroic stance, with rapid runs and trills in the Neapolitan style. “Agitato da fiere tempeste” from Oreste “Scherza infida” from Ariodante George Frederick Handel Both Oreste and Ariodante date from 1735, after Handel’s troupe had moved to the Covent Garden theatre. Oreste is a pasticcio – a hodgepodge compiled from different sources and adapted to an existing libretto. In this case the poetic source was adapted from a 1723 libretto by Giovanni Gualberto Barlocci based on Euripides’s drama Iphigenia in Tauris. Handel drew on nine of his earlier operas for the arias, as well as ballet music from two other operas. “Agitato da fiere tempeste” is a dazzling bravura aria with even more extended passage work than the one that closed the first half. “Scherza infida” is more a scena than an aria: an extended movement of nearly ten minutes. It comes from Ariodante, which premiered at Covent Garden on 8 January 1735; the anonymous libretto is adapted from a 1708 text that in turn derives from Ariosto’s Orlando furioso. In the aria, the title character, a vassal prince, expresses his despair upon learning that his intended bride apparently loves another. The aria is noteworthy for Handel’s remarkable orchestration, with bassoon obbligato, muted violins, and pizzicato bass. La tempesta, in tempo di Ciaccona Domenico Cimarosa Cimarosa’s La tempesta is the sole representative from the second half of the 18th century on this program. He tapped into two favorite sub-genres: the storm movement and the Baroque chaconne, a series of sequential variations, generally in slow triple meter, on a repeating ground bass. Their combination in one piece makes this music unique. “Alto Giove” from Polifemo “Nell’attendere il mio bene” from Polifemo Nicola Porpora In ancient Greek mythology, Polyphemus was the Cyclops who imprisoned Odysseus and his men in a cave, systematically devouring them until the surviving men succeeded in blinding him while he was passed out from drink. Before his demise, Polyphemus loved the seanymph Galatea, and wooed her with little finesse – and no success. The tale was popular with pastoral writers in Greece and Baroque authors, including Porpora’s librettist Rolli. Porpora’s three-act opera seria was the first of his operas to be produced after the Theatre of the Nobility took over the Kings Theatre, having successfully displaced Handel. the friends of chamber music | Live Performance. Be There. Program Notes by Laurie Shulman ©2013 program notes Venice Baroque Orchestra F ounded in 1997 by Baroque scholar and harpsichordist Andrea Marcon, Venice Baroque Orchestra is recognized as one of the premier ensembles devoted to period instrument performance. Committed to the rediscovery of 17th and 18th-century masterpieces, VBO has given the modern-day premieres of Francesco Cavalli’s L’Orione, Vivaldi’s Atenaide and Andromeda liberata, Benedetto Marcello’s La morte d’Adone and Il trionfo della poesia e della musica, and Boccherini’s La Clementina. With Teatro La Fenice in Venice, the Orchestra has staged Cimarosa’s L’Olimpiade, Handel’s Siroe, and Galuppi’s L’Olimpiade, and reprised Siroe at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York in its first full staging in the United States. The Orchestra’s recent disc for Naïve, a pasticcio of Metastasio’s L’Olimpiade featuring the recording premieres of many 18th-century opera arias, was released in 2012 and awarded Choc du Monde de la Musique. The VBO has an extensive discography with Sony and Deutsche Grammophon. The Orchestra has been honored with the Diapason d’Or, Choc du Monde de la Musique, Echo Award and the Edison Award. In addition to frequent radio broadcast of their concerts, the Orchestra has been seen worldwide through several television specials, including films by the BBC, ARTE, NTR (Netherlands), and NHK. They have been the subject of three recent video recordings, in Romania, Croatia and Lisbon. Their performances will also be featured on Swiss TV in an upcoming documentary on Vivaldi. The Venice Baroque Orchestra is supported by Fondazione Cassamarca in Treviso and can be heard on Deutsche Grammophon, Sony Classical, Naïve and Virgin Classics The Venice Baroque appears courtesy of Alliance Artist Management For more information visit www.venicebaroqueorchestra.it/cms/ P Philippe Jaroussky hilippe Jaroussky is arguably the most prominent French countertenor today. His main focus is on early music, with a preference for the works of Monteverdi, Vivaldi, Handel, and many lesser-known 17th and 18th century composers. He is noted for a virtuosic technique of melisma, and for compelling and enlivened interpretations of baroque cantatas and opera. This has contributed to his unusual revival of repertoire. Jaroussky was born in Maisons Lafitte, France, on January 13, 1978. He first studied violin, and later piano. He enrolled at the Paris Conservatory, where he graduated with a diploma in violin performance from the Ancient Music department there. In 1996 he began vocal studies with soprano Nicole Fallien and three years later debuted at the music festivals in Royaumont and Ambronay, where he sang in the Alessandro Scarlatti oratorio Sedecia, rè di Gerusalemme. A critically acclaimed recording derived from these performances was released shortly afterward on Virgin Classics. The following year, he appeared in the Monteverdi operatic trilogy Orfeo, Il Ritorno d’Ulisse and Incoronazione di Poppea under conductor Jean-Claude Malgoire. In 2001 Jaroussky’s schedule swelled with major appearances all over France and abroad: he sang Arbace in Vivaldi’s opera Catone in Utica and also appeared in performances of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater. Jaroussky’s meteoric rise continued with his critically praised portrayal of Nero in Handel’s Agrippina at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris in 2003. Mr Jaroussky has formed his own ensemble called Artaserse, and also often performs with the Ensemble Matheus under Jean-Christophe Spinosi and with L’Arpeggiata under Christina Pluhar. He has made several recordings with Artaserse. Philippe Jaroussky’s first recital disc with works by Benedetto Ferrari received outstanding critical acclaim, winning Diapason Découverte, Recommandé de Repertoire, Timbre de Platine d’Opéra International, Prix de l’Academie Charles Cros, Grand Prix du Syndicat de la Critique, etc. Mr. Jaroussky now records exclusively for Virgin Classics. Mr. Jaroussky appears courtesy of Alliance Artists Management For more information visit: www.philippejaroussky.fr/en 38th season 2013-14 77 t e xt s a n d t r a n s l at i on s “Mira in cielo” from Arianna e Teseo Porpora Pietro Pariati, librettist Mira in cielo; a Giove impera. vedi in mar; comanda all’ onde, turba il cielo, il mar confonde, Pluto cede, e Stige nera pur paventa il suo poter. È fanciullo, e tutto affalle, cieco impiaga, e tutti atterra; scherza, alletta, e poi fa guerra colla face, collo strale, ed è legge il suo voler. “Mira in cielo” from Arianna e Teseo Porpora Pietro Pariati, librettist Look up to heaven, Love gives orders to Jove, consider the sea, Love commands the waves, he shakes the heavens, agitates the sea, Pluto yields and even the black Styx fears his power, Although he is a child, he orders everything, he blindly wounds and brings down everyone; he jokes and entices, then makes war with his torch and his arrows, and his will imposes his laws. “Si pietoso il tuo labro” from Semiramide Riconosciuto Porpora Pietro Metastasio, librettist Si pietoso il tuo labbro ragiona che quesť alma non teme che finga; s’ abbandona alla dolce lusinga e contenti sognando si và. Care pene, felici martiri, se mostrasse ĺ ingrata Tamiri qualche parte di questa pietà. “Si pietoso il tuo labro” from Semiramide Riconosciuto Porpora Pietro Metastasio, librettist Since you speak so sympathetically, my heart fears no deception; it abandons itself to sweet blandishment and continues happily dreaming. Dear pains, happy torments, if only the ungrateful Tamiri would show some part of this pity. “Mi lusinga il dolce affetto” from Alcina Handel Riccardo Broschi, librettist Mi lusinga il dolce affetto con l’aspetto del mio bene. pur chi sa? Temer conviene che m’inganni amando ancor. Ma se quella fosse mai che adorai e l’abbandono, infedele, ingrato io sono, son crudele e traditor. “Mi lusinga il dolce affetto” from Alcina Handel Riccardo Broschi, librettist Sweet passion tempts me at the appearance of my beloved. But who knows? I fear that by loving once more, I deceive myself. But if it ever should come to pass that I adore and yet abandon her, unfaithful, ungrateful am I, I am cruel and and a traitor “Sta nell’ircana” from Alcina Handel Riccardo Broschi, librettist Sta nell’ircana pietroso tana Tigre sdegnosa, e incerta pende Se parte, o attende il cacciator. “Sta nell’ircana” from Alcina Handel Riccardo Broschi, librettist In her stony Caspian lair The fierce tiger stands, unsure whether to flee, or await the hunter. the friends of chamber music | Live Performance. Be There. t e xt s a n d t r a n s l at i on s Dal teso strale guardar si vuole Ma poi la prole lascia in periglio. Freme e l’assale, desio di sangue Pieta del figlio poi vince amor. She wants to defend herself from his arrow, But that would leave her offspring in danger. She trembles, and struggles between her taste for blood and her duty to her young; then love prevails “Agitato da fiere tempeste” from Oreste Handel libretto adapeted anonymously from Giangulberto Barclocci’s L’Oreste Agitato da fiere tempeste, se il nocchiero rivede sua stella tutto lieto e sicuro se n’va. Io ancor spero tra l´ire funeste dar la calma a quest´alma rubella, che placata, poi lieta sará. “Agitato da fiere tempeste” from Oreste Handel libretto adapeted anonymously from Giangulberto Barclocci’s L’Oreste Shaken by ferocious storms, if the sailor sees his star again, he sails on happy and safe. I hope, even amidst deadly wrath, to calm this rebellious heart, which, appeased, shall then be happy. “Scherza infida” from Ariodante Handel libretto adopted anonymously from a work by Antonio Salvi Scherza infida in grembo al drudo, io tradito a morte in braccio per tua colpa ora men vò. Ma a spezzar l’indegno laccio, ombra mesta, e spirto ignudo, per tua pena io tornerò. “Scherza infida” from Ariodante Handel libretto adopted anonymously from a work by Antonio Salvi Mock me, faithless one, in your lover’s arms. Betrayed by you, I lie in the arms of death. But to break these unworthy bonds, for your sentence I shall return, a sad ghost and a naked spirit. “Alto Giove” from Ifigenia in Aulide Porpora Paolo Antonio Rolli, librettist Alto Giove, è tua grazia, è tuo vanto il gran dono di vita immortale che il tuo cenno sovrano mi fa. Ma il rendermi poi quella già sospirata tanto diva amorosa e bella è un dono senza uguale, come la tua beltà. “Alto Giove” from Ifigenia in Aulide Porpora Paolo Antonio Rolli, librettist Mighty Jove, the great gift of immortal life that your sovereign command granted me is your blessing and your glory. But to give me that beautiful, loving goddess I so sighed for is a gift beyond compare, as is your magnificence “Nell’attendere il mio bene” from Ifigenia in Aulide Porpora Paolo Antonio Rolli, librettist Nell’ attendere il mio bene mille gioie intorno all’ alma, sul momento ch’ ella viene, la speranza porterà. Rammentarti sol vog’ io che il mio cor, se torni o parti, teco va, bell’ idol mio, e con te ritornerà. “Nell’attendere il mio bene” from Ifigenia in Aulide Porpora Paolo Antonio Rolli, librettist While I await my beloved, hope promises a thousand joys for my soul at the moment of her arrival. Only remember this: that whether you leave or return my heart goes with you, fair treasure, and comes back with you. 38th season 2013-14 79