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the singer on his guitar





  • Jean-Pierre Robert
  • Music

Here is a proposal as unusual as it is enriching: to combine the countertenor voice with guitar accompaniment. Philippe Jaroussky and Thibaut Garcia invite us on an unexpected journey, crossing countries, languages, musical genres. And especially the times: ” a path that would go from the baroque to the present day “, Suggests the singer, to immerse us in” a sound landscape sculpted with the somewhat crazy desire that it all seem natural, because woven by the pure pleasure of music », Answers the guitarist. And it works wonderfully.

The voice-guitar alliance is in itself fascinating, orderly, according to Thibaut Garcia of ” an intimate relationship … the guitar encourages you to get closer to the singer “. The tenor Peter Schreier formerly for The Winter Journey by Schubert or the mezzo Teresa Berganza in Spanish melodies have experienced it with happiness. More precisely, is the countertenor voice satisfied with this singular connection, ” the guitar with an infinite palette … with colors that are almost of the order of the whisper », Underlines Jaroussky. In this regard, there has been a real match between the ethereal timbre of the latter and the discretion in the playing of the guitarist.

Another interesting aspect than that of the quality of the transcriptions. Some are almost obvious, like those of the pieces by Dowland or Purcell, because if there is an instrument close to the Baroque period, it is the guitar. Its muffled sound, not so far removed from the lute, is in no way relevant to this repertoire. Thus the lamentation of the queen of Dido and Aeneas, where, over the soft music of plucked strings, words like “remember me” take on an almost heavenly tone in the expression of pain. In the case of Spanish works, the presence of the guitar is intrinsically adequate. More daring, the transcription of the Lied Elf king (Le Roi des Aulnes) by Schubert sheds another light on the original score. Where the piano, associated with the dark baritone voice for example, makes it possible to underline the line, as at the beginning of the poem and its frantic race, the guitar allows a more subtle color chart. Another singularity, the arrangement by Garcia himself of a piece taken from the soundtrack of the film Black Orpheus, signée Luiz Bonfa.

We could not be more eclectic, the choice of pieces is surprising. Like making Barbara’s song ” September ” follow one another and Dowland’s piece called ” If music be the food of love ”. However, their often surprising juxtaposition does not strike. The intelligence of the arrangement of the program, with a few ranges of solo guitar breathing, is quickly needed. Because the sincerity of the subject goes beyond the undeniable seduction exercised by these two mediums. You have to let yourself be taken by the hand by the two artists who do not seek to fix themselves on the chronology, but beyond vertiginous leaps of time and the differences of musical styles, endeavor to create a secret harmony between the rooms. To forge an invisible bond, reinforced by the naturalness with which they are interpreted. ” We tried to tell a story », Underlines Jaroussky.

And how to resist the divine modulation of Fauré’s “At the Water’s Edge” or the charm of Mozart’s “Abendempfindung” (Evening Sensation), one of his rare melodies, sounding here with a pretty generosity. The works in Italian come just as well. Like the aria from a Paisiello opera, ironic in its delicious exaggeration, or ” Di tanti palpiti ” taken from the opera Tancredi by Rossini, where the guitar brings a special lightness and the countertenor timbre a new richness in the vocalizations. The same is true of pieces in Spanish such as the pieces by Federico García Lorca and de Granados, in which the memory of Berganza hovers.

Begun with ” A ma guitar ” by Poulenc, the recital ends with a folksong by Britten, in French, whose last words are ” finished is the song ”: the loop is complete! She will have provided intense moments of happiness both in the song and the accompaniment, both offering a wide palette of colors and a real sense of the story, long sustained notes, whispered pianissimos in one. , refinement of the game in the other, who always know how to find the right tone. An artistic as well as innate proximity.

Who finds himself in the intimacy of the recording, of an amazing relief, as if he were one and the same character singing to his guitar.

Text by Jean-Pierre Robert

  • “On his guitar”
  • Pieces for voice and guitar by Francis Poulenc, John Dowland, Tommaso Giordani, Francesca Caccini, Enrique Granados, Franz Schubert, Barbara, Henry Purcell, Luiz Bonfá, Wolfgang Amadé Mozart, Giovanni Paisiello, Ariel Ramírez, Gabriel Fauré, Gioachino Rossini, Federico García Lorca, Benjamin Britten
  • Pieces for solo guitar by Poulenc, Dilermando Reis, Gerardo Matos Rodriguez
  • Arrangements by Thibaut Garcia, David Jacques, José de Azpiazu
  • Philippe Jaroussky (countertenor), Thibaut Garcia (guitar)
  • 1 CD Erato : 0190295005702 (Distribution : Warner Classics)
  • CD duration: 67:04
  • Technical Note: green stargreen stargreen stargreen stargreen star (5/5)

CD, vinyl and MP3 available on Amazon

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Mozart, Gabriel Fauré, Philippe Jaroussky, Francis Poulenc, Franz Schubert, Gioachino Rossini, Henry Purcell, Benjamin Britten, John Dowland, Tommaso Giordani, Francesca Caccini, Enrique Granados, Barbara, Luiz Bonfa, Giovanni Paisiello, Ariel Ramírez, Federico García Lorca, Dilermando Reis, Gerardo Matos Rodriguez, Thibaut Garcia

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