Duetti

Two star countertenors, Philippe Jaroussky and Max Emanuel Cencic, join William Christie and Les Arts Florissants, for a programme of chamber-scale duets and arias by Italian composers of the early 18th century. As Jaroussky says, these are “duets of great beauty, where the two voices entwine in a way that is sometimes very sophisticated, but also very sensual.” The contrasting and complementary talents of two star countertenors, Philippe Jaroussky and Max Emanuel Cencic, come to the fore in this programme of chamber-scale duets and arias by Italian composers of the early 18th century: Porpora, Mancini, Bononcini, Marcello, Conti and Alessandro Scarlatti. Two instrumental items by Corelli are also included in this richly filled programme, based on concerts presented by Jaroussky, Cencic and Les Arts Florissants under William Christie’s direction in France and Spain in early 2011. Both countertenors are virtuosic performers, but Jaroussky is especially famed for the gracefulness of his vocalism, whether in brilliant castrato arias or his Virgin Classics album of belle époque song, Opium, while Cencic favours a more assertive and athletic style, which served him well in his breathtaking recital of Rossini arias for Virgin Classics. Philippe Jaroussky provides some background to the new recording of Baroque duets: “William Christie spoke to Max and me about his idea for a programme of chamber duos, and it immediately caught out imagination. While our most recent recordings have been of operatic arias, we share an interest in the more intimate Baroque repertoire, which both of us have recorded before now. “Rather than performing chamber duets by Handel, which are the most widely heard examples of the genre, we decided to focus on Italian composers of the early 18th century who influenced the young Handel, such as Benedetto Marcello, Alessandro Scarlatti, Agostino Steffani and Giovanni Bononcini [who also competed for public favour with Handel in London in the 1720s]. They wrote duets of great beauty, generally rarely performed, where the two voices entwine in a way that is sometimes very sophisticated, but also very sensual.” “It was through William Christie that Max Emanuel and I first met, in the production of Landi’s Sant’Alessio when it was performed in Caen [Les Arts Florissants’ base in north-west France] and on an international tour in 2007-8. We immediately recognised each other’s qualities as artists and that has not changed since. Max Emanuel invited me to sing Handel’s Faramondo with him [The Guardian described the Virgin Classics recording of the opera, featuring Jaroussky and Cencic, as ‘countertenor heaven’] and we have more projects in mind for the future. Max has an extraordinary countertenor technique which enables him to tackle different repertoire and tessituras with amazing and enviable ease. I learn a lot from listening to him and watching him sing. “William Christie has given me some of the best roles of my career. In the different productions I have done with him, I have discovered just how inspiring he can be as he accompanies us on the harpsichord, even before he provides us with verbal guidance. He is also a conductor who trusts to each singer’s musical intuition and personality, and I appreciate that enormously.”