Philippe Jaroussky: Carestini - A Castrato Story
Carestini - The Story of a Castrato (Philippe Jaroussky, Emmanuelle Haim) [2007]
Classical | EAC Rip | FLAC, IMG+CUE, LOG | Covers
Virgin Classics | 00946 3 95242 2 8 | 1cd, 338.32 MB
Classical | EAC Rip | FLAC, IMG+CUE, LOG | Covers
Virgin Classics | 00946 3 95242 2 8 | 1cd, 338.32 MB
For me, this is, hands down, best classical album of 2007. Not just because Jaroussky's voice has achieved a sort of perfection, doing whatever it is asked of it without any hint of effort and with great innate artistry; he has wonderful, very natural coloratura, incredible dynamic control, beautiful tone and sweet high notes that put other countertenors, Scholl included, and even many haute-contre tenors to shame. In the second track, Ciel Nemico, he does a sequence of interval leaps that sound out of this world; and that is just the second track! Right afterwards, he sings the living daylights out of Scherza Infida, which has been sung by many great singers before him, notably Lorraine Hunt, and yet he puts his stamp on it - and how. That is not to say that the prevailing tone on this album is high drama, quite the opposite. The material is mostly wonderful Baroque fluff, created for the great castrato Carestini, and of course it is chockful of showy vocal tricks and juicy ornamentations. Hearing it made me grin like mad right from the start, and it gets better and better upon repeats.
I need to mention few other things: the orchestra conducted with great gusto by Emmanuel Haim, the marvelous recorded sound, and really good CD booklet with liner notes on Carestini, great illustrations, and access to Open Disc content: a video of the recording sessions, and Jaroussky's musings on the life and art of Carestini. I love the cover, too; it's about time a countertenor had embraced the castrato showmanship. This album is, shall a say, le package total: great thematic concept, great music, played and sung to perfection, and with a sense of urgency, energy and plain fun.
What I enjoyed about this particular recording is the singer's phenomenal vocal accuracy, the beauty of his sound (lighter than David Daniels, not as other-worldly as Andreas Scholl) and the extraordinary imagination of Jaroussky's ornamentation. The purchase price is more than justified on the merits of one track alone. Handel's great aria "Scherza infida!" from the opera Ariodante receives a performance that is breath-takingly beautiful. Recordings of this aria have major competition as far-ranging as those of Janet Baker, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, David Daniels, Ian Bostridge, and many more. What distinguishes Jaroussky's version is the singer's ornamentation. It is much freer and more extensive than competing versions. Let's face it, who would want to be without any of the recordings of "Scherza infida!" listed above? But missing Jaroussky's version is to deny yourself of a very enormous musical pleasure.
I would unhesitatingly recommend this and any Jaroussky recordings to anyone who loves Baroque music, great singing or just the fun of jaw-dropping virtuosity.
By Akimon Azuki
Performer:
Philippe Jaroussky – countertenor
Le Concert d'Astrée
Emmanuelle Haïm – harpsichord, direction
Tracklisting:
Porpora Nicola (1686-1768)
1. Siface: Tu che d'ardir m'accendi
Capelli Giovann Maria (1648-1726)
2. I fratelli riconosciuti: Ciel nemico
Handel George Frideric (1685-1759)
3. Arianna in Creta: Qui ti sfido
4. Ariodante: Scherza, infida
5. Alcina: Sta nell'Ircana
6. Alcina: Mi lusinga
Leo Leonardo (1694-1744)
7. Farnace: Se mi dai morte 4:40
Hasse Johann Adolf (1699-1783)
8. La clemenza di Tito: Se mai senti
9. Vo disperato a morte
Gluck Christoph Willibald (1714-1787)
10. Demofoonte: Sperai vicino il lido
Graun Carl Heinrich (1704-1759)
11. Orfeo: Mio bel nume
12. In mirar la mia sventura
Exact Audio Copy V1.0 beta 1 from 15. November 2010
EAC extraction logfile from 23. February 2012, 21:06
Philippe Jaroussky, Emmanuelle Haïm, Le Concert d'Astrée / Carestini - The Story of a Castrato
Used drive : PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-218L Adapter: 1 ID: 0
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 6
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Used output format : User Defined Encoder
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Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files\Exact Audio Copy\Flac\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -T "DATE=%y" -T "GENRE=%m" -8 -V %s
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13 | 74:38.26 | 5:03.17 | 335876 | 358617
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Copy CRC 1E47D938
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AccurateRip summary
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==== Log checksum 3ED930A078D46668350E057DA8D7F076B217CE5E2030041F30716E840F5FB591 ====
EAC extraction logfile from 23. February 2012, 21:06
Philippe Jaroussky, Emmanuelle Haïm, Le Concert d'Astrée / Carestini - The Story of a Castrato
Used drive : PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-218L Adapter: 1 ID: 0
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 6
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 192 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files\Exact Audio Copy\Flac\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -T "DATE=%y" -T "GENRE=%m" -8 -V %s
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 3:24.23 | 0 | 15322
2 | 3:24.23 | 7:13.36 | 15323 | 47833
3 | 10:37.59 | 3:58.30 | 47834 | 65713
4 | 14:36.14 | 9:49.71 | 65714 | 109959
5 | 24:26.10 | 5:55.70 | 109960 | 136654
6 | 30:22.05 | 7:01.21 | 136655 | 168250
7 | 37:23.26 | 4:04.40 | 168251 | 186590
8 | 41:27.66 | 7:37.61 | 186591 | 220926
9 | 49:05.52 | 2:54.59 | 220927 | 234035
10 | 52:00.36 | 7:39.71 | 234036 | 268531
11 | 59:40.32 | 7:59.62 | 268532 | 304518
12 | 67:40.19 | 4:26.07 | 304519 | 324475
13 | 74:38.26 | 5:03.17 | 335876 | 358617
Range status and errors
Selected range
Filename C:\Carestini - The Story of a Castrato.wav
Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 0.1 X
Range quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 1E47D938
Copy CRC 1E47D938
Copy OK
No errors occurred
AccurateRip summary
Track 1 accurately ripped (confidence 3) [34BE24FF]
Track 2 accurately ripped (confidence 3) [BFA20B0D]
Track 3 accurately ripped (confidence 3) [98740F0A]
Track 4 accurately ripped (confidence 3) [84004A47]
Track 5 accurately ripped (confidence 3) [114491AF]
Track 6 accurately ripped (confidence 3) [8460281A]
Track 7 accurately ripped (confidence 3) [60A37469]
Track 8 accurately ripped (confidence 3) [591D37C1]
Track 9 accurately ripped (confidence 3) [152A0F2F]
Track 10 accurately ripped (confidence 3) [1BE281AD]
Track 11 accurately ripped (confidence 3) [3687A79B]
Track 12 accurately ripped (confidence 3) [AA39BF5F]
All tracks accurately ripped
End of status report
==== Log checksum 3ED930A078D46668350E057DA8D7F076B217CE5E2030041F30716E840F5FB591 ====