My back hurts from conducting – in conversation with Philippe Jaroussky
Hailed as the most famous countertenor in the world, Philippe Jaroussky has regularly returned to Kraków for nearly 20 years. This time, the audience of the Opera Rara festival at the Kraków ICE will not hear his beautiful, soprano-like voice. On February 8, Jaroussky will take on a new role and conduct young Mozart’s opera “Mithridates, King of Pontus.” Agata Ubysz talks to the French artist.
You have regularly performed in Poland for over two decades. What associations does our country bring to your mind?
The exact date of my first visit eludes me, but it must have been 20 years since my first performance at the Kraków Philharmonic. At the last minute before the concert, I arrived at the Misteria Paschalia festival to replace a singer who had fallen ill. It was a magical concert, and then there were other exceptional ones, such as the one with Christina Pluhar at the Wieliczka Salt Mine. But it was during my first stay in Poland that mutual devotion and sympathy were born.
You return to Krakow on a regular basis…
I have happened to sing in Krakow much more frequently than in Warsaw, where I only performed once at the National Philharmonic with Nathalie Stutzmann and the Orfeo 55 band. Kraków is a city with many beautiful memories, but when I work, I don’t have time for sightseeing. I arrive, sing, rehearse, then go to a concert. The next day I go back to the airport, and that’s it. Last year I stayed longer after the concert. I also went to Auschwitz, because I think everyone should visit this place of remembrance.
At the end of 2023, during the “Forgotten Arias” album tour, you presented late Baroque arias, forgotten for centuries, at the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre. What prompted you to dig up unknown works?
The Baroque era was incredibly fertile and left behind a huge number of works. More than fifty different operas were often composed for one libretto. The audience at the time were avid listeners who often demanded different music written for the same stories. I am a Baroque musician and discovering scores motivates me to work. I like to carry out my own research because it fuels my curiosity. I call it a treasure hunt. Fortunately, a lot of sheet music is now available online, as libraries digitize their resources and publish them on their websites.
The audience at the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre did not want to let you go and demanded more and more encores.
I like to joke I could spend my life singing Handel, Vivaldi or Bach, but I also like to build a different repertoire that develops my identity, perhaps more original, more specific. The greatest gift for me is to present a forgotten piece. There is nothing more beautiful than standing in front of an audience and performing a piece that no one has sung for 300 years. This was the case with the aria “Gelido in ogni vena” by Giovanni Battista Ferrandini from the opera “Siroe, King of Persia”. It was given to me by a friend, a musicologist. I told him I had been looking for a slow, calm melody for an album. Such a tormented aria. The reaction of the audience, who came after the concerts and said “What an incredible aria”, was extremely satisfying.
You have not only sung but also conducted for four years now.
I founded the Ensemble Artaserse in 2002. I had often imagined one day I would feel at ease standing on the podium in front of my musicians. So it is not something that came four years ago. When the moment came, I decided to perform Scarlatti’s oratorio “Il primo omicidio.” Since we were recording in the middle of the Covid pandemic, the Montpellier Opera kindly offered to record the concert. So my first conducting experience was directly in front of the cameras. I was very lucky to work with the musicians I knew well.
What do you now think of your first performance?
A singer on stage must be inside himself, they must focus on their breath, resonators as much as possible. The conductor conveys his ideas through gestures, through his body, which was difficult for me. I am not surprised my back was very sore after the recording. I was a bit stiff, which you can see in the film available on YouTube. Now, after four years and two operas I have conducted, I know more about how to lead musicians without stressing them, giving them a chance to breathe as well.
What else does conducting an orchestra involve?
First of all, making music is not something you do alone. I like talking to violinists and harpsichordists to find a way to play something together. When I sing, I turn my back to my musicians. But when I conduct, I am facing them. It is different at the opera house. The singers are on stage, the orchestra is in the pit, and the conductor is the link between these two worlds. You have to make constant micro-adjustments.
What if someone is lost?
Such situations do happen. Ten days ago, I had a first-hand experience while conducting Sartorio’s opera “Orfeo.” The singer had a memory lapse. He looked at me and I could see he was very confused. Fortunately, the second soloist noticed this, turned to me and I was able to give him the next line. It also happens the singer does not come on stage or is late, the curtain does not open, or the decorations get blocked. The performance is a living organism, anything can happen, and the conductor makes the decisions. Knowing you can change the sound of the orchestra with a gesture is the most beautiful gift that musicians can give. It means they follow you, see you, look at you, feel you. And that gives me a great joy.
On February 8, you lead the soloists and Capella Cracoviensis from the conductor’s podium. You will perform “Mithridates, King of Pontus,” the first great opera that Mozart composed when he was only 14 years old. Why did you choose this title?
It is a pre-classical work created in 1770, at the turn of two eras. In my opinion, it remains a baroque piece composed for the voices of castrati. Why did I choose it? Aside from baroque, my dream has always been to conduct “Don Giovanni.” However, I wanted to start with the first Mozart so as not to miss any stage.
“Mithridates” is a rarely performed opera, not only in Poland but also around the world.
And yet it is a crazy, unique piece of work. Packed with incredibly difficult and beautiful arias. In the film “Amadeus,” the emperor tells Mozart his composition contains “too many notes.” I think it is also applicable to “Mithridates.” There is an excess of everything in this opera. This is baroque vocal virtuosity at its best. We know the fourteen-year-old Mozart had to fight with the singers and rework some of the arias many times while rehearsing for the premiere. We also know the opening night in Milan in 1770 was a great success. I would also say it was a slap in the face to all those composers who were asking: What the hell is this?
Thank you for the interview.