DVD Videos

Philippe Jaroussky, described by Germany’s Die Zeit as “the Apollo of countertenors’, stands out among his many talented contemporaries as much for the soprano-like beauty of his tone as for the elegance and insight of his interpretations and his adventurous and erudite approach to repertoire – whether unearthing neglected scores by little-known composers or venturing beyond the Baroque into the 19th and 20th centuries.

Established as one of Virgin Classics’ bestselling artists, Jaroussky, now aged 34, has been honoured three times in the Victoires de la Musique awards in his native France and has also received Germany’s most prominent music prize, the Echo Klassik. His diverse achievements are saluted in two new collections on Virgin Classics – the 2CD set “The Voice” and the DVD and Blu Ray “La Voix des rêves: Greatest moments in Concert”.

“LA VOIX DES RÊVES - Greatest Moments in Concert” (available on DVD & Blu Ray) features video footage from a number of occasions and venues – including items from a concert given among the crystal chandeliers of the splendid Galerie des Glaces in the palace of Versailles, and works by Handel and Vivaldi performed in another jewel of French Baroque architecture, the sumptuously decorated Chapelle de la Trinité in Lyon. Also included are exclusive interviews an array of fellow musicians: Jean-Christophe Spinosi, Emmanuelle Haïm, Christina Pluhar; Jérôme Ducros, Quatuor Ebène, Gautier Capuçon, Marie-Nicole Lemieux and Renaud Capuçon.

Jaroussky and his appeal were aptly summarised in a recent profile in the French magazine Balthazar: “Philippe Jaroussky alternates between opera and recitals, bringing his sensual, graceful voice and matinee idol looks, and this has made him a key star of classical music. But his recordings also reveal a skilled musicologist who has revived numerous forgotten artists like the castrato Carestini [and the composers] Johann Christian Bach and Caldara. Jaroussky simply glows. Anyone who has had the opportunity to meet him will find it hard to forget his enthusiastic conversation and his magnetic gaze.”

The singer made his passions clear in an interview with Crescendo magazine, revealing that “I don’t like being told I have the ‘voice of an angel’, because that would just mean that it sounds pretty and takes people out of themselves … I want to be able to evoke more human emotions too: sorrow, despair, jealousy.” Speaking to the leading French newspaper Le Monde, he went into more detail on his philosophy as a maturing singer: “Ten years into your career, you reach a certain level of purity in your approach. You are always set on improving – strengthening your high notes, your low notes, your projection or your expressivity – but you also accept what it means to be an artist.”

One of the first operas deserving of the name, Didone is our first surviving musical version of the famous episode in Virgil's Aeneid where the Trojan hero loves and then cruelly leaves the noble Dido. Cavalli learnt at the feet of Monteverdi, and his dramatic transformation of the story is all the more expressive for its intimacy, worthy of the examples set by his master. At the centre of this bold and simple staging – the first opera production by comic actor Clément Hervieu-Léger – is the Queen of Carthage herself, sung with uncompromising intensity by Anna Bonitatibus. William Christie and his singers and players show themselves entirely attuned to the world of Cavalli, where meaning and music fuse.

Running time: 176 minutes

Subtitles: EN/FR/DE

Sound format: 2.0LPCM + 5.1(5.0) DTS

Staged by Mariame Clément

This is the World Première Recording on DVD of Cavalli’s opera Il Giasone. The plot is loosely based on the story of Jason and the Golden Fleece, but the opera contains many comic elements too.

In the wake of Monteverdi, opera was enjoying a real boom in Europe and Francesco Cavalli was one of the most successful Venetian opera composers. Il Giasone was the single most popular opera of the 17th Century.

This 2010 production from Antwerp is orchestrated and conducted by the internationally reputed baroque specialist Federico Maria Sardelli. It is directed by the young Frenchwoman Mariame Clément, who is currently making a name for herself with her infectious directing in German and French opera houses. The title role is sung by the promising French countertenor Christophe Dumaux.

Blu-ray released next month.

Sound Format: LPCM 2.0 / Dolby digital 5.1

Picture Format: 16:9

Subtitles: It, Eng, Ger, Fr, Sp, Kr

Running Time: 198 mins + 5 min bonus (interview)

Booklet Notes: It, Eng, Ger, Fr

Available Worldwide

Sung in Italian

Facoltà di Design e Arti Iuav – Venezia, direction/sets/costume

La virtù de’ strali d’Amore was the first of ten operas Cavalli wrote with librettist Giovanni Faustini. Set in Cyprus, the plot involves enchanted and pastoral elements, love and its thwarting, the counterpointing of Man and God, sorcery, revelation and ultimate resolution, all accomplished in a brilliant series of scenes. A follower of Monteverdi, Cavalli reveals the influence of the older man but also his own pronounced independence. Fabio Biondi and Europa Galante have become one of the most admired partnerships in the history of baroque music performance.

Video Format • NTSC / Colour / 16:9 / DVD 5 (Disc 1) & DVD 9 (Disc 2)

Audio Format • DTS 5.0 / Dolby Digital 5.0 / PCM 2.0

Region Coding • No Region Coding

This hilarious contemporary version of Francesco Cavalli’s baroque opera Hercules in Love was commissioned on occasion of the marriage of Louis XIV, the Sun King, to Maria Theresa of Spain. The original production took two years to complete and was at the time the greatest show ever performed in Europe. Directed by David Alden, this surreal production is a triumph of commedia buffa resplendent with decorative and symbolic elements, and complemented by Constance Hoffman’s exceptional costumes. Led by Ivor Bolton, a master of baroque music, the chorus of De Nederlandse Opera and Concerto Köln give a sublime performance. With Luca Pisaroni’s (Ercole) singing being heroic and melodious in turn, and Veronica Cangemi as a splendid Iole, this is an outstanding production by the DNO. Filmed in High Definition and surround sound.

Extra features:

Illustrated synopsis.

Cast gallery.

Behind the scenes with Johanette Zomer.

Behind the scenes with Luca Pisaroni.

The making of Ercole Amante.

Region code All regions

Picture format 16:9 Anamorphic

Sound format 2.0 & 5.0 PCM

Menu language EN

Subtitles EN/FR/DE/ES/IT/NL

Preceded by a solemn prologue in which Iride admonishes mortals that they should not offend the gods, the story of Cavalli’s Didone comes to life thanks to numerous solo passages of highly varied character and structure, designed both for simple basso continuo support and for a more complex instrumental accompaniment, for five real parts which enjoy some independent moments and which create a diversion from the action or blend in with it in a wholly logical way, intensifying it in a studied, evocative manner. The tragic story of the Carthaginian queen is thus unfolded with extreme attention in a framework that had already been adopted by Monteverdi, of whom Cavalli is considered a worthy successor. In this case it is enlivened and, we might say, given a more popular, direct appeal as it aims to communicate with a public that is gradually expanding. The composer is sincere when he states: ”My spirit has always been far from the printing press: I have preferred to allow my weaknesses

to run where fortune takes them with the pen rather than the press.” He identifies with the torment of Didone and with the ”force of nature” (Prunières) that is his and the brilliance of some of his solutions, he creates one of the most tragic, tormented operas of the entire seventeenth century.