The countertenor Philippe Jaroussky gives soul and voice to a journey between centuries

Both musicians will perform at these concerts some of the 'treasures' included in the recent album they have recorded together, entitled 'À sa guitare' (name of a piece by Poulenc), an album in which, taken due to the sound of the guitar, they set out to give voice to a musical journey through the centuries with stops in France, Great Britain, Australia, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Argentina and the United States. It is about “a selection of jewels that we found while reading a lot of different music”, admits Jaroussky, referring to this repertoire of pieces from classicism to the 20th century.

Jaroussky's mother remembers that even when he was little he sang with a head voice, different from the chest voice of a tenor or a baritone, higher pitched, with a different color, which allows a man to reach mezzo-soprano notes and sounds, contralto or soprano, usually reserved for women. Something like a falsetto, but with a technique that requires years of training.

Her prodigious and admired voice has been consistently recognized at the French Victoires de la Musique awards (“Breakthrough Lyric Artist” in 2004, “Lyric Artist of the Year” in 2007 and, in 2010, “CD of the Year 2009) and also He has received numerous German Echo Klassik awards in 2005, 2008, 2011-2012 and 2015.

His technique allows him to move, deeply exploring the Baroque repertoire, from the refinement of the Italian Seicento (Monteverdi, Sances or Rossi) to the dazzling brilliance of Händel or Vivaldi's arias, a whole intimate world, sometimes whispered, through sometimes nostalgic, sometimes painful, but always full of emotion and spirituality.

When he began to sing, he fell in love with the 'castrati', the castrated singers of the baroque whose voice, impossible to reconstruct today, is linked to that of the countertenors, capable of singing the same repertoire without any physical mutilation involved . "It's a passionate, love-hate relationship," replies the Frenchman. And it is that for years the public has come to listen to the countertenors as if they were attending a prodigy of nature, a formidable nightingale. “I don't think that the countertenor's voice has anything feminine, but I do believe that it is a masculine voice that shows a different sensibility”, maintains the countertenor, who affirms that there is “something political in the fact of addressing what is thought to be a man cannot do. There is a fight against stereotypes”.

Jaroussky has found the perfect partner to reach the public's heart: the guitarist Thibaut García, a young Franco-Spanish musician who has won multiple awards in multiple international competitions. In 2017 he was named BBC New Generation Artist, and two years later, 'Instrumental Revelation' at the Victoires de la Musique Classique. He is invited by the main guitar festivals in the world and by a multitude of orchestras.

Tickets are available on the website of the Canary Islands Music Festival (www.icdcultural.org/fimc) and on the usual sales platforms of the Auditorio de Tenerife and the Teatro Pérez Galdós.