À sa guitare

"This is a collaboration between two Frenchmen, the renowned countertenor Philippe Jaroussky and the classical guitarist Thibaut Garcia. The programme covers four centuries, several eras and several cultures ... The works are short, attractive and undemanding, and many of them are easily recognized. The twenty-two single-movement pieces include fifteen transcriptions for voice with guitar and three solo guitar pieces. The order, as the artists say, is in the manner of an 'unexpected journey... with each track being in harmony with the previous one, or echoing it' ... The sound quality of the album is top-drawer ... 'À sa guitare' ... is an irresistible collection of songs for countertenor and guitar, most beautifully performed and recorded".

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"Recording of the week: Who knew that Schubert's Erlkönig could sound still more unsettling when the piano's percussive ostinato is replaced by a whispering tremolo that evokes the 'streaks of mist' and 'rustling leaves' in all their eerie glory? Garcia's virtuosity here is quietly breathtaking, whilst Jaroussky's trademark crystalline sweetness plays up the uncanny connection between the predatory Fairy-King and his terrified prey".

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"In their first joint album, À sa guitare (Erato), the French duo of star countertenor Philippe Jaroussky and classical guitarist Thibaut Garcia give their eloquent take on music from the Renaissance to the late 20th century ... Their recital bursts with the unexpected: the pure sound of Jaroussky, who always sings in the falsetto register and is best known for his expertise in baroque opera ... Garcia's dextrous ingenuity making you quite forget that his thunderous part was written for piano ... Purists - do they still exist? - might shudder at this elegant merry-go-round, but for the rest of us this is an album full of pleasures".

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"This eclectic, if not eccentric song recital by the musically promiscuous French countertenor Philippe Jaroussky should not work. That it does, and so convincingly, is down to the fastidious artistry and unerring good taste of both Jaroussky and the superb classical guitarist Thibaut Garcia ... 'À sa guitare' is ... for those who might be intrigued by the strange conjunctions between popular Latin American and French repertoire and classical favourites. Or who love singing of such poise, Apollonian beauty, or the classical guitar played with such enormous fluency and gusto".