Chamber Music Series - Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania

GREEN: Verlaine in Song

Philippe Jaroussky, countertenor

Jerome Ducros, piano

The lighting and size of the auditorium at the Williams Center for the Arts, Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania, gives the illusion of intimacy between the artist and the audience. Whoever designed the small theatre paid great attention to the architecture of sound and acoustics. Resonation for both the piano and voice, whether a crescendo or the subtlety of expression in a pianissimos, can be felt with the nuance intended by the performing artist.

The performance of Green: Verlaine in Song was spellbinding and magical. Memorable moments were numerous but when I close my eyes to revisit the performance, I see and hear three moments very special for me. The first, the prelude to my second special favorite, is the Maestros' arrangement and performance of Leo Freere's Colloque Sentimental. The second is Claude Debussy's Suite Bergamasque: Clair de lune for piano. Consecutive placement of the two songs is a stroke of musical genius. My third transportment is the end of the second encore. The ne plus ultra, the soulful pianissimos expressed on the final note of Poldowski's, L’Heure exquise (‘La lune blanche’) is undeniably breathtaking.

The photos in the album are of the first encore only.