Patrick Husson : "Le jardinier"

Audio fragment of this record in the Audioquarium
  Patrick Husson is a French gardener, and was also a soloist in a church choir. His remarkable "angel" voice first astonished the locals, then the press, then voice trainers... because he is one of the only men in the world to posess a real soprano voice!
  His upper voice range is a lot higher than that of Klaus Nomi, and his voice is more clear and pure too. It's really incredible, and so beautifull! I compared his "Ave Maria" with that of the castrato Alessandro Moreschi (on the CD "The last castrato", Pearl Opal 9823, UK, 1987) and I find Husson's voice to be more the same as Moreschi's than as a female soprano.
  Of course, a heavenly voice alone is not enough to make an interesting CD, you also need a good song selection and nice arrangements. Only 2 original songs were written for this CD, 1 is a traditional (not known to me), and all the others are covers. Most of the "opera pop" arrangements provide a heavenly (but not religious) atmosphere for Husson's singing: lots of strings (both synthesisers and the real thing), piano, slow rhythms, little percussion.
  Some surprising and succesful exceptions though: "Mai Macsu" has African percussion and some exotic nature sounds. Most notable though in the whole CD are "Hey Jude" and Michael Nyman's "Chasing sheep is best left to shepherds": both have an accumulative construction with a lot of tension and with a truly fantastic outburst of electric guitars... they still give me the creeps!
  Somewhat less succesful IMHO are "Reggae for La Callas" - somehow, the white reggae doesn't fit with Husson's singing - and "Mrs Butterfly" which is a narration in French with Husson singing in the background...
Conclusion: woooooooow!

DETAILS:

Patrick Husson: "Le jardinier"
CD, Sony Columbia 478117-2 , France ®1995, 50:59 minutes
Available from German Music Express

TRACK LIST:

  1. Hey Jude (Beatles)
  2. J'ai deux amours
  3. Casta Diva (Bellini)
  4. Chasing sheep is best left to shepherds (Michael Nyman)
  5. Mama Morta
  6. Kol Nidre (trad.)
  7. Mai Macsu
  8. Reggae for La Callas
  9. La Javanaise (Serge Gainsbourg)
  10. 'Round about midnight (T. Monk)
  11. Les feuilles mortes (Jacques Prevert)
  12. Mrs Butterfly (Puccini)
  13. Ave Maria (Schubert)
  14. Sposa (Vivaldi)


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