Philippe Jaroussky, Ensemble Artaserse Benedetto Ferrari

Is it possible that a recorded performance could be too much of a good thing? Well, such an assessment probably would be unfair to a singer as gifted and in command of such astonishing technical skills as countertenor Philippe Jaroussky, so impressively exhibited on this surprising and thoroughly mesmerizing CD. While you may not have heard of this French singer, he's part of a relatively new group of performers–calling themselves Ensemble Artaserse–who have recently joined to explore their mutual interests in "early 17th-century Italian music". These songs by Benedetto Ferrari provide the perfect medium for Jaroussky's art–and it's quite formidable in both purity of tone and subtlety of expression as well as the near-inhuman technical feats he brandishes as naturally as breathing.

The melodies, accompanied by various instruments, including gamba, theorbo, and harp, demand an amazing capacity for ornamentation, for super-florid runs and whiplash-inducing turns–and Jaroussky conquers all with unruffled ease.