Philippe Jaroussky is a counter-tenor superstar and deservedly so. In the years since his first solo release on Erato, he has established his reputation as the pre-eminent counter-tenor of his generation through the expressive clarity of his voice and his eclectic choice of repertoire. While Baroque repertoire is naturally a constant mine of music to explore for him, Philippe broke the counter-tenor mould with his 2009 album Opium, an album of French songs from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and included guest appearances from some of France’s best music exports, such as Renaud and Gautier Capuçon, and Emmanuel Pahud.

Following his last two releases of baroque masterpieces – Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with soprano Julia Lezhneva, and a collection of outstanding opera arias by Neapolitan composer and singing teacher Nicola Antonio Porpora, whose most famous singing student was the castrato Farinelli – Philippe Jaroussky returns to the studio with the orchestra he founded, Ensemble Artaserse, for Pietà, a survey of some of Vivaldi’s most beautiful sacred works. DVD includes video of Antonio Vivaldi Stabat Mater (studio recording) and a video of Philippe Jaroussky following Vivaldi’ steps in Venice.