Mozart: Concertos for Flute and Orchestra Alexis Kossenko, Valeria Kafelnikov, Gli Angeli Genève & Stephan MacLeod

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791): Flute Concerto No. 1 in G Major, K. 313:
• 1Mozart: Flute Concerto No. 1 in G Major, K. 313: I. Allegro maestoso07:55
• 2Mozart: Flute Concerto No. 1 in G Major, K. 313: II. Adagio ma non troppo08:58
• 3Mozart: Flute Concerto No. 1 in G Major, K. 313: III. Rondo. Tempo di menuetto07:16
• Concerto for Flute and Harp in C Major, K. 299:
• 4Concerto for Flute and Harp in C Major, K. 299: I. Allegro09:48
• 5Concerto for Flute and Harp in C Major, K. 299: II. Andantino09:19
• 6Concerto for Flute and Harp in C Major, K. 299: III. Rondeau. Allegro10:05
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Flute Concerto No. 2 in C Major K. 314:
• 7Mozart: Flute Concerto No. 2 in C Major K. 314: I. Allegro aperto06:50
• 8Mozart: Flute Concerto No. 2 in C Major K. 314: II. Adagio ma non troppo07:13
• 9Mozart: Flute Concerto No. 2 in C Major K. 314: III. Rondo. Allegro05:24
• Andante in C Major, K. 315:
• 10Mozart: Andante in C Major, K. 31506:18
• Total Runtime01:19:06

Info zu Mozart: Concertos for Flute and Orchestra

If Mozart gave the concerto of his time its ultimate shape, it is because he transferred to it all the characteristics of the opera aria, giving the cantabile – which he often mentions in his correspondence – most significant importance and transforming the vocal virtuosic runs instrumental figurations. The soloist is a character whose rhetoric gives the orchestral material presented in the introduction a deeper, more intimate and more sensitive dimension. This constitutes the raison d’être of the relationship between the individual and the group, between the solos and the tuttis.

Mozart always had in mind the musician for whom the work was written, whether it was an aria or a concerto. He then tailored a suit to measure, as he said (in his piano concertos, he referred to himself, hence the depth and complexity of what is expressed in these works). For a soloist with a virtuoso technique, he would compose highly challenging passages; for someone less assured, he would deliver a more accessible score. Therefore, the last of the four horn concertos written for the famous Joseph Leutgeb is far less demanding than the previous ones since the ageing soloist could no longer play the highest notes. Similarly, the flute part of the Flute and Harp Concerto uses the low notes that were the uniqueness of the instrument used by the Count of Guînes, who commissioned the piece (the notes D flat and C, now found on modern flutes).

The superiority of Mozart’s concertos over those of his contemporaries, including Haydn, lies in the subtle combination of the form’s rigidity and the dramatisation of the musical discourse. Mozart had already experimented with this in the opera seria arias and managed to create tensions and progressions within a static form. Therefore, he did not try to innovate at a formal: his concertos are mostly built on the same pattern. But their content is very rich, and this richness grows according to its development. It largely stems from the composer’s melodic genius, which allowed him to link several characteristic ideas in an organic continuity as if each one flowed from the previous one. It is also due to the fact that the orchestra does not merely accompany the soloist but fully participates in the construction of the musical discourse. [..]

Alexis Kossenko, flute
Valeria Kafelnikov, harp
Gli Angeli Genève
Stephan MacLeod, direction

Alexis Kossenko
Born in Nice in 1977, Alexis Kossenko now leads a career both as a conductor and a flautist. With his deep knowledge of all the historical forms of his instrument, he plays the modern flute (he graduated́ from the CNSM in Paris in Alain Marion’s class and won the 2000 Rampal Competition) as well as the baroque, classical and romantic flutes, and the recorder. He performs as a soloist with numerous orchestras and ensembles including the Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Concerto Copenhagen, Ensemble Matheus, Philharmonie der Nationen, La Grande Écurie et la Chambre du Roy, Stradivaria, Barokksolistene, B’Rock, Le Cercle de l’Harmonie, La Chambre Philharmonique, Modo Antiquo, Le Concert Lorrain, Holland Baroque Society, Helsinki Baroque Orchestra, Ensemble Resonanz and Gli Angeli Genève, in a repertoire ranging from Vivaldi to Khachaturian. He has performed or conducted at the Berlin, Warsaw and Stockholm Philharmonics, the Wigmore Hall and the Royal Albert Hall in London, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and the Salle Gaveau in Paris, the Tonhalle in Zurich, the Concertgebouw in Bruges and Amsterdam and the Royal Opera House in Copenhagen. [..]

Valeria Kafelnikov
trained in Russia and then in France, where she obtained the First prize in Isabelle Moretti’s class and the Aptitude certificate in the Pedagogy department of the Paris Conservatoire (CNSMDP). She then perfected her skills with Fabrice Pierre at the Lyon Conservatoire (CNSMDL). She also attended masterclasses with György Kurtág and Pierre Boulez before taking part in the Verbier Youth Orchestra as first harp under James Levine, Zubin Mehta and Wolfgang Sawallisch.

In 2018, Valeria Kafelnikov joined the Ensemble Intercontemporain. This appointment pursues an important commission and creation work she had already undertaken in collaboration with the Quatuor Béla, within the Trio Lisbeth Project or with ensembles like Alternance or Court-Circuit. She has thus established privileged connections with contemporary composers such as Frédéric Pattar, Vincent Bouchot, Ernest H. Papier and Aurélio Edler-Copes. Valeria Kafelnikov is also the principal harpist of the orchestra Les Siècles conducted by François-Xavier Roth. She is most interested in the history of interpretation and historical instruments and performs within her recitals on various instruments such as the 18th-century single-action harp, the late 19th-century Érard harp and the modern harp. [..]

Geneva-born Stephan MacLeod is a singer and conductor. He now conducts between 40 and 50 concerts a year worldwide, including an increasing number of appearances as guest conductor with “modern” orchestras. He also happily pursues his career as a singer and is a vocal teacher at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne (HEMU). [..]

Stephan MacLeod
As a Lied and melody lover, Stephan MacLeod gives numerous recitals. He has also appeared on opera stages, notably at La Monnaie in Brussel, La Fenice in Venice, and in opera houses in Geneva, Toulouse, Nîmes, Bordeaux, Cologne, Potsdam, Freiburg, Gerona, etc. Alongside his singing career, he has also been conducting regularly since 2005 and is the founder of Gli Angeli Genève, an ensemble that has gained significant international recognition in recent years.

Since 2013, Stephan MacLeod is a vocal teacher at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne. He divides his time between family, teaching, singing commitments, his ensemble and conducting – particularly Bach’s music. His discography includes over 100 CDs, many of which have been awarded.

Gli Angeli Genève
was founded in 2005 by Stephan MacLeod. This ensemble of variable size plays on period instruments (or copies thereof) and comprises musicians who pursue a career in baroque music but are not active in this field only: they do not solely play early music. Their eclecticism guarantees the vitality of their enthusiasm. It is also a driving force behind their curiosity.

From the very beginning of its musical adventure – solely focused for several years on the concert performance of the complete Bach Cantatas, with three concerts per season in Geneva – Gli Angeli Genève has been a meeting place for some of the most famous singers and instrumentalists on the international Baroque scene and young graduates of the Basel, Lyon, Lausanne and Geneva music schools. [..]

Gli Angeli Genève’s first recording for Claves, Sacred Music of the 17th Century in Wroclaw, won the 2019 ICMA Award for the best recording of the year of baroque vocal music. In addition, Johann Sebastian Bach’s St. Matthew Passion received enthusiastic acclaim from audiences and critics, both in Switzerland and worldwide. Gli Angeli Genève’s recordings also include Bach’s Mass in B minor, nominated in 2022 for an ICMA Award ; Bach’s Bass Cantatas, released in April 2022 ; and Antoine Reicha’s rarely performed Symphonies Concertantes, with soloists Christophe Coin, Davit Melkonyan, Chouchane Siranossian and Alexis Kossenko.

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