RECONNECTING WITH MOZART’S EMOTIONS

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Make a recording of two of Mozart’s three flute concertos? For Helena Macherel, it felt like an obvious thing to do. “How could one say no to such an offer?” The patron of the arts, now deceased, who backed her for years, encouraged her in this direction. “I’m not looking for originality at any price, just to let myself be carried away by the beauty of the music, in a quest for truth and authenticity.” To achieve this, she can count on the accompaniment of English musicians well-versed in this kind of challenge: the London Mozart Players, whose experienced members provide not only the ensemble’s conducting but also the chamber partners for the Quartet in D major. “Far from coming up with a fixed vision of the works, I have, on the contrary, encouraged dialogue and exchange with them, and I am delighted with the spirit of freedom that permeates these recordings.”

The profound joy of slow movements

The choice of the concerto (one of the two Mozart composed for solo flute) is a matter of colour: “We know and cherish the joyful, sunny, light-hearted Mozart, but what I like about the Concerto in D major is that this joy, which is still present, is at times tinged with seriousness, particularly in the slow movement. This characteristic is also to be found in the Quartet and the Flute and Harp Concerto and forms a sort of common thread.” Helena Macherel says she is particularly touched by Mozart’s ability to play with atmospheres, moving from major to minor “with the fragile subtlety of a veil thrown over the notes”. As a passionate composer herself (who hasn’t yet dared to reveal the fruits of her labours to the public), she tries in her own way to embrace the spirit in the cadenzas she wrote. “Mozart didn’t compose any himself, so I thought it would be interesting to add my personal touch to the cadenzas beyond those of Jean-Pierre Rampal or Emmanuel Pahud – the most frequently performed – or of Karlheinz Stockhausen, whose delirious mind I find too stuck in his own time. In the same back-to-the-roots approach that determines my reading of any score, I have tried to imagine what Mozart might have heard or wanted to hear. For example, this immersive approach has led me to take an interest in the practice of the traverso, which extends far beyond the strict framework of the instrument and the delicate question of historicity. Beyond the medium and the subtleties, it is the emotion that these musicians of the past wanted to convey that I am interested in transmitting as close as possible to the truth of the text.” [..]

Antonin Scherrer
(Translation: Michelle Bulloch – Musitext)

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HELENA MACHEREL

Swiss flautist Helena Macherel performs as a soloist and chamber musician in Europe and the United States. At the age of nineteen, she won the Paul Streit Prize at the Geneva Competition.

She has given recitals in France, Austria, Switzerland and New York and recently premiered Martin Skamletz’s Flute Concerto. She has also appeared on the Austrian Radio ORF, the Italian Radio RAI and the Swiss Radio and Television RTS. She is regularly engaged by the 2B company for European tours. She has recorded several CDs (such as “Dances for Flute and Harp” with harpist Tjasha Gafner and “...du silence au silence” with pianist Veronica Kuijken) and is invited to teach masterclasses in Italy.

Helena Macherel has won prizes in various international competitions (Maxence Larrieu Competition, 1st Prize at the Belgrade International Jeunesses Musicales Competition, 1st Prize at the Berlin International Anton Rubinstein Competition). She is supported by the Leenaards, Kiefer-Hablitzel, Friedl Wald and Lyra foundations, as well as the Migros Cultural Percentage. These numerous distinctions have enabled her to perform as a soloist with the Zürcher Kammerorchester at the Tonhalle Zürich, the Budapest Radio Orchestra, the Belgrade Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice, and to share the stage with François Benda, Cédric Pescia and the Terpsycordes Quartet. A keen chamber musician, she is a member of the Basilea Wind Quintet.

She regularly plays as principal flute with the Basel Symphony Orchestra and the Musikkollegium Winterthur and is a member of the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra. She has thus performed under Charles Dutoit, Gianandrea Noseda, Klaus Mäkelä and Zubin Mehta. [..]

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TJASHA GAFNER

Swiss harpist Tjasha Gafner (born in 1999) graduated from the New York Juilliard School in Nancy Allen’s class after completing a Master’s degree in solo performance with Letizia Belmondo at the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne. Since 2022, she has been pursuing a Master’s degree in pedagogy with Sandrine Chatron at the HEM in Geneva.

In September 2023, Tjasha won the 1st Prize and the Audience Prize at the prestigious ARD Competition in Munich. She has won more than 20 awards, including 1st Prize at the Félix Godefroid Competition (Belgium, 2012), Suoni d’Arpa (Italy, 2014) and the Martine Géliot Competition (France, 2016). In 2021, she won the “Soloist 2022” prize at the MFP Competition (Public French-speaking Media), the Max D. Jost Prize and the Leenaards Cultural Scholarship.

Since turning 10, Tjasha has regularly appeared in recitals in Germany, France, Italy, England, Belgium, Ukraine, Australia, and Hong Kong, in legendary venues such as the Tonhalle Zürich and the Vienna Konzerthaus. She has been invited to perform as a soloist with orchestras such as the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, the New York Young Virtuosi Ensemble, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne and the London Mozart Players. [..]

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LONDON MOZART PLAYERS

Founded in 1949 by Harry Blech to delight audiences with the works of Mozart and Haydn, over the last 70-odd years the London Mozart Players has developed an outstanding reputation for adventurous, ambitious programming from Baroque through to genre-crossing contemporary music. It continues to build on its long history of association with many of the world’s finest artists including Sir James Galway, Dame Felicity Lott, Jane Glover, Howard Shelley, Nicola Benedetti, John Suchet and Simon Callow. The orchestra enjoys an international reputation, touring throughout Europe and the Far East, most recently Dubai and Hong Kong, and records for Naxos, Chandos, Signum, Hyperion, Convivium Records and the German label CPO.

The London Mozart Players has been the resident orchestra at Croydon’s Fairfield Halls for thirty years, and in September 2019 enjoyed a gala concert to celebrate the Halls’ reopening. As Croydon’s resident orchestra, the ensemble has shown an invigorated and growing commitment to the borough’s cultural life. In 2016, LMP relocated its office from Fairfield Halls to St John the Evangelist, Upper Norwood, undertaking a programme of initiatives within the local community. The orchestra has brought classical music stars Nicola Benedetti, Michael Collins and Sheku Kanneh-Mason to Upper Norwood in world-class performances, and its annual St John’s season has included family concerts and collaborations with local community groups and schools. During the closure of Fairfield Halls for refurbishment, the orchestra took classical music to new and unusual venues across Croydon in its award-winning three-year series #LMPOnTheMove. This saw the ensemble pushing the perceived boundaries of classical music performance in the borough, welcoming new audiences and partnerships. Events included a live film score played on top of a shopping mall car park, a house music set at Boxpark with young DJ/producer Shift K3Y, free concerts in libraries for children and a series of musical initiatives in Centrale. [..]

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REVIEWS

Diapason Magazine

« [..] D'emblée, on apprécie l'allant de la pulsation que maintiennent les cordes ainsi que les nuances fines et l'articulation ciselée de la soliste. Dans l’Adagio, les interprètes accentuent la théâtralité du passage majeur/mineur, trait caractéristique des mouvements lents qui « se teinte[nt] par moments de gravité ». Macherel rédige elle-même ses cadences, dans une « démarche de retour aux sources [...] qui l'a conduite à s'intéresser à la pratique du traverso ». Elle livre une lecture convaincante et rafraîchissante, historiquement informée mais sur instrument moderne, du Concerto en ré majeur et du KV 299 qu'elle partage avec son amie d'enfance, la harpiste Tjasha Gafner. [..] » - Bertrand Hainaut, septembre 2024

Gramophone Magazine

“[..] As for Mozart's reputed dislike of the flute, actions speak louder than words: the three works on this CD are finely wrought, while the Concerto for Flute and Harp was one of Mozart's longest concertos, and one for which he had a particular affection. Each is the epitome of the style galant, and the playing throughout has an exemplary cleanness and sweetness. And the cadenzas are particularly apt. Helena Macherel notes that, as Mozart himself didn't write any cadenzas, 'I thought it would be interesting to add my personal touch to the cadenzas of Jean-Pierre Rampal or Emmanuel Pahud – the most frequently performed – or of Karlheinz Stockhausen, whose delirious mind I find too stuck in his own time.' Her own mind is far from delirious: her cadenzas are simple but also theatrical, and when she blends her sound with that of Tjasha Gafner's harp the effect has intense charm.”  - Michael Church, April 2024

La Liberté

« Il y a deux ans Claves proposait les trois concertos pour flûte de Mozart sur la flûte en bois d’Alexis Kossenko. Helena Macherel joue, elle, sur une flûte moderne. Elle ne choisit que le deuxième concerto et celui avec harpe (Tjasha Gafner), mais commence par le Quatuor pour flûte No. 1. C’est une tout autre sonorité et personnalité musicale qu’elle développe aux côtés des London Mozart Players sur le même label. Dans cette carte de visite, la flûtiste suisse met en valeur un son très pur et équilibré et une grande subtilité d’attaques et d’articulations, qui ne cessent de vivifier Mozart, sans oublier qu’elle réalise ses propres cadences, originales. On peut aussi admirer un vibrato toujours différent et réfléchi… De quoi renouveler l’écoute de ce répertoire très couru. » - Elisabeth Hass, mars 2024

Scènes Magazine

« Née à Lausanne, Helena Macherel est une flûtiste suisse qui a remporté à l’âge de dix-neuf ans le Prix Paul Streit du Concours de Genève. Après avoir pris part à un premier disque consacré à Philippe Gaubert pour Claves et gravés deux autres enregistrements de musique française auprès d’autres labels, la voilà qui se profile avec orchestre dans Mozart. Elle opte pour le Concerto en ré majeur K. 314 et le Concerto pour flûte et harpe K. 299 dans lesquels elle tient à souligner autant le caractère solaire que la profondeur. Les cadences proposées sur cette gravure discographique sont de sa plume. La lecture émancipée de la soliste a cette délicate fraîcheur que vient souligner l’élégance et la retenue des London Mozart Players. Le traverso auquel Helena Macherel recourt est traversé par une douceur qui rend le chant de l’instrument soliste moins péremptoire que celui d’un instrument plus moderne. Il s’en dégage un lyrisme plus gracile qui rend Mozart spontané, immédiat et chambriste en toute circonstance. Pour le double concerto, Helena Macherel s’entoure de la harpiste Tjasha Gafner, fidèle partenaire qui l’accompagne avec brio, à l’image des instruments à cordes en lice pour le Quatuor avec flûte N°1 K. 285 ouvrant ce disque. » - Bernard Halter, juin 2024