Souvenirs d'Italie Maurice Steger

• 1 I. Allegro 03:50
• 2 II. [Siciliana] 05:47
• 3 III. Allegro assai 03:19
• 4 Sinfonia a 3 05:33
• 5 I. [Allegro] 02:31
• 6 II. Adagio 04:48
• 7 III. Allegro 02:26
• 8 I. Amoroso 04:28
• 9 II. Adagio 01:40
• 10 III. Allegro 01:21
• 11 Ciaccona a 3 04:48
• 12 Allegro 01:49
• 13 Adagio 00:43
• 14 Allegro 01:25
• 15 Tortora che il suo bene. Larghetto 02:11
• 16 Toccata XIII for cembalo in C Major 01:09
• 17 I. Amoroso e Largo 02:07
• 18 II. Allegro 01:27
• 19 III. Largo 02:14
• 20 IV. Allegro 01:01
• 21 I. Allegro 02:19
• 22 II. Adagio 03:12
• 23 III. Allegro 02:02
• 24 I. Preludio. Grave é affettuoso 02:11
• 25 II. Corrente. Allegro é spiccato 01:51
• 26 III. Aria. Allegro 00:42
• 27 IV. Andante 04:08
• 28 V. Allegro 01:21
• Total Runtime 01:12:23

Info for Souvenirs d'Italie

„Naples is the capital of the musical world“, wrote Charles de Brosses in one of his letters from Italy from 1739/1740. He also wrote 'Naples is the sole Italian city that seems truly a capital…' and this was not an exaggeration: it was the largest city in 17th century Europe and possessed four conservatories. Musicians trained there spent most of their lives in the service of sovereigns and aristocrats in other major European courts, such as Paris and Vienna. During their lifetime, they were internationally regarded among the finest exponents of their art. and their music adds an entirely new dimension to the history of Italian instrumental music. That variety of tastes and colours is the hallmark of this recording devoted to the staggeringly virtuosic music for recorder brought back from Italy by Count Harrach [the Austrian diplomat Aloys Thomas Raimund], who served as Hapsburg viceroy in Naples from 1728 to 1733. Hasse, Vinci, Sammartini, and the less familiar names of Antoni, Fiorenza, Leo and Sarro represent these souvenirs of a six-year gilded exile, which is preserved in his collection of precious manuscripts.

Maurice Steger & Ensemble

Maurice Steger
Ever since The Independent crowned him 'the world’s leading recorder virtuoso', Switzerland’s Maurice Steger has become one of the leading interpreters of Baroque music, performing concerts all across the globe both with the recorder and as a conductor. Numerous award-winning CD projects, e.g. with The English Concert and I Barocchisti, attest to his unique position in the field.

Maurice Steger now lives in Zurich, where he began to study the recorder at an early age with Pedro Memelsdorff and Kees Boeke. This was followed by study of performing practice in early music and then training as a conductor. A number of distinctions and the award of the Karajan Prize in 2002 encouraged him to express himself through the recorder in all its facets. His lively manner and his personal, spontaneous and technically brilliant playing style have helped to revalorize the recorder as an instrument and give it an entirely new place in the musical world.

In his core repertoire of Baroque music, Maurice Steger is a much sought-after soloist with the leading period-instrument groups, including Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Venice Baroque Orchestra, The English Concert, Accademia Bizantina, Europa Galante, and I Barocchisti. A busy concert diary also sees him performing regularly with ensembles playing on modern instruments, like the Zurich Chamber orchestra, Berlin Baroque Soloists (Berlin Philharmonic) and Les Violons du Roy from Canada as well as with numerous symphony orchestras, e.g. hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, Taipei as well as Malaysia Symphony Orchestra, NDR Radiophilharmonie, Sinfonieorchester Basel, Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester and many others. He frequently appears as recorder player or conductor with renowned artists including Cecilia Bartoli, Hilary Hahn, Andreas Scholl, Bernard Labadie, Sandrine Piau, Diego Fasolis, Sol Gabetta, and Nuria Rial.

In chamber music, he works as a team with his colleagues Hille Perl, Lee Santana, Naoki Kitaya, Mauro Valli, and many others to explore previously unknown repertoire from the past, and constantly experiments with new forms of concerts in both early and contemporary music. Thus, as the first Western flautist, he collaborated with the traditional Taipei Chinese Orchestra, having successfully played the solo concerto 'Flying Songs' during an Asia-Tour in 2014. Experimenting with concert forms and wanting to give even the youngest listeners a playful introduction to classical music, he also created the character of 'Tino Flautino', which he has played at hundreds of children’s concerts. His most recent musical fairy tale is 'Pinocchio und der Flötenspieler'.

Maurice Steger fascinates his audience and also the press over and over again with his special themed projects, e.g. 'Mr. Corelli in London', 'Una Follia di Napoli' or 'Vivaldi: Concerti per flauto'. He has also played his thematic projects in many different formations – from chamber recitals to concerts with both modern and period orchestras – all over Europe and in America (USA and Canada), Africa as well as Asia. In addition these programs were released on CD with harmonia mundi; 'Vivaldi: Concerti per flauto' being his most recent album.

Other outstanding releases in his discography are the Flötenquartette of Telemann (Deutsche Grammophon/Archiv), the album 'Venezia 1625' and recorder works by Telemann (harmonia mundi), as well as his own productions for children. This ever-enthusiastic musician holds several masterclasses every year and became director of the Gstaad Baroque Academy in 2013. In all these activities, he is delighted to observe the emergence of a new generation of top-class young recorder players.

Booklet for Souvenirs d'Italie