Tartini, Vivaldi & Sammartini: Soave e virtuoso Alexis Kossenko & Les Ambassadeurs

• Giuseppe Tartini (1692-1770): Flute Concerto in G Major, G. 294:
• 1Flute Concerto in G Major, G. 294: I. Allegro05:06
• 2Flute Concerto in G Major, G. 294: II. Adagio04:04
• 3Flute Concerto in G Major, G. 294: III. Allegro04:30
• Giuseppe Sammartini (1695-1750): Soprano Recorder Concerto in F Major:
• 4Soprano Recorder Concerto in F Major: I. Allegro03:52
• 5Soprano Recorder Concerto in F Major: II. Siciliano04:32
• 6Soprano Recorder Concerto in F Major: III. Allegro assai03:58
• Giuseppe Tartini: Flute Concerto in D Major, G. 291:
• 7Flute Concerto in D Major, G. 291: I. Allegro06:11
• 8Flute Concerto in D Major, G. 291: II. Grave05:00
• 9Flute Concerto in D Major, G. 291: III. Allegro04:09
• Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741): Recorder Concerto in C Minor, RV 441:
• 10Recorder Concerto in C Minor, RV 441: I. Allegro non molto05:21
• 11Recorder Concerto in C Minor, RV 441: II. Grave02:50
• 12Recorder Concerto in C Minor, RV 441: III. [Allegro]03:48
• Giuseppe Tartini: Flute Concerto in G Major, G. 293:
• 13Flute Concerto in G Major, G. 293: I. Allegro05:15
• 14Flute Concerto in G Major, G. 293: II. Largo Andante06:27
• 15Flute Concerto in G Major, G. 293: III. Allegro05:51
• Antonio Vivaldi: Soprano Recorder Concerto in G Major, RV 443:
• 16Soprano Recorder Concerto in G Major, RV 443: I. [Allegro]03:49
• 17Soprano Recorder Concerto in G Major, RV 443: II. Largo04:30
• 18Soprano Recorder Concerto in G Major, RV 443: III. Allegro molto02:44
• Total Runtime01:21:57

Info for Tartini, Vivaldi & Sammartini: Soave e virtuoso

For his new album Soave e virtuoso, Alexis Kossenko went on the trail of rare scores from the baroque era. Partitions that remind us that the Italian repertory, if it gives pride of place to the the violin and the voice, nevertheless doesn’t forget wind instruments. At the head of his ensemble Les Ambassadeurs, the conductor and flutist Alexis Kossenko performs delightly concertos by Tartini, Vivaldi and Sammartini. Sometimes voluptuous, sometimes dreadfully acrobatic, these scores require technique and sensitivity from the soloist. With a jubilant virtuosity, at the service of expressiveness, Alexis Kossenko, multi-skilled musician as at ease with flute as with recorder, brings life in colors to the works of the three Italian composers.

Alexis Kossenko, flute, conductor
Les Ambassadeurs

Alexis Kossenko
Born in Nice in 1977, Alexis Kossenko is an all-round musician: flutist, conductor/ director, musicologist, is a rare example of an artist who masters his instrument in all its historic forms from the ‘modern’ flute to the baroque and renaissance flutes, as well as the recorder.

Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonie der Nationen, La Chambre Philharmonique, and period orchestras including Concerto Copenhagen, Ensemble Matheus, La Grande Ecurie et la Chambre du Roi, Modo Antiqua, Stradivaria, Barokk Solistene and the Holland Baroque Society. His repertoire ranges from Quantz, Vivaldi and C.P.E. Bach, through Mozart up to Nielsen and Katchaturian. He has performed in the major concert halls and festivals accross Europe, including the Berlin Philharmonie, the Royal Albert Hall and Wigmore Hall in London, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Bozar Brussels, Théatre des Champs Elysées and Salle Gaveau in Paris and the Tonhalle Zürich.

Kossenko is currently first flutist of La Chambre Philharmonie under Emmanuel Krivine, Ensemble Matheus, Gli Angeli Genève, Le Concert Spirituel under Hervé Niquet and, since recently, the Orchestre des Champs-Elysées under Philippe Herreweghe.

A busy soloist and chamber musician, Alexis Kossenko also has a flourishing career as a conductor. He has directed B’Rock, Holland Baroque Society, EUBO, Le Concert d’Astrée, Arte dei Suonatori and in 2016 he guest conducted Sinfonia Iuventus Warsaw in a Mendelssohn symphony programme, where he has been re-invited to conduct a Brahms programme in 2018. In 2011, Kossenko founded the period orchestra ‘Les Ambassadeurs’. This ensemble draws its inspiration from the so-called Dresdner Hofkapelle, which in J.S. Bach’s time was famous for its fine orchestral colors and discipline, and for which Kossenko has recruted musicians from across Europe.

Kossenko’s impressive discography covers the flute concertos from C.P.E. Bach (awarded with ‘Choc de Classica’, ffff Télérama, Le Monde de la Musique and Répertoire) and Vivaldi (Editor’s Choice in Gramophone), from Rameau, Touchemoulin, Telemann and Hoffman. With Les Ambassadeurs he has recorded six CD’s including ‘l’Orchestra di Dresda’ with concertos by Vivaldi; ‘Le Grand Théatre de l’Amour’, with music by Jean-Philippe Rameau, starring soprano Sabine Devieilhe (which won the Diapason d’Or and the Diapason de l’Année 2014, the Diamant de l’Opera and the Grand prix de l’Académie Charles Gros); chamber music by C.P.E. Bach; Overtures and Concertos by Telemann (all for Alpha Records), ‘Arie di Tempesta’, Vivaldi and Handel arias with Soprano Blandine Staskiewicz (for Glossa) and ‘Cantus’ with cellist Christian-Pierre La Marca (on Sony). A new recording with works by Henry Purcell, with soprano Katherine Watson, will be released by Alpha.

Booklet for Tartini, Vivaldi & Sammartini: Soave e virtuoso