Boccherini, Franchomme Rossini & Servais: Virtuoso Music for Cello and Strings Constantin Macherel, London Mozart Players & Sebastian Comberti

• Auguste-Joseph Franchomme (1808 - 1884):
• 1 Variations sur deux thèmes (russe et écossais), Op. 6 11:50
• Adrien-François Servais (1807 - 1866):
• 2 Souvenirs de Spa, Op. 2 16:38
• Luigi Boccherini (1743 - 1805): Cello Concerto in D Major, G. 479:
• 3 Cello Concerto in D Major, G. 479: I. Allegro 07:26
• 4 Cello Concerto in D Major, G. 479: II. Adagio 05:42
• 5 Cello Concerto in D Major, G. 479: III. Allegro 05:25
• Gioacchino Rossini (1792 - 1868):
• 6 Péchés de vieillesse: Une larme. Thème et variations 09:53
• Auguste-Joseph Franchomme:
• 7 Chant d'Adieux, Op. 9 08:04
• Total Runtime 01:04:58

Info zu Boccherini, Franchomme Rossini & Servais: Virtuoso Music for Cello and Strings

Derived from the viole da braccio family rather than that of the viols, the cello gained its independence in the Cremona cradle of Italian instrument making between the 16th and early 18th century. It adopted the shape of a large violin – so large that it cannot rest on the shoulder like a violin or viola and is therefore held between the legs; an adjustable pin planted in the ground was added from the middle of the 19th century to make it more stable and easier to hold.

At the beginning, the cello suffered from the “competition” of other low-register string instruments, also held between the legs and played with a bow : the bass viol, very popular in aristocratic circles. The development of its technique throughout the 18th century, conveyed by ever more virtuoso musicians, was to bring about its “revenge”. Thanks to these ambassadors, more and more composers were indeed able to understand its fantastic expressive potential and decided to give it more than a shadow role as member of the continuo (next to the organ or harpsichord), to which it had been confined up until then. Vivaldi was among them, writing 27 concertos and 11 sonatas for it, Johann-Sebastian Bach, whose six Suites for Cello solo marked an apex in the exploitation of its polyphonic attributes, and then Boccherini, himself a cellist, who truly launched the instrument with his magnificent concertos.

The movement increased in the 19th century, with the disappearance of the viol competition, victim both of its “Old Regime” label and a lack of power in the face of the ever more ambitious expectations of Classical and especially Romantic composers. The latter gave the cello large-scale concertos and numerous scores of chamber music – sonatas, but also trios, quartets, quintets, in which it shines as brilliantly as its fellow instruments, such as in Schubert’s sublime Two Cello String Quintet. Scores that tend to agree with those who claim that the cello is the closest instrument to the human voice.

Constantin Macherel, cello
London Mozart Players
Sebastian Comberti, direction

Constantin Macherel
Born in 1991 in Lausanne, Switzerland, Constantin Macherel started playing cello at age 6 and studied first with M. Jaermann, S. Rybicki-Varga at the « Conservatoire de Lausanne » and obtained his Bachelor in arts in 2012. The same year, he met Ivan Monighetti with who he studied further at the Musik-Akademie Basel getting a Master Performance. ​

From 2014 to 2018 he studied with Raphael Wallfisch at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste where he accomplished a Master specialized soloist in 2016 and a CAS certificate 2018. He also attended masterclasses with David Geringas, Karina Georgian, Giovanni Sollima, Natalia Gutman and France Springuel. ​

Constantin Macherel is a prizewinner of many competitions including consecutive 1st prizes at the Schweizer Musik-Wettbewerb für Jugendliche as well as the SUISA Prize. In November 2012, he wins the 1st prize of the Schweizer Solisten Vorspiel for his interpretation of Schumann’s cello concerto with the Aargauer Sinfonie Orchester. In 2013, he is awarded with the prize of Leenaards Foundation for his skills as an individual artist and musician. Recently, in january 2018, he takes the 2nd prize of the quadrennial competition Rahn Musik Preis für Streicher. In May 2019, Constantin Macherel wins the special prize of the « Klaipeda International cello competition ». He has also been supported by foundations for young artists such as Fondation Irène Dénéréaz, Fondation Casino Barrière de Montreux, Concours Nicati-de-Luze, Fritz Gerber Stiftung, Schenk Stiftung für junge Solisten. ​

As an active soloist he played concertos and recitals in Switzerland, Belgium, Austria, Italy, Great Britain, Germany, Czek republic, Holland, Lithuania. Some of his concerts were broadcast live on the swiss radio and television (RTS). Constantin Macherel performed as a soloist with orchestras such as Carlsbad Symphony Orchestra, London Mozart Players, St-Petersburg Taurida State Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre oqpl, Geringas Chamber Orchestra, Aarau Symphony Orchestra among others. We can count numerous appearances on Lavaux Classic, Apeldoorn Chamber music Festival, Musique et Prodige, Crystal Palace Festival, WEMP Festival, Ensemble enscène, Rencontres musicales d’Enghien, Tribune des jeunes musiciens RTS etc. On September 20th 2019, he is releasing a first CD with the London Mozart Players featuring concerti and rare virtuoso pieces for cello and string orchestra on the label ‘Claves Records’.

Appreciated also as a chamber musician, Constantin is playing with musicians such as Cédric Pescia, Gérard Wyss, Frederic Bager, Işıl Bengi, Guillaume Hersperger, Martijn Willers, Ilan Gronich, Caroline Melzer, François Benda, Nurit Stark. ​

His instrument is an english historical cello by Joseph Hill dating from ca. 1765.

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