Lucie Horsch

Sixteen-year-old Dutch recorder player Lucie Horsch has signed to Decca Classics, and her debut album of Vivaldi is to be released on 7 October 2016.

Already praised for her extraordinary technique and mature musical sensibility, and with an international career rapidly growing around her, Lucie challenges any notion that the recorder is simply a 'learning' instrument. Passionate to demonstrate that it is as great as other more familiar solo instruments, this thrilling new recorder superstar is delighted to be taking her message to an even larger public with her debut recording on Decca Classics. She performs concertos and other works by Vivaldi, a composer with whom she feels a particular affinity.

The first recorder player ever to sign to Decca Classics, Lucie Horsch is eager to embrace her role as a musical ambassador for an instrument with which many people have a powerful connection. It is the first instrument which over twenty per cent of British children have lessons on, and thus a vital gateway for experiencing music making.

Dr Alexander Buhr, Managing Director of Decca Classics, says: 'We are enormously excited to welcome Lucie to the Decca family. She is full of energy, and a player of remarkable musicality and virtuosity. We believe Lucie is a perfect ambassador for her instrument, which is so meaningful to millions of kids in the UK and abroad.'

Lucie is keen to show how much else can be achieved on this beautiful instrument, and is eager to break down certain preconceptions: 'There are five-hundred different fingerings, so you can really colour your playing with different choices. And vibrato gives yet another level of expression. Even though the recorder has a smaller dynamic range than, for example, the violin or the cello, the potential for expressive detail and nuance is enormous.'

Lucie's remarkable talent has been widely recognised at home and abroad. In 2014 she represented Holland in the Eurovision Young Musician Contest, and in 2016 she won the prestigious Concertgebouw Young Talent Award, which she was given in the presence of John Eliot Gardiner. She has toured in Norway, Switzerland, Austria, Canada and Holland.

Lucie is the daughter of professional cellists Gregor Horsch (principal cellist of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra) and Pascale Went. She began to study the recorder aged only five, and was immediately enthralled.

'I loved the pure, authentic sound - it's so beautiful and vulnerable', she says. 'And because you blow directly into the instrument, everything you do, you hear immediately. For me it's the instrument closest to the human voice, but it has an even greater range: a single player can switch from sopranino to alto in a moment.'

Ever keen to experiment and push boundaries, Lucie also performs contemporary repertoire, equally loves jazz and pop music and has even played with friends in a heavy metal band!

Her debut album is centred around the music of Vivaldi: 'I wanted to do a composer I knew well, because if you record something, you have to be confident with it. And I love the music of Vivaldi - it's rhythmic, light, energetic. And his slow movements are utterly beautiful.'

The album will feature four of Vivaldi's best-known concertos - including La notte and La tempesta di mare - as well as two arias which showcase the expressive range of the recorder: 'Cum Dederit' from Vivaldi's Nisi Dominus and 'Vedro con mio diletto' from the opera Giustino. It's due for release on Decca Classics on 7 October 2016.

Information: www.deccaclassics.com

Posted: 14 May 2016

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