On the advice of his father, the young Mozart, 21 years old, went with his mother to Mannheim in 1777. This city at the time was one of the most famous European musical capitals. There were outstanding instrumentalists, patrons, an extraordinary orchestra, everything the young composer needed to expand his contacts, and find a stable profession as a composer in Mannheim. Once he arrived, he met the Weber sisters, Josepha, Aloysia and Constanze. Three muses with whom Mozart would fall in love successively, but only one was to be promised to him: Constanze. They were the love triangle of Mozart, and he dedicated the sublime Vorrei spiegarvi, oh Dio! to the soprano, Aloysia.

In this extraordinary concert aria, we find Mozart’s favourite love themes, both questions about fidelity, and epicurean love rivalry. The original tone of A major has been transposed here for this recording and my instrument into F major. The Mozartian genius is such that any vocal line transposes perfectly to other instruments. It took the precious help and talent of my friend Jean-Christophe Maltot to arrange this aria as a flute concerto, with certain passages requiring a virtuosic technical ability in order to keep the pure vocal line. Just like in the concert aria “Voi avete un cor fedele” where again, the protagonist’s love questions are directed towards her lover whom she considers unfaithful once the pleasure is consumed.

During his romantic stay in Mannheim, Mozart met the flautist, Ferdinand Dejean. Of Dutch origin, he lived in Mannheim, and asked Wolfgang to compose three concertos for him, as well as flute quartets. From this commission was born a concerto in G, four flute quartets, and a transcription of the concerto for oboe for the flute. The andante in C Major was intended to become the slow movement of the concerto in G. Then Mozart changed his mind and decided to keep this andante as a concert aria for the flute.

The rondo, originally composed for the violin in C major, was transposed by Hoffmeister into D major for the flute. In concert, it is very complicated to link the andante and the rondeau, to go from a key in C to D. By recording the original version in C for the first time on this album, and using a cadenza to connect these two pieces, it has been made possible to make the link between a slow and fast concert aria.

Mozart and his mother then left Mannheim for Paris, which then, was the great cultural capital of Europe. Mozart had already come to Paris at the age of 8 and had triumphed at the time and was therefore eager to return. Unfortunately, disappointment struck him. The city had changed, and Wolfgang also wrote to his father that Parisians are dirty and poorly educated. Have things really changed? As a Frenchman, I allow myself this touch of irony. His mother, Ana Maria, arrived in Paris seriously ill. Mozart tried to manage both fronts, the illness of his mother he loved so much, and his career. There he met the Duke of Guines, a diplomat, military, and amateur flautist, who commissioned him a concerto for flute and harp, as his daughter was also a harpist. From this meeting was born the famous concerto KV 299, which remains to this day a model of symphonie concertante, where the two instruments share the roles. The slow movement is one of the composer’s greatest pieces. With absolute lyricism and intimacy, it was written at the same time as the death of his mother in Paris. This tragedy marked a major turning point in the relationship between Mozart and his father, who reproached him for not having taken care of his mother enough by favouring his career.

The six variations on “Alas I lost my lover”, KV 360, is a work for violin and piano, composed in 1781 and dedicated to one of Mozart’s very first students, Marie-Karoline, Countess Thiennes de Rumbeke. This small masterpiece, here adapted for the harp and flute, is a beautiful love discussion between the two instruments, and the G minor key adds a pleasant melancholy, tinged with virtuosity.

The programme of this album is at the crossroads of voice and flute. I wanted to make the flute the most vocal, the most feminine, and the most loving as possible. It is a great privilege to record this album with my orchestra, the wonderful Anaïs Gaudemard, and Philippe Bernold, who was my predecessor to the same orchestra of the Orchestre de l’Opera National de Lyon. Philippe was fortunate to start his career in this orchestra with Sir John Eliot Gardiner, with whom he learned so much, especially about Mozart. It was a natural filiation for me to ask him to be the conductor of our beloved orchestra which turned 40 years old last year.