The French flautist, Maxence Larrieu, is one of the best representative men of the French flute school. He studied flute from age 10 at the Marseille Conservatory of Music with Joseph Rampal, who was the father of Jean-Pierre Rampal and belongs to the Rampal’s flute school, with Jean-Pierre Rampal and Alain Marion. He obtained the 1st flute Prize with Gaston Crunelle (1951), and also the chamber music 1st Prize of the National Superior Music College of Paris (1953). He also won the 1st Prize of the international competition of Geneva, (1958) and was graduate from the international competition of München (1956).
From 1954 to 1966, Maxence Larrieu was a solo flautist for the Comic Opera of Paris, and then for the Paris Opera’s orchestra until 1978. He left this post to follow the virtuoso lesson at the National Music College of Geneva, and also at the National Superior Music College of Lyon.
A lot of composers wrote for him :
- Serge Lancen: Concerto Monologue for solo flautist (1962)
- Marcel Landowski: creation in Bordeaux of his concerto with Orchestre de Chambre Jean-François Paillard (1968)
- Jean Rivier: Voltige for solo flautist (1970)
- Marc Carles: piece for solo flautist
- Lionel Rogg: suite for solo flautist (1999)
Maxence Larrieu played many times in concert Francis Poulenc's Sonata with the composer. He also recorded at Grange de Meslay Aubade, by Francis Poulenc, with Sviatoslav Richter and the Orchestre de Chambre Jean-François Paillard.
Some exceptional concerts :
- All W.A. Mozart’s concertos, with Clara Haskil playing piano and Lamoureux Orchestra directed by Igor Markevitch (1960)
- Norma / Bellini with Maria Callas, Maxence Larrieu was 1st flute of the Paris Opera’s orchestra, directed by Georges Prêtre (May / June 1964)
- Ballet show on Antonio Vivaldi'’s music with dancers from Paris’ Opera at the Champs-Elysées’ theater, organized by Henri-Jacques Coudert (1975)
- Sequenza I, work of art for solo flautist, creation of a ballet of the Paris’ Opera scene with dancers from Paris’s Opera under the direction of Luciano Berio (1976)
- J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concertos (BWV 1046-1051) at Pleyel Paris auditorium, with and Henryk Szeryng and I Solisti di Zagreb, under the direction of Antonio Janigro (1980)
Maxence Larrieu played with the best orchestras of the world (I Musici, English Chamber Orchestra, I Solisti di Zagreb…) and especially with Orchestre de Chambre Jean-François Paillard, with who he gave more than 5 hundred concerts, and recorded about thirty times. He has recorded over 100 recording, more particularly with orchestras from Prague, Munich, Cologne, Monte Carlo, I Musici, l'Ensemble Instrumental of France, Orchestra of Sarre, Orchestre de Chambre Jean-François Paillard, Philharmonic of Turin, and has won 15 Grand Prix du Disque. His concerts and records partners are: Arthur Grumiaux, Rafael Puyana, Bruno Canino, Gabriel Tacchino, Suzanna Mildonian, Maurice André, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Lili Laskine…
Maxence Larrieu played at Lincoln Center with the Chamber Orchestra of New York, Lili Laskine, Robert Veyron-Lacroix and Maurice André. He’s invited to music festivals in Osaka, Montreal, Sydney, Aix-en-Provence, Salzburg, Prague, Bratislava, Roma, Barcelona and Prades. Since 1964, he has also been regularly invited to Japan, Corea, China, USA and all over Europe for master-classes (Juilliard school, Yale, Royal Academy of London, Milan, Nice…) and concerts. Maxence Larrieu was a member of the jury for different competitions: Kobé, Carl Nielsen, Munich, Prague and Budapest. He was president of the Jean-Pierre Rampal’s competition in 2001. Since 2007, he has held the annual “Maxence Larrieu" international flute competition. He was the tutor of Massimo Mercelli. He is now the artistic leader of the season of concerts at the abbey of “San Futtuoso di Camogli Ligurie”, which takes place in July and August every year since 1993. In 2014 he received Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Flute Association of Chicago. His students include: Mathieu Dufour, Jean Ferrandis, Patrick Gallois, Robert Langevin, Massimo Mercelli, Sibel Pensil, and many others. |