Stephen Waarts

Alongside the flourishing musical life of Germany’s numerous courts and princely seats, which were of equal cultural eminence with the autonomous »free cities« of the Holy Roman Empire, the country’s cultural landscape became further enriched in the last two-thirds of the 18th century by a burgeoning enthusiasm for concert-going among the middle classes. The Prussian capital, Berlin, came to play a special role in this respect because the young kingdom had in Frederick II (the third monarch to be honoured with the sobriquet »the Great«) a ruler who was particularly fond of music. However, the capital subsequently lost out when, long before he became known as »old Fritz«, the young Frederick transferred his courtly household from Berlin to Potsdam. There he presided over a men’s music club and »put on chamber concerts every evening, in which he usually played flute concertos composed by himself«, as described in Nikolaus Forkel’s biography of Johann Sebastian Bach, where we read of the visit by »old Bach« to his son, Carl Philipp Emanuel, then employed as »chamber harpsichordist« to the Prussian king.

Stephen Waarts’ innate and individual musical voice is establishing him as a firm favourite with audiences. With a voracious appetite for repertoire, Stephen has already performed over thirty standard, as well as rarely performed violin concertos, and is a passionate chamber musician.

La Fondation Orpheum, qui soutient les jeunes musiciens depuis plus de trente ans, s’est associée à Alpha Classics pour une série d’enregistrements consacrés aux concertos de Mozart, tous instruments confondus. Les meilleurs solistes de la jeune génération ont été sélectionnés sous la direction artistique d‘Howard Griffiths, chef mozartien reconnu, qui considère que jouer sa musique, c’est comme « se regarder dans un miroir : on entend si tout est en place, musicalité, intonation, rythme, phrasé »… Ces albums immortaliseront ce test implacable et révéleront les grands virtuoses de demain.