Biography
‘Chamber music at the heart of the orchestra … This is by far the best definition of what Appassionato is all about. More than a chamber orchestra, Appassionato is a “chamber musicians orchestra”. The listening skills developed by passionate musicians, with the true idea of playing together in mind, brings a color and energy that helps Appassionato stand out from other orchestras. Playing together is a question that obsesses all conductors as well as all musicians who perform other than as soloists. It is much more than simply putting the notes vertically on top of each other: it is almost the opposite of feeling the horizontality in order to align the verticality. Feeling the lines, the phrases, the movements of the music as a small group, but with many, allows a common breath that helps to fundamentally change the interpretation. A quartet, a trio, but with 40 players, a different listening helped by this reciprocity of the melodic lines, this game of question-answer from one ear to another, a musical ping-pong, concert after concert and recording after recording, this is what makes Appassionato stand out.’
— Mathieu Herzog, Artistic Director
