Alexis Kossenko & Les Ambassadeurs
Biography Alexis Kossenko & Les Ambassadeurs
Alexis Kossenko
Born in Nice in 1977, Alexis Kossenko is an all-round musician: flutist, conductor/ director, musicologist, is a rare example of an artist who masters his instrument in all its historic forms from the ‘modern’ flute to the baroque and renaissance flutes, as well as the recorder.
Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonie der Nationen, La Chambre Philharmonique, and period orchestras including Concerto Copenhagen, Ensemble Matheus, La Grande Ecurie et la Chambre du Roi, Modo Antiqua, Stradivaria, Barokk Solistene and the Holland Baroque Society. His repertoire ranges from Quantz, Vivaldi and C.P.E. Bach, through Mozart up to Nielsen and Katchaturian. He has performed in the major concert halls and festivals accross Europe, including the Berlin Philharmonie, the Royal Albert Hall and Wigmore Hall in London, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Bozar Brussels, Théatre des Champs Elysées and Salle Gaveau in Paris and the Tonhalle Zürich.
Kossenko is currently first flutist of La Chambre Philharmonie under Emmanuel Krivine, Ensemble Matheus, Gli Angeli Genève, Le Concert Spirituel under Hervé Niquet and, since recently, the Orchestre des Champs-Elysées under Philippe Herreweghe.
A busy soloist and chamber musician, Alexis Kossenko also has a flourishing career as a conductor. He has directed B’Rock, Holland Baroque Society, EUBO, Le Concert d’Astrée, Arte dei Suonatori and in 2016 he guest conducted Sinfonia Iuventus Warsaw in a Mendelssohn symphony programme, where he has been re-invited to conduct a Brahms programme in 2018. In 2011, Kossenko founded the period orchestra ‘Les Ambassadeurs’. This ensemble draws its inspiration from the so-called Dresdner Hofkapelle, which in J.S. Bach’s time was famous for its fine orchestral colors and discipline, and for which Kossenko has recruted musicians from across Europe.
Kossenko’s impressive discography covers the flute concertos from C.P.E. Bach (awarded with ‘Choc de Classica’, ffff Télérama, Le Monde de la Musique and Répertoire) and Vivaldi (Editor’s Choice in Gramophone), from Rameau, Touchemoulin, Telemann and Hoffman. With Les Ambassadeurs he has recorded six CD’s including ‘l’Orchestra di Dresda’ with concertos by Vivaldi; ‘Le Grand Théatre de l’Amour’, with music by Jean-Philippe Rameau, starring soprano Sabine Devieilhe (which won the Diapason d’Or and the Diapason de l’Année 2014, the Diamant de l’Opera and the Grand prix de l’Académie Charles Gros); chamber music by C.P.E. Bach; Overtures and Concertos by Telemann (all for Alpha Records), ‘Arie di Tempesta’, Vivaldi and Handel arias with Soprano Blandine Staskiewicz (for Glossa) and ‘Cantus’ with cellist Christian-Pierre La Marca (on Sony). A new recording with works by Henry Purcell, with soprano Katherine Watson, will be released by Alpha.
