Patrick Messina, Lise Berthaud, Fabrizio Chiovetta
Biography Patrick Messina, Lise Berthaud, Fabrizio Chiovetta
Patrick Messina
is well known to orchestras and audiences as one of the leading clarinetists of our times. In 2003 Patrick Messina became Principal Clarinet of the Orchestre National de France under Kurt Masur’s direction.
From 1996 to 2003, Patrick has worked with the Metropolitan Opera in New York under the baton of James Levine, Valery Gergiev, Leonard Slatkin and he is regularly invited as guest Principal clarinetist with some of the best orchestra in the world, like the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Kurt Masur, Bernard Haitink and others.
A frequent soloist with major orchestras, Patrick Messina has performed with the Houston Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre National de France, the Orchestre de Cannes, the “Philharmonie der Nationen”, the Orchestre National d’Ile de France, the Orchestre de Chambre de Toulouse, the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, the Kioi Sinfonietta (Tokyo) and the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine under the direction of Riccardo Muti, Trevor Pinnock, Bernard Haitink, Yehudi Menuhin, Tan Dun, Daniele Gatti, Sascha Goetzel, Anton Nanut, Kristjan Jarvi, Jaap Van Zweden, Sascha Goetzel, and John Axelrod.
An avid chamber music player, Messina has made regular international appearances with renowned artist such as Edita Gruberova, Chen Reiss, Daniel Hope, Bruno Giuranna, Ida Bieler, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Fabrizio Chiovetta, Simone Dinnerstein, Nina Tichman, Katia et Marielle Labeque, Gautier Capuçon, and some of the greatest string quartets, the Philharmonia Quartett Berlin (Berlin Philharmonic), the Vogler, Parker, Diotima, Parisii, Debussy, Elysées and Fine Arts.
He has played in some of the most prestigious Festivals like: Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Gstaad, Spoleto, Schleswig-Holstein, Savannah, Mitte Europa, Pablo Casals, Istanbul, Menton, Wissembourg, Berlioz.
Patrick Messina is the recipient of numerous prizes and awards. In 1992, he became a laureate of the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation. In 1996 he won 1st Prize of the East and West International Auditions in New York and the Ima Hogg National Competition in Houston. In 1998 he was 1st prize at the Heida Hermanns International Competition.
Aged only 18, he was the first prize winner in both the chamber music and clarinet division at the
Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris.
Born in Nice, France, of Sicilian and Spanish parents, Mr. Messina began taking lessons with his father, and continued his studies with Guy Deplus, Michel Arrignon at the Paris Conservatory, Franklin Cohen at the Cleveland Institute of Music and Ricardo Morales in New York’s Mannes College.
In 2010, Patrick Messina premieres the Clarinet Concerto “Autumn Pictures” from the French-Lebanese composer Bechara El Khoury at the Chatelet Theatre with the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, conducted by Olari Elts (CD Naxos, 2014).
Also in that same year, Patrick Messina was appointed Visiting Professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London. In 2012, Messina released his critically acclaim Mozart CD with Riccardo Muti, the Orchestre National de France and the Philharmonia Quartet Berlin (Harmonia Mundi distr.) described as ” A total success… One of the great performances of the last twenty years” (Concertonet)
“Here you can see what the fuss is about with Messina. This album announces the arrival of a major clarinet talent” (Allmusic)
Most recently, Patrick was appointed Professor at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris and at the IESM (Institut d’Enseignement Supérieur de la Musique) in Aix en Provence, France.
Lise Berthaud
is unanimously praised as an outstanding figure on the international music scene. She has performed in various prestigious concert venues throughout the world (Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Het Concertgebouw, Baden Baden Festspielhaus, Elbphilharmonie, Musikverein, Vienna’s Konzerthaus, Wigmore Hall, Bridgewater Hall, The Sage Gateshead, Philharmonie de Paris, Moritzburg Festival, Schwartzenberg’s Schubertiade Hohenems, Rencontres Musicales d’Evian) with such artists as Renaud Capuçon, Baiba Skride, Lauma Skride, Harriet Krijgh, Julian Steckel, Daishin Kashimoto, Eric Le Sage, Augustin Dumay, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Emmanuel Pahud, Gordan Nikollich, Martin Helmchen, Marie-Elisabeth Hecker, Alina Ibragimova, Veronika Eberle, Christian Poltera, Quatuor Ebène, the Modigliani Quartet.
As a soloist, Lise has played with all BBC orchestras, including for her BBC Proms Debut in 2014 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Andrew Litton. Other solo engagements include the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de Belgique, Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, Orchestre National de Lyon, les Musiciens du Louvre, Wroclaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Sao Paulo Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, Orchestre de Chambre de Wallonie, Hong-Kong Sinfonietta, and various orchestras in France, with conductors like Sakari Oramo, Fabien Gabel, Emmanuel Krivine, Andrew Litton, François Leleux, Paul Mc Creesh, Marc Minkowski., Leonard Slatkin who invited Lise to perform and record (for Naxos) Harold in Italy with the Orchestre National de Lyon as part of the orchestra’s Berlioz complete works recording for Naxos.
During the 2013-2015 period Lise was part of the prestigious BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Artists Scheme which allowed her to perform with all BBC orchestras and record a great amount of repertoire both live and in studio.
After taking part in Eric Le Sage’s successful Schumann and Fauré recording, she released her first solo album in 2013 with pianist Adam Laloum under the French Aparté label. The disc featuring works by Brahms, Schumann and Schubert was unanimously praised and won several awards in France. Her passion for contemporary music has also lead her to collaborate with various composers, including Philippe Hersant, Thierry Escaich, Henri Dutilleux, Gyorgy Kurtag, Guillaume Connesson or Florentine Mulsant.
Lise Berthaud was born in 1982 and started studying the violin at the age of 5. She studied with Pierre-Henry Xuereb and Gérard Caussé at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris and was a prize-winner of the European Young Instrumentalists Competition in 2000. In 2005, she won the Hindemith Prize at the Geneva International Competition. She was short listed by the Victoires de la Musique Classique 2009 as “Révélation de l’Année” (Newcomer of the Year).
Lise Berthaud plays a 1660 Antonio Casini viola, courtesy of Bernard Magrez.
Fabrizio Chiovetta
After winning an impressive range of prizes during the first years of his career, Swiss pianist Fabrizio Chiovetta has issued a series of critically acclaimed recordings. Chiovetta was born in Geneva, Switzerland. His older brother played the piano, and he took naturally to the one in the house. Enrolling at the Superior Conservatory of Geneva, he majored in piano and music theory but also studied Italian literature, mathematics, musicology, and the Latin language before settling on the piano as a career. Winning the city of Geneva's Adolphe Neumann Prize, Chiovetta went on for further study at the Tibor Varga Academy in the Swiss city of Sion, graduating with highest honors. His teacher for four years was Dominique Weber, who, he told the Cross Eyed Pianist, "helped me consolidate my technique and develop my sense of structure, rhythm and beauty of sound." He has also studied with Paul Badura-Skoda (becoming his privileged disciple) and John Perry, focusing on historical Viennese instruments as well as works for the modern piano. His soloist appearances have taken him across Europe, Middle-East, North America, and Asia. He is also much sought-after as a chamber musician. He performs with partners such as Henri Demarquette, Patrick Messina, Corey Cerovsek, Sarah & Deborah Nemtanu, Camille Thomas, Werner Güra, Sophie Karthaüser, Benjamin Appl and, notably, under the conductor Gábor Takács-Nagy. In 2009, Chiovetta released a recital of Schumann piano works on the Palexa label that earned raves in both Europe and the U.S., and he was signed to Switzerland's Claves label. He released a recording of Schubert's Piano Sonata in B flat major, D. 960, in 2013. He has also recorded Haydn for Claves, Bach and Mozart for the French label Aparté, and in 2018 he appeared in a trio with Patrick Messina and Henri Demarquette for an album of contemporary works by Henryk Gorecki, Arvo Pärt, and Jaan Rääts. His talent as an improviser has led him to work with artists of varied backgrounds. He currently teaches piano at the Geneva University of Music (Haute école de musique de Genève).
