Maurice Heugen

Englisch

The dutch fluteplayer Maurice Heugen (1969) has been soloflutist for the Zürich Opera Orchestra since 1993. He is one of the many dutch fluteplayers who left his home country for a orchestralplaying career abroad. As a matter of fact, looking back in the history of fluteplaying, there have been quite a number of fluteplayers with a fine reputation flying the dutch flag. One could go back as far as Drouet, making an international career as a soloist in many european country's during the early 19th century.

At the same time Demersseman did some very succesfull concerts in Paris , unfortunately dying at the very early age of 33. E. de Jong and Fransella choose England as their new homes where they became influencial fluteplayers very soon after, both leaving some interesting recordings, showing fine dexterity and elegance.

Ary van Leeuwen settled quite a number of years in Vienna , being soloflutist at the ''Hof Oper''(nowadays the Wiener Staatsoper) under Gustav Mahler, after which he left for the United States in 1921. Most recently Jacques Zoon left the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in favour of a career abroad, gaining international acclaim both as an orchestral player and as a soloist. Like Jacques Zoon, Maurice Heugen studied with Koos Verheul since the early age of 11, graduating with honors at the Sweelinck Conservatory Amsterdam in 1993. Besides the main flute reportoire, Maurice Heugen devotes himself to forgotten and unknown composers of the past and present. Earlier releases contain works by Swiss composers and works related to Debussy (Hommage à Debussy). The most recent CD (2006) contains works by Debussy, Gieseking, Liebermann, van Leeuwen and Gaubert.

Maurice Heugen and Marianne Boer form a chambermusic duo since their early youth in 1981. During the past 25 years they can look back at many recitals, radio and television recordings and the CD productions mentioned above. They are a chambermusic duo with seldom heard musical homogeneity and a large reportoire, reaching from J.S.Bach to the newest composed works for flute and piano.
Mr. Heugen's fluteplaying showing elegance, a pure, flexible sound and his capability of making long frases, together with Marianne Boer's extraordinary technique and delicacy in ''toucher'', makes the duo an ideal performer in the french reportoire.

As a soloflutist for the Zürich Opera he recorded dvd's containing Cosi fan Tutte, Figaro, Fidelio(Harnoncourt), Macbeth, Rosenkavalier, Pelleas et Mélisande, Peter Grimes, Tiefland, Meistersinger(Welser-Möst), Cinderella, Swanlake(Fedoseyev), Don Pasquale, Rigoletto(Santi) and others.