Massimo Mercelli is the flutist in the world who boasts the most important dedications and collaborations with the greatest composers: the likes of Penderecki, Gubaidulina, Glass, Nyman, Bacalov, Galliano, Morricone, Sollima, Piovani and Gabriel Prokofiev have written for him or performed premieres.
Self-taught and then a pupil of the famous flutists Maxence Larrieu and André Jaunet, at the age of nineteen he became first flute at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, won the ‘Premio Francesco Cilea’, the ‘Concorso Internazionale Giornate Musicali’ and two editions of the ‘Concorso Internazionale di Stresa’.
Massimo Mercelli
Massimo regularly plays at the world’s most important concert venues: Carnegie Hall in New York, Herculessaal and Gasteig in Munich, NCPA in Beijing, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Teatro alla Scala, Auditorium RAI in Turin, Victoria Hall in Geneva, San Martin in the Fields and Wigmore Hall in London, Parco della Musica in Rome, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Warsaw Philharmonic, Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, UN auditorium in New York, Great Hall of the Mozarteum in Salzburg Philharmonic in Berlin and Moscow and in the Festivals of Ljubljana, Berlin, Santander, Vilnius, St. Petersburg, Bonn, Cervantino Festival, Rheingau, Jerusalem, Warsaw, collaborating with artists such as Yuri Bashmet, Valery Gergiev, Krzysztof Penderecki, Philip Glass, Michael Nyman, Massimo Quarta, Ennio Morricone, Luis Bacalov, Peter-Lukas Graf, Maxence Larrieu, Aurèle Nicolet, Anna Caterina Antonacci, Ramin Bahrami, Albrecht Mayer, Gabor Boldowsky, Jiri Belolhavec, Federico Mondelci, John Malkovich, Igudesman & Joo, Jan Latham-Koenig, Catherine Spaak, Susanna Mildonian, and with orchestras such as the Moscow Soloists, the Wiener Symphoniker, the Solisti Veneti, the Cameristi della Scala, the Prague Philarmonia, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Virtuosi Italiani, the Salzburg Soloists, the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra, the Solisti Aquilani and I Musici
Some of the most significant milestones in Massimo’s career include the premiere of Philip Glass’s “Façades” with the composer at the piano, the world premiere of Ennio Morricone’s cantata “Vuoto d’anima piena” conducted by the composer himself, and with the Warsaw Philharmonic at the festival dedicated to Krzysztof Penderecki’s 75th birthday; then in China with Luis Bacalov at the Shanghai Expo and the world premiere of Michael Nyman’s Concerto No. 1 for flute and orchestra dedicated to him.
The concert at the Čajkovskij Hall in Moscow under the baton of Yuri Bashmet performing “Contrafactus ” by Giovanni Sollima, also dedicated to him, and the concert at the MusikVerein in Vienna and the world premiere of the new concert dedicated to him by Sofia Gubaidulina and participation in the opening concert of the Festival for the 80th birthday of Krysztof Penderecki at the Warsaw Philharmonic and the concert dedicated to Italy in Sochi during the Olympics.
In terms of discography, we would like to mention the “Massimo Mercelli performs Philip Glass” CD with the complete flute music by Philip Glass published by Orange Mountain Record, Philip Glass’s record company, Bach Flute Sonatas with Ramin Bahrami for DECCA, then again for DECCA the new Bach SansSouci CD with Ramin Bahram, and on RAI5 a series of 5 documentaries dedicated to the Bach sonatas.
Massimo recently premiered Jade, a concert dedicated to him by Richard Galliano at the Izmir Festival with the composer’s presence on stage.
In November 2018, he was the only Italian invited to participate in the Festival for the 85th birthday of Krysztof Penderecki at the Warsaw Philharmonic.
In 2019, for his birthday, he performed Michael Nyman’s Concerto No. 2, dedicated to him, at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan and in 2020, again at the Teatro alla Scala, Ennio Morricone’s Notturno Passacaglia, also dedicated to him; in 2021, at the Teatro degli Arcimboldi in Milan, he performed alongside John Malkovich. In 2022, he will be soloist in the ‘Dante concerto’ written for him by Gabriel Prokofiev and in 2023, with I Solisti Veneti in the premiere performance of 3 concertos for flute and orchestra dedicated to him and composed by Oscar winner Nicola Piovani.