
Representation AT | CEE
Born in Toulon, Xavier de Maistre studied the harp with Vassilia Briano at his local conservatoire, before perfecting his technique with Catherine Michel and Jacqueline Borot in Paris. He also studied in Sciences-Po Paris and then at the London School of Economics. In 1998 he was awarded first prize (and two interpretation prizes) at the prestigious USA International Harp Competition (Bloomington) and in the same year became the first French musician to be admitted at the Wiener Philharmoniker.
As a soloist, Xavier performs under the baton of many conductors, including Sir André Previn, Sir Simon Rattle, Riccardo Muti, Daniele Gatti, Philippe Jordan, Kristjan Järvi, Bertrand de…
Born in Toulon, Xavier de Maistre studied the harp with Vassilia Briano at his local conservatoire, before perfecting his technique with Catherine Michel and Jacqueline Borot in Paris. He also studied in Sciences-Po Paris and then at the London School of Economics. In 1998 he was awarded first prize (and two interpretation prizes) at the prestigious USA International Harp Competition (Bloomington) and in the same year became the first French musician to be admitted at the Wiener Philharmoniker.
As a soloist, Xavier performs under the baton of many conductors, including Sir André Previn, Sir Simon Rattle, Riccardo Muti, Daniele Gatti, Philippe Jordan, Kristjan Järvi, Bertrand de Billy, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Daniel Harding and Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla. He has recently been invited by important orchestras such as Chicago, Montreal, São Paulo, Birmingham and Finnish Radio Symphony orchestras; London and China Philhamonic orchestras; Tonhalle-Orchestre Zürich, Mozarteum Salzburg, and Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. He has also performed in recitals at KKL Lucerne, Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden, Lierderhalle in Stuttgart, Boulez Saal in Berlin and on the main stage of Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie.
Additonally he plays in major festivals: Schleswig-Holstein, Rheingau, Salzburger Festspiele, Wiener Festwochen, Verbier Festival, Spring Festival in Budapest, Würzburg Mozartfest, Mostly Mozart in New York. Passionate about chamber music, he performs with Diana Damrau, Arabella Steinbacher, Daniel Müller-Schott, Baiba Skride, Antoine Tamestit, Mojca Erdmann, and Magali Mosnier.
In France he regularly plays with Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre national de Lyon, and philharmonic orchestras of Radio France, Monte-Carlo, Montpellier, Lille, and Nancy. He gives recitals in venues such as Opéra Garnier, auditoriums of Lyon, Bordeaux, Nice, Poitiers, Opéra-Théâtre in Avignon, and Opéra de Lille.
In 2008 Xavier de Maistre became an exclusive Sony Music artist and recorded his first album Nuit d’Etoiles with them, which was dedicated to Debussy. He was subsequently awarded an "Echo Klassik Award" for "Instrumentalist of the Year". Albums Hommage à Haydn (2009) and Aranjuez (2010) then followed, performed with Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien and Bertrand de Billy, and Notte Veneziana (2012), which was dedicated to the important pieces of the baroque repertoire. 2013 saw the release of a DVD of his performance with Diana Damrau and a recording of Mozart’s Concerto for Piano No.19, with Mozarteum Salzburg under the baton of Ivor Bolton. After Moldau (2015), a mix of solo harp pieces of the Slavic repertoire, Xavier recorded with Arts Florissants and William Christie.
In March 2018 he launches a duo album with legendary Lucero Tena (castanets) in a programme solely revolving around Spanish repertoire.
Since 2001 he teaches at Musikhochschule in Hambourg.
Xavier de Maistre plays on a Lyon-Healy instrument.
De Maistre is a kind of Hamelin of the harp: the agility, the ease with which the most astonishing technical challenges are surmounted, the conversational phrasing and evenness of rapid passagework instantly amaze. But it is also his depth of tone and variety of colour that beguile.
Concerto Repertoire (Selection) | |
Alwyn | „Lyra Angelica“ – Concerto for Harp and String Orchestra |
Boieldieu | Concerto for Harp and Orchestra, op. 82 |
Debussy | "Deux Danses" for Harp und String Orchestra |
Dohnányi | Concertino for Harp und Chamber Orchestra, op. 45 |
Eötvös | Harp-Concerto (23/24 Premiere) |
Farkas | Concertino for Harp and Orchestra |
Ginastera | Concerto for Harp and Orchestra, op.25 |
Glière | Concerto for Harp and Orchestra, op. 74 |
Händel | Concerto for Harp (Organ) and Orchestra Bb major op. 4/6 HWV 294 |
Haydn | Concerto for Harp and Orchestra after a Concerto for Cembalo/Piano and Orchestra D major Hob. XVIII:11 |
Concerto for Harp and Orchestra after a Concerto for Cembalo/Klavier and Orchestra G major Hob. XVIII:4 | |
Mozart | Concerto for Flute, Harp and Orchestra C major KV 299 (297c) |
Concerto for Harp and Orchestra after the Piano Concerto Eb major KV 449 | |
Piano Concerto Nr. 19 F major, KV 459 | |
Piano Concerto C major | |
Marcello | Concerto in d minor for Harp and Strings |
Montsalvatge | Concert capriccio for Harp and Orchestra |
Mosolov | Reconstructed Harp Concerto |
Parish-Alvars | Concerto for Harp and Orchestra, op. 98 |
Concertino for Harp and Orchestra, op. 34 | |
Penderecki | Concerto for Harp and Orchestra |
Pierné | Concert piece for Harp and Orchestra, op. 39 |
Previn | Concerto for Harp and Orchestra (only in connection with another harp concert) |
Rautavaara | Concerto for Harp and Orchestra |
Reinecke | Concerto for Harp and Orchestra, op. 182 |
Renié | Concerto for Harp and Orchestra |
Rodrigo | Concierto Serenata for Harp and Orchestra |
Concierto de Aranjuez (Harp version by Composer) | |
Saariaho | Harp Concerto "Trans" |
Saint-Saëns | Morceau de Concert for Harp and Orchestra, op. 154 |
Vivaldi | Concerto for Harp, Strings and B.c. in G major op. 3 Nr. 3 RV 310 (Arr. Stefan Klieme) |
Concerto for Harp (Lute), 2 Violins and B.c. in D major RV 93 (Arr. Stefan Klieme) | |
Concerto for Harp, Strings and B.c. f minor ''The Winter'' RV 297 op. 8/4 (Arr. Stefan Klieme) | |
Concerto for Harp, Strings and B.c. in D major op. 3 Nr. 9 RV 230 | |
Concerto for Harp, Strings and B.c. in G major op. 7 Nr. 2 RV 299 | |
Williams | Suite from the soundtrack of ''E.T.'' |
Concerto for Harp and Orchestra ''On Willows and Birches'' | |
Recital Programme (Selection) | |
Solo | |
Francisque | Pavane et Bransles (arr. Marcel Grandjany) –from “Le Trésor d'Orphée” |
Dussek | Sonata, op.35 No.3 |
Lecuon | Malagena -La Comparsa -Glissando mazurka |
Fauré | Impromptu, op.86 |
-- | |
Britten | Suite for harp, Op. 83 |
Debussy | Clair de Lune from Suite Bergamasque |
Renie | Legende, D'après des elfes de Leconte de Lisle |
With actor Martina Gedeck-“Night, Dreams, Fantasy...” | |
Else Lasker-Schüler | Wilde Winde |
Debussy | Arabesque No.1 |
Edgar Allen Poe | le Cœur révélateur |
Renié | Ballade Fantastique sur le cœur révélateur |
Else Lasker-Schüler | Ich schlummerte an einem Zauberbrunnen |
Leconte de Lisle | Les Elfes |
Renié | Légende sur les Elfes de Leconte de Lisle |
Oscar Wilde | la Rose et le Rossignol |
Liszt | le Rossignol |
Else Lasker-Schüler | Abendzeit |
Tarrega | Recuerdos de la Alhambra |
Joseph von Eichendorff | Mondnacht |
Debussy | Clair de Lune |
Flamenco Recital with Lucero Tena | |
Recital with Rolando Villazón |