In the Elbphilharmonie Innerview she talks about authenticity, about her personal development and about the versatility of her much too often underestimated instrument.

Ambassador of the recorder

“I’ve always been interested in many different things, and I’d like to develop as a versatile musician and human being” explains Lucie Horsch. Anyone who gets to know her quickly realises that she is already versatile. She has become an ambassador for her instrument as well as a pop star in and well beyond the recorder world. With her friendly and direct manner, she has conquered stages around the world, leaving audiences breathless.

Her programme covers everything from Renaissance to Charlie Parker. And that with a single recorder? No, with two dozen of them: “My first few years playing the recorder were a journey of discovery. I didn’t even realise that there were different sized recorders”, she recalls smiling. “Now I play on around 25 different instruments in all registers.” – enough to go all the way up to the roof of the Elbphilharmonie using a single scale.

The young Dutchwoman is not only a virtuoso on the recorder, she also sings: her touching Beatles encores at the ’Rising Stars’ Festival in January 2022 in the Elbphilharmonie’s Recital Hall was magical.

Moving simplicity

Born into a family of musicians, Lucie Horsch began to play the recorder at the tender age of five. Only four years later, her performance at the famous Prinsengracht Concert in Amsterdam made her a star overnight. Although she herself does not attach too much importance to her social media presence, she now has hundreds of thousands of fans on YouTube. “I want to learn how to play the recorder because of Lucie”, you can see in the posts. The world seems to be listening to the recorder with new ears since Lucie Horsch came onto the scene.

The likeable musician also believes that part of what makes the music so moving is the special sound of her instrument: “The recorder is one of the most direct and purest instruments that there is”, she explains: “The instrument’s apparent simplicity makes it vulnerable – which is what renders it so moving.”

Unity and diversity

Her well-thought-out programmes have a central theme that she wants to convey. She does this by combining atmospheric Renaissance music with Baroque virtuosity, sonorous Romanticism and fascinating Modernism.

She wants to build bridges between times and styles, as well as to make connections and reveal commonalities. And that’s fitting, she finds, for the Elbphilharmonie: “It is also distinct from the buildings in the surrounding area, and yet still relates to them.” – what a wonderful comparison from such a creative thinker.