If you open Google on your phone right now and search for a Mexican recorder player, Horacio Franco’s face will appear on your screen.
Franco has made a living for himself as a virtuoso on an instrument most people only associate with elementary school lessons. Mixing classical, baroque and indigenous Mexican music, he shows that the recorder, like any other instrument, is only limited by the person playing it.
Franco recently performed at the Prague Conservatory with Daniel Ortega on harpsichord. The concert celebrated the 215th anniversary of Mexico’s independence and hosted an audience that included the Mexican ambassador to the Czech Republic and the Czech foreign minister.
After the concert, Franco sat down over coffee to talk about his beginnings, indigenous music, and the ritual of performance.
What are the origins of your musical education?
“Fifty years ago when I was small, I got a recorder and I knew immediately that I had skills for it. A few days later, a colleague of mine at school played the piano. I heard her play Mozart’s sonata and that’s when I fell in love with music. I didn’t know what was happening to me”.
“I wanted to do only music, so I did only music. I went to the conservatory and then I went to Holland in the ’80s. That’s how I became a professional recorder player. Then I went back to Mexico and I developed a career also as a conductor.”
“I have given many concerts all over the world and through all the provinces of Mexico. I never forget how important it is that every child, or their parents, knows what the skills of the child are early and that guarantees about 50% of your success in life. The other 50 is just working, and working, and working.”
When did you start exploring indigenous music?
“When I was in Holland finishing my studies, our teacher told us, ‘You have to play an original piece from your country.’ ”
“So I thought, who plays something related to flutes? We have the indigenous Indian music. I went to the library and there was a book edited by the National Institute for Anthropology in the ’40s. It had old transcriptions from musicologists who went to the villages and wrote down the music in modern notation.”
“I found that, and it was like a miracle. I played those pieces for my diploma exam and I became in love with that music.”
When you perform, is it a ritual for you?
“Always. Life has to be a ritual.”
“We are kind of mediums. At that moment [on stage], it’s the most important thing. After every note, it’s like we’re going to die. We have to be 100% there. It’s a trance.”
Horacio Franco returned to Mexico shortly after the concert at the embassy. Franco frequently performs abroad, spreading the once esoteric music of indigenous Mexicans to international audiences. He has carved a niche in two areas rarely recognized in the classical tradition: the flute as a vehicle for serious performance, and indigenous music presented on conservatory stages. As Franco expressed in conversation, music is only limited by the passion behind it.
