A Portrait

祝40周年。ラ・プティット・バンドの魅力選りすぐりのベスト・アルバム
今年、創立40周年を迎えるラ・プティット・バンド。それを記念して、彼らの30年以上にわたる録音から選りすぐってまとめたベスト・アルバム。彼らの処女作にあたるハイドンの「天地創造」から大バッハ、ヴィヴァルディ、リュリ、ルベル、ラモー、モーツァルトまでバラエティに富んだ曲目も魅力。ヴィヴァルディは「四季」の「春」、モーツァルトのレクイエム、バッハのブランデンブルク協奏曲第3番といった人気曲もしっかり収録、ラ・プティット・バンドの入門版としても最適のアルバムです。
キングインターナショナル

La Petite Bande, the Belgian Baroque orchestra that Sigiswald Kuijken founded in 1972, has gone on to become a leader in the historically informed performance movement, basing its performances on scrupulous research into period practices in details such as intonation, the use of authentic instruments, and the appropriate size of ensembles. The group was the first to make a recording of Haydn's Creation using authentic period instruments, and the first to record Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice with a male (a counter tenor) as Orfeo. In celebration of the group's 40th anniversary, the Accent label, which has recorded the orchestra since 1982, has issued three sets: A Portrait, including excerpts from a representative broad range of albums; Haydn's Creation; and Mozart: The da Ponte Operas. A Portrait is a three-CD set made up of tracks personally selected by Kuijken. The first disc is devoted to opera, including the Mozart operas, Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice, and Livietta e Tracollo and La serva padrona by Pergolesi. The second is an eclectic selection that includes choral and instrumental music by Mozart and Haydn, French ballet music by a variety of composers, and Vivaldi concertos. The third features complete performances of four J.S. Bach cantatas, in which Kuijken uses a single singer on each part. The recordings were made between 1982 and 2011 so the sound quality improves considerably from the earliest to the latest. The set makes a good introduction to the historically significant and musically satisfying contributions of Kuijken and La Petite Bande and should give listeners an incentive to seek out the complete performances of these pieces.