A.Raskatov: Piano Concerto "Night Butterflies"; Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring

モスクワ生まれの作曲家、アレクサンドル・ラスカトフはモスクワ音楽院で学び、1982年に大学院を終了後、ドイツでしばらく活動し、1990年代からはフランスに移住。映画音楽の分野をはじめ、多方面で活躍している作曲家です。世界中で彼の作品が上演され、高い人気を誇っているラスカトフですが、このピアノ協奏曲「夜の蝶」は、シアトル交響楽団の委嘱作品で、詩的で劇的な作風を持っています。もちろんここで演奏している日本のコンテンポラリー・ピアニスト向井山朋子の存在なくしては生まれなかった作品であり、彼女の卓越した技巧が存分に生かされた革新的な音楽です。カップリングは「春の祭典」で、こちらも素晴らしいパフォーマンスとなっています。リュドビック・モルローのパワフルな指揮は、今回も健在です。
ナクソス・ジャパン

When most listeners pick up this CD, they'll have reasonable expectations of the performance of Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, but few will be able to guess much about Alexander Raskatov's Piano Concerto, "Night Butterflies." Composed in 2012-2013, this work was inspired by a nocturnal visit to a butterfly greenhouse, and it is cast in 12 brief movements that evoke the fluttering and shifting colors of butterflies. These images are represented in the elaborate piano part that Raskatov composed specifically for Tomoko Mukaiyama, who performs in this recording. The concerto was co-commissioned by the Seattle Symphony and the Netherlands Residentie Orkest at The Hague, and this recording provides the first opportunity for many to discover this imaginative composer. The fascinating interweaving of the piano with the orchestra shows Raskatov to be a strong colorist, a master of textures, and a dynamic manipulator of rhythms, characteristics that make the pairing with The Rite of Spring especially appropriate. Mukaiyama's spectacular playing and the skillful accompaniment of Ludovic Morlot and the Seattle Symphony make this concerto a fitting opener for the program. Morlot's lucid and measured interpretation of The Rite of Spring more than meets expectations, and the orchestra delivers a compelling version that is as vibrantly colorful and energetic as anticipated by the Raskatov concerto.