ヴォーン・ウィリアムズ: 揚げひばり/タリスの主題による幻想曲

大人気アンドルー・マンゼのRVW!
交響曲全集に続き、管弦楽作品集も登場!

2016年にスタートし、瞬く間に21世紀を代表する新たな交響曲全集としての高い評価を確立した名匠アンドルー・マンゼとイギリスの名門オーケストラ、ロイヤル・リヴァプール・フィルハーモニー管弦楽団(RLPO)によるヴォーン・ウィリアムズ。全5巻で完結した交響曲全集に続いて、管弦楽作品集もリリース。カナダの天才ジェームズ・エーネスが弾く「揚げひばり」から、「タリス幻想曲」、「グリーンスリーヴス幻想曲」、「イギリス民謡組曲」、そして珍しい管弦楽版の「音楽へのセレナード」など、管弦楽のための魅惑の小品が満載。その繊細でバランス感覚に優れた好演が、レコード芸術、英グラモフォン誌、英BBCミュージック・マガジン等、世界の主要メディアで絶賛されてきたアンドルー・マンゼのヴォーン・ウィリアムズ・サイクル。英国音楽愛好家、ヴォーン・ウィリアムズ・ファン必聴必携のアルバムです!
東京エムプラス

This recording is something of an addendum to the critically and commercially successful cycle of Ralph Vaughan Williams symphonies issued by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Andrew Manze. It was recorded in 2017 but not issued until late 2019; some of these pieces are better known than any of the symphonies, and the album could easily have served general listeners as an introduction to the series. Of course, it can still serve that purpose. Perhaps no Vaughan Williams work is more familiar than The Lark Ascending, and perhaps the marketers thought the album would present a less distinctive product if offered first. As it happens, The Lark Ascending is the big news here. All of the performances have the rich sound and deliberate, detailed orchestral work that has characterized the symphony performances, but The Lark Ascending is extraordinary. Violinist James Ehnes -- who despite his sterling reputation, gets no billing on the cover -- displays flawless intonation here, and his precise sound works beautifully: although The Lark Ascending has a bit of the salon about it, it is not a sentimental work. Manze keeps the dynamics quiet throughout, and as the bird takes its final flight, Ehnes achieves an awesome pianissimo, and Onyx engineers, working at Liverpools Philharmonic Hall, bring the feeling, very rare on recordings, of being present at an extraordinary performance. The rest of the program was recorded at the Friary in Liverpool, and it offers many rewards in terms of orchestral sound (in the nearly-as-familiar Fantasia on Greensleeves and Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis) and more unusual repertory (Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus and the quite rare orchestral-only version of the Serenade to Music). All this adds up to a Vaughan Williams recording to be kept, heard repeatedly, and cherished.