ヴォーン・ウィリアムズ: 愛の歌

ヴォーン・ウィリアムズ協会の自主レーベル
RVWの知られざる歌曲の世界

レイフ・ヴォーン・ウィリアムズの知られざる作品、埋もれていた作品、未発表作品などを取り上げてきた、ヴォーン・ウィリアムズ協会の自主レーベル「アルビオン・レコーズ(Albion Records)」。ニュー・アルバム「愛の歌(The Song Of Love)」は、15の世界初録音作品、1つのファースト・モダン・レコーディング、そして6つの未発表作品を含む、ヴォーン・ウィリアムズのレア歌曲集。
キャスリーン・フェリアー賞とロイヤル・オーヴァーシーズ・リーグ賞を受賞しているメゾ、キティ・ホウェイトリーと、ロイヤル・フィルハーモニック協会賞を受賞し、バッハ・コレギウム・ジャパンとの共演でも知られるバリトン、ロデリック・ウィリアムズの素晴らしい歌声にもご注目ください。
東京エムプラス

The Albion label has done yeomans work (to use a phrase the composer might readily have set) in exposing the lesser-known output of Ralph Vaughan Williams, but perhaps never quite to this extent: 16 of the 25 songs on this album have never been recorded before. Among those that have been, theres also a first: the six-song cycle The House of Life is sung here for the first time by a woman, mezzo-soprano Kitty Whately. Two of the six songs clearly represent a female beloved, to which one might respond that for one thing, the cycle was premiered by a female contralto, Edith Clegg, and for another, even if that were not true, it shouldnt make any difference. Whately is a lesser-known quantity here than her male counterpart on the album, baritone Roderick Williams, but shes a perfect foil for him, and the two are delightful when they join forces at the end. Whately brings real passion to The House of Life. Many of the other songs are folkish in nature, and uniquely in Vaughan Williams œuvre, there are three songs in German and four in French, three of them are arrangements of medieval songs. These arent masterpieces, but they testify to the composers interest in approaching the idea of folk song from as many directions as possible. The English tunes are often charming; sample Bounaparty, set to a text by Thomas Hardy for a Sullivan-like sea song: apparently it is the composers only Hardy setting. The Two Poems by Seumas OSullivan (1925), especially the 35-second A Piper, are entrancing. The songs are not all early but come from various parts of Vaughan Williams career, and they are on balance well worth having excavated. Other pluses include the often subtle accompaniment of William Vann and the superb, wholly appropriate Potton Hall sound. Enjoyable for audiences well beyond Vaughan Williams enthusiasts.