新古典主義者スカルコッタス

50年という短い生涯にもかかわらず、ニコス・スカルコッタスは20世紀ギリシャを代表する作曲家の一人として重要視されています。アテネ音楽院で学び、ベルリンに留学しシェーンベルクやヴァイルに師事、とりわけシェーンベルクの影響を強く受けましたが、精神的に不安定だったためか、彼が集中して作品を書いたのは1930年代後半から亡くなる直前までのほぼ10年間のみであり、この頃には新古典主義の作風を取り入れた独自の作風が構築されています。このアルバムに収録された4つの作品は、すべてその時代に作曲されており、古典的な佇まいの中に斬新さが盛り込まれたユニークな作品に仕上がっています。アテネ国立管弦楽団はスカルコッタスがヴァイオリニストとして在籍していたオーケストラ。
ナクソス・ジャパン

The subtitle The Neoclassical Skalkottas on this Naxos release could refer to this composers work in general: he has been considered an avant-garde composer as a result of his links to the Second Viennese School, or as a later exemplar of Greek nationalism, but there was always a particularly joyous strain of neoclassicism in his music, and these four works, although all from the last few years of his life point to it and to the fact that Skalkottas merged all these various trends in his music. There is a good deal of dissonance in this music, which doesnt sound much like Ravel or the German Neue Sachlichkeit that influenced Skalkottas. Instead, he cultivates a propulsive, brass- and wind-heavy sound that suggests the celebratory quality of ancient Greek drama. Direct folk influences are restricted to the Four Images for orchestra and the little Ancient Greek March for chamber orchestra that brings down the curtain, but there is a happy, lively quality to the Sinfonietta in B flat major for orchestra and the Classical Symphony for the delightful combination of wind orchestra, two harps, and double basses (previously unrecorded) that suggests folk-inflected neoclassicism. Yet Skalkottas background in 12-tone music is somehow present as well in the economical quality of the winding brass lines. The Athens State Orchestra, of which Skalkottas was once a member, plays confidently if not always cleanly. These are fascinating neoclassic works that would enhance programs in several genres of music, and it is just plain enjoyable all the way through.