ベートーヴェン: 三重協奏曲、交響曲第7番

ベートーヴェン生誕250年を祝う、現代最高の3人によるトリプル・コンチェルト!

ムター&マ、1979年のカラヤンとの旧録音から40年振りとなる三重協奏曲。ピアノと指揮には現代最高の巨匠、バレンボイム。円熟のソリストの脇を固めるのは、バレンボイムが対立するイスラエルとアラブ諸国の若手音楽家で組織したウェスト=イースタン・ディヴァン管弦楽団。

「全ての人々よ抱き合え」という永遠のメッセージをベートーヴェンは打ち立てました。この信念により人は兄弟姉妹として生きることができ、全ての人々は兄弟として生きるべきなのだという考えが、彼の音楽の本質です。彼はより良き未来を希求する過去からの伝道者なのです。・・・・・・・アンネ・ゾフィームター
ユニバーサル・ミュージック/IMS

Nobody would pick the Triple Concerto, Op. 56, as one of Beethovens greatest works, but in a performance that gives star soloists room to move, its possible to hear the sources of the works continuous popularity. Thats exactly what happens here: pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim knows when to relax a bit and allow elegant instrumental display, rather than attempting to inject tension that is not there in this attempt to drag the old sinfonia concertante form kicking and screaming into the 19th century. Consider the lovely solo cello entrance in the first movement from Yo-Yo Ma or Anne-Sophie Mutters lovely singing line -- still, nobody does it better -- in the slow movement. The work of these stars aside, theres another attraction, and thats the playing of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, Barenboims ensemble of young Israelis and Arabs explicitly aimed at furthering the cause of peace (the name comes from a book of poems by Goethe devoted to Islamic and Eastern themes). When the group began, it had all the earmarks of a temporary political statement, but, especially after the establishment of an ongoing workshop in Andalucia and a state-accredited Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin, it has cohered into a strong performing group with traits that survive its inevitable turnover in personnel. In the Beethoven Symphony No. 7, Op. 92 that rounds out this live album, Barenboim elicits considerable energy from the group. Or is it the other way around? Whatever the case, its a solid performance and more. The Mutter-Ma pair has recorded the Triple Concerto before (with pianist Mark Zeltser), with the Berlin Philharmonic under Herbert von Karajan, and for classic precision, that recording may still have the edge, but everyone here had an infectious good time.