パーセル: 歌劇 《妖精の女王》 (1692)

マクリーシュ&ガブリエリ・コンソート
パーセル第2弾、「妖精の女王」!

名匠ポール・マクリーシュが1982年に創設したイギリスを代表する古楽アンサンブル&合唱団、ガブリエリ・コンソート&プレーヤーズ。2019年にマクリーシュが得意とするレパートリーの1つ、ヘンリー・パーセルの録音プロジェクトがスタートし、第1弾となった「アーサー王」(SIGCD 589)」は、レコード芸術海外盤REVIEWで「今月の特選盤」に選出された他、英グラモフォン誌でレコーディング・オヴ・ザ・マンスに、BBCミュージック・マガジン賞2020のオペラ部門でファイナリストに選ばれるなど、大きな反響を巻き起こしました。

期待の増す第2弾は、シェイクスピアの「夏の夜の夢」に基づくパーセルのセミ・オペラ「妖精の女王」を録音。刺激的な器楽と美しい歌を備えた、パーセルのもっともカラフルで魅惑的なスコアを、チャールズ・ダニエルズが加わった他は前作と同じ豪華歌手陣、そしてマクリーシュとガブリエリ・コンソートが四半世紀にわたる演奏経験から練り上げた「上演用新エディション(new performing edition)」にて収録しています。
東京エムプラス

Purcells The Fairy Queen (1692), based (very loosely) not on Spenser but on Shakespeares A Midsummer Nights Dream, disappeared from the repertory for centuries as the performance traditions surrounding it fell from memory. It was rediscovered in the 20th century and has been kept afloat by its sheer profusion of irresistible Purcell tunes, but how the whole thing is supposed to hang together has remained obscure. The works genre has the puzzling name of semi-opera, and a recorded performance has no way to capture the complex mix of music, spoken word, dance, stage design, costume design, and spectacular machine stage effects. Paul McCreesh, his historical performance group Gabrieli, and McCreeshs co-editor Christopher Suckling come as close as anyone has. They perform from a new edition of the work that includes intelligent choices in completing the sometimes sketchy score, and CD buyers will get a lengthy booklet that will contribute mightily to their understanding of the work. A new edition involves a good deal of orchestration, and listeners will notice many colorful touches: try the symphony plus the sequence of French dances and Italian movements that opens Act IV and defines the kaleidoscopic mixture of sounds in the work as a whole. Suckling plays a bass violin, a rare instrument that makes the string ensemble more homogenous. A continuo is used only intermittently, as an element of color. Beyond all these details, however, this is just an exceptionally lively performance, with a fine group of singers led by soprano Carolyn Sampson (the singers take multiple roles) and vigorous string playing that gets to the surprise Purcells audiences must have felt at the music. Dont miss.