ロマンティック・ピアノ・コンチェルト・シリーズ Vol.81 ～ ラッブラ&ブリス: ピアノ協奏曲集

ロマン派ピアノ協奏曲を全く異なる解釈で描いた2つの作品は、どちらも同等の成功を収めています。1939年のニューヨーク万国博覧会のために作曲されたブリスの協奏曲 は外向的で熱狂的、そして技巧的な作品です。一方、ラップラは、英国の田園詩的伝統を深く反映し継承した作品です。
ユニバーサル・ミュージック/IMS

The Hyperion labels Romantic Piano Concerto series here reaches its 81st volume. If theres any sign of a diminution, its that one of the present works was written in 1938 and the other in 1955, neither date conventionally placed in the Romantic era. Yet the two main attractions here can indubitably be described as Romantic, and both are entirely distinctive pieces well worth a revival; neither is commonly heard, even in Britain. The Piano Concerto No. 1 in G, Op. 85 (the lack of designation of major or minor is perhaps intentional), of Edmund Rubbra, is the later of the two works. The work was dedicated to Indian sarod player Ali Akbar Khan, an influence audible from the beginning of the work (beautifully handled here by pianist Piers Lane and the Orchestra Now under Leon Botstein) and elegantly integrated into concerto form. Its also very much the work of a symphonist, which was Rubbras primary metier; the piano is sometimes a soloist, sometimes an element of orchestral color. The slow movement is a lovely nocturne. The Piano Concerto in B flat major, Op. 58, of Arthur Bliss, was composed for the 1939 New York Worlds Fair and dedicated to the American people. Perhaps this circumstance brought forth an unusually broad musical language from the once-modernist Bliss, who remarked, Surely the Americans are at heart the most romantic in the world. The finale is an energetic and technically challenging romp that lives up to Blisss stated ambition to produce a British Emperor Concerto. All of the musicians approach the music with freshness and commitment, and the whole project is of interest far beyond the usual circles of Romantic music specialists and enthusiasts.