デュカス: 魔法使いの弟子

バラードの筋書きを音楽的言語で見事に表現したA・ジョルダンの名演

名匠アルミン・ジョルダン指揮による、デュカスの名曲2作品のほか、比較的珍しいレパートリーで演奏機会の少ない交響曲が収められています。最初の2曲は他の演奏とは違い、柔らかくくすんだ音色によって独特雰囲気を醸し出しています。珍しい交響曲はドイツ風ではなく、真にフランス的な交響曲をめざそうとした作曲家の意気込みは伝わってきます。
ワーナーミュージック・ジャパン

Paul Dukas' Symphony in C major is a marvel and a wonder -- a major late Romantic French orchestral work of enormous heroism, immense tragedy and tremendous energy that inexplicably has only rarely received a recording worthy of it. In the digital era, there's been Lawrence Foster's provincial account with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Jesus Lopez-Cobos' flavorless account with the Cincinnati Symphony, Jean Fournet's colorless account with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin's characterful but not quite convincing account the Orchestral National de France, Yan Pascal Tortelier strong but unidiomatic account with the BBC Philharmonic, and, last but not least, this recording with Armin Jordan leading the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. It's got several things going for it: powerful and colorful playing from the Swiss orchestra which comes at least as close to idiomatic as Slatkin's Orchestre de France, clear and direct early digital sound from Erato which comes as close to warmth and honesty as early digital sound can, and, best of all, strong and expressive conducting from Armin Jordan. One might wish for more intensity and passion but one could not hope for more conviction: Jordan clearly believes in the piece, breathing life into its longing melodies, striving harmonies and driving rhythms, and his interpretation is arguably more convincing than any other digital recorded conductor's. Not surprisingly for a composer with a small orchestral output, the couplings on this disc are nearly the same as on all other Dukas recordings: his Fanfare and ballet La Peri plus his greatest hit, L'Apprenti Sorcier. Jordan's La Peri is more opulently sensual and overtly sexual than most while his L'Apprenti is more drolly witty and dryly comical than most.