ヴィヴァルディ: 四季

史上最年少で録音した『四季』、衝撃のデビュー・アルバム

中国系オーストラリア人ヴァイオリニスト、クリスチャン・リはクラシックの超有名曲の一つ、ヴィヴァルディの『四季』を史上最年少で録音しました。わずか13歳でメルボルン・シンフォニー・オーケストラのメンバーによる室内アンサンブルを弾き振りした衝撃のデビュー・アルバムです。2018年のメニューイン国際コンクールでは10歳で史上最年少優勝を果たし、その時の『夏』の演奏で一気に国際的スターダムに上り詰めました。
クリスチャン・リはすでにユーチューブでも大人気です。
ユニバーサル・ミュージック/IMS

Born in 2007 in Melbourne, Christian Li is said to be the youngest person ever to record Vivaldis Four Seasons violin concertos. Lis performance is a bit of a mixed bag, but it has the virtue of being entirely his own; there is nothing of the mechanical prodigy here. Its essentially a reading in the old symphony orchestra style, with few concessions to the historical performance movement. Li offers big, dramatized realizations of Vivaldis seasonal effects and some rather garish sforzandos, but he leads the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra himself (his control of the group is excellent in what must have been highly unfamiliar terrain), and he has a Baroque-style continuo that is allowed improvisatory room; there seems to be both a harpsichord and a lute. Li is brilliant in Vivaldis storm passages, but where he really shines is in the four encores. These include a folk-flavored piece by composer Li Zili, the whiz-bang La Ronde des Lutins of Antonio Bazzini, a suitably singing arrangement of the Meditation from Massenets Thais, and, best of all, the Tambourin Chinois, Op. 3, of Fritz Kreisler, which sounds for all the world as though it was written expressly for Li. The virtuoso passages on the album have real flair, but perhaps the most promising thing here is the evidence of a strong creative spirit. Li is definitely a youngster to watch.