ミラージュ ～ フランス歌曲の芸術

ロデリック・ウィリアムズが歌うフランス歌曲集!

2016年ロイヤル・フィルハーモニック協会賞を受賞、リーズ・リーダー音楽祭2016の芸術監督も務め、日本ではバッハ・コレギウム・ジャパンとの定期的な共演でも知られるイギリスの名バリトン、ロデリック・ウィリアムズ。Chandosレーベルに録音した3巻からなるシューベルトの歌曲集でも英グラモフォン誌「エディターズ・チョイス」、英Presto Classical「エディターズ・チョイス」&「レコーディング・オヴ・ザ・イヤー・ファイナリスト」に選ばれるなど常に高い評価を得る彼がロジャー・ヴィニョールズとの共演でChamps Hill Recordsからは2017年以来となるリリースで歌うのはフランスの名作曲家たちによる歌曲集。自由にプログラムを組ませてもらえたというウィリアムズは、夜の歌のリサイタルのような形になればと思い選曲したといいます。自作「愛の闇」が収録されているところもポイントです。
東京エムプラス

This superb recording by baritone Roderick Williams and accompanist Roger Vignoles had its roots in a live recital, and Williams indicates that its program was intended to "resemble an evenings song recital, in which the first half begins gently, grows into something more voluptuous before finishing with a flourish, a riotous drinking song to lead to the interval; the second begins with the slightly challenging contemporary piece before the reward of some real fun, and the whole evening ends with hilarity, mischief and bravura." This enterprise is entirely successful, and it points to the appeal of the whole, which lies in the programs variety. Williams avoids the trip of monotonous melancholy that afflicts many a French song recital, and he brings quite a few pieces that are not often heard outside France. The gentle beginning is a late Faure song cycle, and its followed by the much less common Andre Caplet, whose long, luxuriant melodic lines contrast sharply with the Faure. Next comes one of two witty, ironic cycles by Arthur Honegger, hardly common on recitals of melodies but great fun. It is Ravel who closes out the first half, with his swan song Don Quichotte a Dulcinee, and then comes another surprise, a set of songs by Williams himself, surely one of the few art song performers who writes his own material (this group of Verlaine settings was written in 1995 for the baritone Henry Wickham). The songs are in French and fit the flow of things perfectly. Things lighten up with the second Honegger group, some lively Poulenc pairs, and finally Debussys familiar, ethereal Beau soir. Williams is absolutely in top form, capturing all the shades of this remarkable program, and he and Vignoles get excellent engineering support in the Champs Hill Music Room. This is a compelling French song recital in every way.