ケヴィン・プッツ: 歌劇「めぐりあう時間たち」

ピューリッツァー賞に輝く名作の映画化を
下敷きにしたまったく新しいオペラ。
2022年のMETの舞台での世界初演ライヴ録音!

ヴァージニア・ウルフをモティーフに書かれたベストセラー小説を『リトル・ダンサー』のスティーヴン・ダルドリー監督がニコール・キッドマン、ジュリアン・ムーア、メリル・ストリープという豪華競演陣で完全映画化した2002年公開の文芸大河ロマン映画「めぐりあう時間たち」。この映画版での音楽はフィリップ・グラスが担当でした。
2022年にMETは、ピューリッツァー賞を受賞した作曲家ケヴィン・プッツに依頼し、名作の映画化を下敷きにしたまったく新しいオペラを作り上げました。人気作家、主婦、ジャーナリスト…3つの時代に生きる3人の女性の人生を変えた1日の物語を、この初演ではR・フレミング、K・オハラ、J・ディドナートの三大歌姫とタッグを組んでいます。3つの女声が絡む三重唱は、オペラならではの魅惑。本作に情熱を注ぐMET音楽監督Y・ネゼ=ゼガンらが紡ぐ心打つ時間をお楽しみください。
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ワーナーミュージック・ジャパン

Kevin Puts opera The Hours is an adaptation of both Michael Cunninghams Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and the subsequent film. Much like the film version, which starred Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, and Nicole Kidman, the operas debut, as heard here from a live performance during its initial run at the Metropolitan Opera, received similar treatment. The featured trio, Joyce DiDonato as Virginia Woolf, Kelli OHara as Laura Brown, and in her return to the opera house for the first time in five seasons, Renee Fleming as Clarissa Vaughan, are all in wonderful voice, and there is no lack of conviction as they convey the struggles of their characters. The entire cast is stacked with notable Met veterans such as Denyce Graves and Kathleen Kim. Most of the audience coming to this work will likely know the tragic and difficult nature of the story, and Puts proves himself adept at heightening the inherent emotions. He does add moments of musical levity every so often (see Clarissas fantasy romance with the florist Barbara, as Kim displays her coloratura with spritely musical quotations of Mozart and Offenbach). The tension brewing in the three womens lives comes to a tumultuous climax at the end of the first act; one can imagine holding that throughout the intermission, but thankfully, listeners here will have a quicker release, at least musically, since we are met directly by the strain of Lauras contemplation of suicide. The second act duet, "Did it matter then, she asked herself," between DiDonato and OHara, is beautifully written and performed; the pair -- in their different decades but similar mental spaces -- deliver heart-wrenchingly powerful performances. Puts deliberate musical choices for each characters timeframe are cleverly done and are perhaps the strongest in the metropolitan sound of late 20th century New York. These choices put a lot on the orchestras plate, and few are better at present than Met music director Yannick Nezet-Seguin to lead the venerable Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. The finale, "All Along," brings the lead trio together in a transcendent time where they are aware of each other through their interwoven stories, delivering the timeless message that "you are not alone," which will likely resonate with audiences of any time or place. ~ Keith Finke