ウィントン・マルサリス: ブルース・シンフォニー

ブルースのパワーを讃えるシンフォニックな凱歌
世界的トランペッター、マルサリスのブルース・シンフォニーを
ビニャミーニ率いるデトロイト交響楽団が録音

ヤデル・ビニャミーニ率いるデトロイト交響楽団の新譜はトランペッター / コンポーザーのウィントン・マルサリス(1961-)が作曲した大作『ブルース・シンフォニー』です。

ビニャミーニは2010年にシャイーよりミラノ・ジュゼッペ・ヴェルディ交響楽団のアシスタント・コンダクターに指名され、その後レジデント・コンダクターとして研鑽を積み指揮活動を開始しました。2015年にはミラノ・スカラ座フィルにコンサート・デビューを果たし、以後積極的な演奏活動を展開しております。

7楽章からなる『ブルース・シンフォニー』はブルースとアメリカ音楽がもつあらゆる側面をあらわしており、ラグタイムからハバネラまでさまざまな表情をみせます。聴く者をアメリカの革命時代、ニューオリンズにおけるジャズの黎明期、そして大都会のサウンドスケープを巡る音の旅へと誘います。ビニャミーニがデトロイト交響楽団を振ったはじめての録音であることも注目に値します。
PENTATONE

This 2025 release has been awaited with a good deal of anticipation for several reasons, one being that it marks the reemergence of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra after some years of recording silence. It is the groups first recording on the prestigious Pentatone label, with its new conductor, Jader Bignamini, announced with great fanfare in early 2020 but then silenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. The repertory chosen, the Blues Symphony of Wynton Marsalis, may seem bold, especially for a foreign conductor, but the work has had a troubled history since it was completed in 2009; Marsalis, to his credit, doggedly stuck with it and worked closely with the conductor and musicians on the performances here. The work shows clearly. It is quite an ingenious piece, but it needs the full forward progress of jazz rhythm to make it come off, and it gets that here from Bignamini and the DSO. The symphonys structure is unique. Marsalis pairs blues progressions with rhythms that, in some cases, didnt even exist when the music originated; the opening "Born in Hope" movement has overtones of colonial American music. The sequence is more or less chronological, proceeding from that through ragtime and forward to more progressive jazz. The blues are always present, suggesting the foundational role of African American experiences in the growth of the country. This is a tricky concept to pull off as a whole, and Marsalis solutions to the technical problems it presents are elegant and ingenious. Pentatone is known for its engineering, and its staff adjusted well to the rather plush environs of Detroits Orchestra Hall (Detroiters may have mixed feelings seeing the Paradise Theater in the graphics, for this was one incarnation of the current hall.) In general, this is a fascinating release that promises much for this venerable American orchestra and its new conductor. ~ James Manheim