錬金術師ラヴェル

ラヴェル直系のエッセール
弾き振りで協奏曲を録音!

巨匠ジャン=フランソワ・エッセールが弾き振りによるラヴェルを録音しました。エッセールは、ラヴェルに直接教えを受けたヴラド・ペルルミュテールの弟子であり、エレガンスと情感に満ちたラヴェルの系譜の継承者といえます。ヌーヴェル=アキテーヌ管弦楽団(OCNA)の団員たちの見事なアンサンブルとサポートを得ながら実現した弾き振りの協奏曲は、ラヴェルにとって大切だったモーツァルトの伝統を蘇らせたといえるでしょう。
MIRARE

LAlchimiste ("The Alchemist") is the subtitle of this album, referring to Ravels tendency to remake his own piano works for orchestra. None of these orchestral works is uncommon by itself, but putting them together like this is a fresh idea from pianist Jean-Francois Heisser, performing and conducting the Orchestre de Chamber Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Each of the transcriptions has a slightly different flavor, with Le Tombeau de Couperin undergoing the greatest change; the work, while still based in the Baroque, loses much of its direct connection and becomes part of 20th century neoclassicism. The Piano Concerto in G major, which opens the album, isnt really part of the overall concept; Heisser includes it because he wanted to have Ravel works from four different decades, but it comes from different sources, with an ingenious juxtaposition of jazz and blues with Basque folk music. There are many other performances that get the jazz element better, but overall, there is a certain clean, restrained element to these regional performances, something that is perhaps French specifically, and the sound from the Theatre Auditorium de Poitiers is perhaps typical of what Ravels works would have encountered as they spread across France. Perhaps especially for the Ravel fan, this is an elegant little release. ~ James Manheim