MASABANE

南アフリカの注目ソプラノ
マサバネ・セシリアのデビュー・アルバム!

その卓越したパフォーマンス、超越的なソプラノ・ヴォイスで知られ、世界中で絶賛されている南アフリカ出身のソプラノ歌手、マサバネ・セシリア(マサバネ・セシリア・ラングワナシャ)の華々しきデビュー・アルバムが、次代を担う才能あふれる若きアーティストたちのための"クリエイティヴ・ホーム" 「Rubicon」からリリース。
2021年のBBCカーディフ国際声楽コンクールで歌曲賞を受賞し、BBC新世代アーティストに選ばれ、2024年にはヘルベルト・フォン・カラヤン賞を受賞するなど目覚ましい活躍を続け、世界の主要なオーケストラ、オペラハウス、指揮者から引く手あまたの活動をしています。

このデビュー・アルバムでは、故郷南アフリカの有名な子守唄やゴスペル、スピリチュアル(霊歌)、リートやシャンソン、そしてオペラ・アリアとポピュラーなミュージカル・ナンバーまで、マサバネ・セシリアの多彩で素晴らしき才能とレパートリーを披露するユニークなプログラムをお届けします。
東京エムプラス

Soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha gained quite a bit of attention for her appearance in Mendelssohns Elijah, Op. 70, with the London Symphony Orchestra, which appeared on the orchestras own label in 2024 and is well worth checking out. Masabane Cecilia, her solo debut album, appeared the following spring and landed on classical best-seller charts. One draw is Rangwanashas ear for languages, of which the program contains no fewer than eight: French, German, Czech, Italian, a couple of tricky varieties of American English, Afrikaans (interesting in itself), Xhosa, and Zulu. (Notably, there are none in her native language of Northern Sotho.) A Czech-in with a native Czech speaker on the "Song of the Moon" from Dvořaks Rusalka brought the pronouncement that she "nailed it for a foreigner," and one might say the same for the notoriously-difficult-for-foreigners Summertime, from Gershwins Porgy and Bess. In general, the accomplishment is solid. Even better is the way the South African material is integrated into the program; the general tendency with singers from unusual ethnic backgrounds is to tack on a native track or two to a concert or recording, but it is not so here as the program flows naturally from Africa to Europe and back. Listeners from outside South Africa will get to know composers like Stephanus le Roux Marais and Benjamin John Peter Tyamzashe, the latter "now widely regarded as the national composer of the Xhosa language," of whom they may barely have been aware previously. Best of all is Rangwanashas commitment to text and articulation, which brings a freshness to standards like Schuberts Gretchen am Spinnrade. South Africa has provided a stream of aspiring young singers lately, but this one seems especially promising, and one very much hopes to see her in opera soon. ~ James Manheim