ラロ: スペイン交響曲、サン=サーンス: ヴァイオリン協奏曲第3番 他

前作のシベリウスのヴァイオリン作品全集(CHSA5267)がガーディアン誌ほか各誌で絶賛されたジェイムズ・エーネス。今作ではスペインの指揮者ファンホ・メナ率いるBBCフィルハーモニックを従えて、サラサーテにまつわる3つの作品を演奏。スペイン生まれのサラサーテは、幼少期にパリ音楽院で学び、その後の一生をパリで過ごしました。多くの作曲家が彼に協奏曲を献呈、このアルバムに収録されたラロの「スペイン交響曲」とやサン=サーンスの第3ヴァイオリン協奏曲もサラサーテのために書かれた作品です。加えてサラサーテ自作の「カルメン幻想曲」も収録。どれもソリストの技巧の見せ場がふんだんに用意された華麗な曲で、エーネスは旋律を情熱的に歌い上げており、とりわけ「カルメン幻想曲」では様々な奏法を駆使した躍動的な演奏が楽しめます。
ナクソス・ジャパン

James Ehnes is one of the busiest violinists in the business, and one may be astonished not only by how much he accomplishes but also by how well. Here, with the BBC Philharmonic and conductor Juanjo Mena, he offers three violin-and-orchestra works that are familiar enough today and would have been absolute warhorses a century ago. The works are certainly related; both Lalos Symphonie Espagnole, Op. 21, and Saint-Saens Violin Concerto No. 3 in B minor were dedicated to the author of the third work, Pablo de Sarasate, and all three require a lot of unflagging precision from the soloist. This is effortlessly provided by Ehnes. However, the Lalo and the Saint-Saens demand entirely different things from the violinist. Ehnes imbues the Saint-Saens with the clean, Mozartian spirit that the composer assigned to it, while the melodic lushness and Spanish rhythms of the Lalo come through in full. If one could ask for one thing more from this album, it might be more Spanish flair in the Carmen Concert Fantasy, Op. 25, of Sarasate himself, but this is likely to be a matter of taste; Sarasate was writing for concert-hall audiences that might have preferred it this way. A thoroughly satisfying violin release in the classic mode, this album made classical best-seller lists in early 2025. ~ James Manheim