Pilgrimage 「巡礼」

完璧な技巧ディミトロ・チョニ
時空を超えた旅

ドミトロ・チョニは1993年ウクライナ・キーウ生まれ。2022年第16回ヴァン・クライバーン国際ピアノコンクールで銅賞に輝き、世界の注目を集めました。非の打ちどころのないピアニズム、驚異的なテクニック、明確な意思を持った音楽づくりの注目すべきピアニストです。2023年にヴァイオリンのF.P.ツィンマーマンと世界でツアーを行い、現在レコーディングも進行しているなど、着実に音楽活動を深め重ねています。

このたびの彼のリリースは「pilgrimage(巡礼)」と題し、時空を超えた旅を描いています。同郷のシルヴェストロフの最初の作品は穏やかなバガテル。リストの作品では、チョニ自身がメフィストフェレスのように変身し、恐ろしい闇へと聴き手を引きずり込みます。ドビュッシー作品では、オリエントと古代ギリシャの世界へと飛びます。リーバーマンの《ガーゴイル》(大聖堂の石づくりの像のようなもの)ではパーカッシブな表現で険しい表情の石像の悪魔像などに出会います。最後にふたたびシルヴェストロフの穏やかな作品にもどり、変化に満ちた旅は終わりを迎えます。チョニは、実に生き生きとした、芯を突く指先で、時空と天地を超えた旅路を魔術師のように描いています。
NAIVE

This is the second album by pianist Dmytro Choni, and its quite bold in its programming; even his first one, released on Naxos in 2020, featured Gyorgy Ligeti and Alberto Ginastera, and this one, on the major Naive label, offers a composer, Valentyn Silvestrov, from the Ukrainian sphere, and another, Lowell Liebermann, from the U.S. Chonis title is borrowed from Liszts Annees de Pelerinage, a selection from which, Italie, is included on the program. Liszt might have approved of Chonis program concept, which depicts opposing spheres of Hell and Paradise; one cant have one, Choni points out in the interview-style booklet, without the other. The Paradise sector is represented by works of Silvestrov and by Lisle joyeuse of Debussy, a composer who is one of Chonis specialties. This all works well, and the concept has a certain grand Romantic appeal that is welcome in an age of tamped-down classical concerts and recordings. But the best aspect here is the boldness of Chonis program as a whole. Neither Silvestrov nor Liebermann is exactly unknown, and Liebermanns Gargoyles, Op. 29, depicting exactly what the title says, is his most frequently performed piece. But the two composers are at the albums center; thats an unusual move for a major-label debut, and it works well, as well as any other attempt to incorporate contemporary music into the programming mainstream. Give a sampling to the Liebermann, a composer who has merged Lisztian technique with contemporary methods in an unusually effective way. A satisfying and promising sophomore release. ~ James Manheim