【貴婦人の余芸をはるかに超えた充実度!見過ごしがたいロココ期ドイツ宮廷音楽】
プロイセン皇太子フリードリヒ(のちのフリードリヒ大王)の姉で、1731年に南ドイツのバイロイト辺境伯の妃として迎えられたヴィルヘルミーネ・フォン・プロイセン。生涯を通じ書簡を交わしあった弟と同じく音楽に情熱を傾け、自身チェンバロとリュートを巧みに演奏したばかりか作曲でも本職顔負けの成果をみせた彼女の作として知られる曲の数々が、スウェーデンとデンマークの古楽器奏者たちの集うカメラータ・オーレスンの充実解釈で味わえます。古楽器演奏が今ほど盛んでなかった20世紀から折に触れ注目され、現代楽器での録音もある辺境伯妃ヴィルヘルミーネの作品は近年なお研究が進み、一部はベルリンやバイロイトで彼女に仕えた専業作曲家の作であったことも明らかになっており、本盤収録作の幾つかもその例にもれませんが、そうした同時代の専門家たちの作と並べても全く遜色ない作曲手腕に驚かされます。弟フリードリヒに仕えたC.P.E.バッハやグラウン兄弟の多感主義にも通じる短調の魅力とロココ的典雅が交錯する中、各楽器のソロも鮮やかで効果的。リート歌手としても活躍するヨゼフィーネ・アンデション含め、演奏陣が総じて曲の隅々まで深く読み解き、メリハリある演奏解釈に結実させている点も頼もしいところです。巻末にはヴィルヘルミーネがベルリン時代に共演したロカテッリの初期協奏曲も収録。
ナクソス・ジャパン
発売・販売元 提供資料(2025/05/16)
Margravine Wilhelmine von Bayreuth, to use the cumbersome English terminology, was a supporter of the arts who established Bayreuth as an operatic center, a status it retains today. She was also a composer who persisted in that activity despite familial abuse. Her music has been obscure until now, and all of her pieces on this album, except for the Flute Sonata in A minor, are apparently receiving their world premieres. The rediscovery of a female composer attracted buyers and listeners to this album, which made classical best-seller charts in the summer of 2025. And lo, her music is highly worthwhile. The strongest piece is the Harpsichord Concerto in G minor, which may have been written by Johann Gotthilf Janichen (the physical album is recommended here for explanations), but Wilhelmines Flute Sonata in A minor and the excerpts from the opera Argenore (this one, with its dark themes, makes one want to hear or see a production of the whole thing pronto) arent far behind. Wilhelmines concertos and sonatas are in the vein of Pietro Locatelli, whom Wilhelmine accompanied on harpsichord during his visit to Berlin; they are colorful and virtuosic, demanding a good deal from the ensemble as well as the soloist. Also included are Locatellis Concerto Grosso in G minor, Op. 1, No. 12; an oboe-and-orchestra Suite by Johann Pfeiffer, who was Wilhelmines teacher; and a lute concerto by his assistant, Bernhard Joachim Hagen. All of it is fine and almost completely obscure German Baroque music. The only real complaint is murky church sound that drains the soul from this warm, festive repertory and almost completely swallows up the solo harpsichord and lute. On balance, however, this is an album that may rewrite the Baroque repertory a bit. ~ James Manheim
Rovi