サミュエル・コールリッジ=テイラー: 管弦楽作品集 (生誕150周年記念)

生誕150周年記念リリース、コールリッジ=テイラーの管弦楽作品集!

本作はサミュエル・コールリッジ=テイラー(1875-1912)の生誕150周年を記念し、長らく未演奏だった作品や、今回が世界初録音となる作品を収めた貴重な1枚です。黒人解放の象徴であるハイチの革命家トゥーサン・ルーヴェルチュールに捧げられた同名の演奏会用序曲をはじめ、彼自身の楽器であるヴァイオリンのための情熱的な《バラード》、そして黒人霊歌やアフリカの民謡に基づく《24の黒人のメロディ》(原曲はピアノ)からの3つの編曲と、作曲家自身による管弦楽組曲版が収録されています。指揮はグラミー賞受賞のマイケル・レッパー、ソロと編曲にカーティス・スチュワートが参加。Avie Recordsは、2004年にコールリッジ=テイラーの《ヴァイオリン協奏曲》を世界初録音として発表するなど、彼の作品の再評価において先駆的な役割を果たしてきました。本アルバムもまた、そのレガシーを保存し広めるという使命を継承するものです。
東京エムプラス

As the music of the African-British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor becomes more widely programmed, recordings like this one, marking the 150th anniversary of the birth of Coleridge-Taylor in 1875, are most welcome. None of the music here is played often, and although it is not claimed as such, the tone poem Toussaint LOuverture (1901) is apparently a world premiere. Conductor Michael Repper and the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington, D.C., lead off with this work, which one may find, depending on preferences, the weakest piece on the album, with its Sullivan-esque cheer applied to the Haitian revolutionary leader. However, things improve rapidly from there. The Ballade in D minor for violin and orchestra, Op. 4, written for Coleridge-Taylors own use, is an over-the-top attempt to merge the virtuoso tradition with his own moods. It is not deeply African or African American flavored -- that would come later -- but it has true youthful exuberance nicely captured nicely by violinist Curtis Stewart. Best of all are the selections from the 24 Negro Melodies, which were popular in Coleridge-Taylors own time and appeared in multiple arrangements. The three here for violin and orchestra are arranged by Stewart; the arrangements in the Suite from 24 Negro Melodies are by Coleridge-Taylor himself. Some of the pieces, fantasies on familiar African American spirituals, are appealing in themselves, but what is most interesting is that Coleridge-Taylor, although influenced by African American thought, was British, not African American; the sources are African and Caribbean as well, and there is a strong sense of hearing the composer wrestling with finding the common strand among the tunes. This isnt exactly "standard" Coleridge-Taylor, if there is such a thing, but it offers great insight into the work of a composer who is just beginning to be understood. ~ James Manheim