エステルハージ宮殿ライヴ - ハイドン&シューベルト＜限定盤＞

ハイドンゆかりの場所からの感動のライヴ録音&収録。
《グリゴリー・ソコロフ～エステルハージ宮殿ライヴ/ハイドン&シューベルト》

現在最も注目すべきピアニストの一人、グリゴリー・ソコロフがハイドンとシューベルトの曲をアイゼンシュタットのエステルハージ宮殿で演奏したコンサートをライヴ録音したアルバムです。アイゼンシュタットはウィーンとハンガリー国境の中間に位置する都市です。ハイドンはエステルハージ家の楽長として30年以上務め、その間に多くの交響曲、合唱曲、弦楽四重奏曲、そして特に60曲以上あるソナタのほとんどをこの地で作曲しました。

アルバムではソコロフが、ハイドンのソナタ3曲、シューベルトの即興曲D935とアンコール集を、ハイドン自身も数えきれないほど演奏していたであろう劇的なホールで弾いています。

180g重量盤LP3枚組。
ユニバーサル・ミュージック/IMS

In a way, pianist Grigory Sokolov might be compared with Glenn Gould: in his performances, there is a very strong personality that is superimposed on the music, but when it came to the relationship between the concert stage and the recording studio, Sokolov went in a direction opposite to Goulds; he has prized live performance and records rarely. When he does, he offers live recordings like this one, made at Haydns Esterhazy Castle in 2018. Three Haydn sonatas open the program, and theres undeniably an attraction in hearing them performed at their birthplace. Sokolov is a prime example of the kind of artist listeners will either love or hate, and a bit of sampling will help them determine the camp into which they fall. The program has an arc not necessarily related to the music involved. He plays the Haydn sonatas in a precise and detailed but rather flat way, catching subtle features of register and motivic structure. Consider the repeated tonic notes of the finale of the Piano Sonata in B minor, Hob. 16/32, which pianists tend to give a Beethovenian percussiveness; Sokolov keeps the temperature low here. The Schubert Impromptus of Op. 142, at first, seem to flow from the Haydn but broaden lyrically as they proceed. Everywhere, Sokolovs control is total, even when he loosens up in the six encores included (one of which is a waltz by the fascinating Russian figure Alexander Griboyedov). These suggest the depth of Sokolovs fandom and that listeners should check him out, yea or nay. Deutsche Grammophons sound in the big Esterhaza spaces is quite good; there is a certain low level of noise, but no detail is lost. ~ James Manheim