ディーリアス: 人生のミサ

ベルゲン・フィルの首席客演指揮者に就任したマーク・エルダーの初レコーディング!

2022年9月、グリーグが芸術監督を務めていたことでも知られるノルウェーの歴史ある名門オーケストラ、ベルゲン・フィルハーモニー管弦楽団の首席客演指揮者にイギリス出身のサー・マーク・エルダーが就任。就任後すぐに行われた最初のレコーディングにエルダーが選んだのは、ニーチェの「ツァラトゥストラ」のテキストを用いて作曲され、演奏機会は多くないもののディーリアスの傑作の一つとされる「人生のミサ」。ディーリアスはノルウェーと非常に深い関係を持っており、グリーグと親交を持っていたほか、詩人としてのニーチェの精神に強く同調していたディーリアスにとって人生のもっとも重要な出会いの一つとなった「ツァラトゥストラ」のテキストを初めて読んだのもノルウェーにおいてでした。エルダーが「彼はすばらしく独創的でしたが、その際立った特質となっているのは、彼の和声の動きが持つ性質です」と分析し高く評価するディーリアスの90分にも及ぶ大作でエルダー×ベルゲン・フィルの関係が素晴らしいスタートを切ったことを証明します。ロデリック・ウィリアムズをはじめ豪華な歌手陣の参加も注目すべきポイントです。
東京エムプラス

The most popular works by Frederick Delius, like Summer Night on the River and On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring are orchestral tone poems with a British tinge, seeming to offer a British counterpart to Debussys Impressionism. Eine Messe des Lebens ("A Mass of Life") has little that is British about it at all unless it be a general commonality of mood with the vast spectaculars written for Englands choral festivals. This work has had its champions, including Sir Thomas Beecham, but it has rarely been performed or recorded. The fact that it is in German is one impediment; the work sets texts from Friedrich Nietzsches Also sprach Zarathustra. Many readers of the day put a grandiose spin on that work; nowadays, it is seen more as lyrical and poetic. The Richard Strauss tone poem based on Also sprach Zarathustra reflects the former view, and so does the Delius work, although it has some almost static mystical passages. There are influences from English choral music, from Wagner, perhaps from Grieg. The work requires a double chorus and a large orchestra; this live performance from Bergen in 2022, with the Bergen Philharmonic, four soloists, and one Norwegian and one English chorus, must have been a logistical challenge. Eine Messe des Lebens (which is in no sense a mass) is something of a beast, but conductor Mark Elder makes a strong case for it. His handling of the large forces is lucid and moves clearly toward goal points, and he balances the choruses, soloists (the principal being baritone Roderick Williams, in fine form), and orchestra well; perhaps the prize should go to the LAWO Classics engineers who kept all these layers clear in a live concert situation. This recording may or may not rescue Eine Messe des Lebens from obscurity, but those interested in Delius, and for that matter in Nietzsche and his reception, should definitely hear it. ~ James Manheim