ブラームス交響曲全集

グラミー受賞指揮者ネゼ=セガンとCOEによる4つ目の交響曲全集はブラームス CD3枚組

メトロポリタン歌劇場音楽監督、フィラデルフィア管弦楽団音楽監督という重責を担い、着実にキャリアを重ねている指揮者ヤニック・ネゼ=セガン。その彼が名誉団員を務めるヨーロッパ室内管弦楽団とは、これまでにモーツァルトの主要オペラの他に、シューマン、メンデルスゾーン、ベートーヴェンの3つの交響曲全集をリリースしています。そこに今回2022/23年録音のブラームス交響曲全集が登場します。

ブラームスが10年にわたり夏を過ごした家があり、交響曲第2番を完成させたリヒテンタール地区は、クララの別荘があったバーデン=バーデン近郊。2022年と2023年、バーデン=バーデン夏の音楽祭で行われたネゼ=セガンとヨーロッパ室内管弦楽団によるブラームスの交響曲全曲演奏は聴衆を熱狂させました。この録音は、その音楽祭期間中に収録されました。
ユニバーサル・ミュージック/IMS

There is no denying the connection that has developed between the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and conductor Yannick Nezet-Seguin. It is a relationship that has grown since 2008 and has strengthened as the conductors career has matured into international stardom. Among their previous ventures are a Mozart opera project that began in 2012 and a Beethoven Symphony cycle. Here, Nezet-Seguin and the orchestra tackle the four symphonies penned by Brahms, and the smaller chamber orchestra dimensions are immediately noticeable. Such is the talent of the musicians who make up the Chamber Orchestra of Europe that while they are considerably fewer in numbers in the strings, they can still achieve the relative heft when called for in the scores. What listeners receive with these smaller dimensions are opportunities to immerse themselves into the voice-leading and harmonic structure that can be somewhat swallowed in much larger orchestral settings. Consider the second movement Adagio non troppo - Listesso tempo, ma grazioso of the Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73, to hear the balance within the orchestra in this gorgeous music. While a chamber orchestra playing these works is not breaking any ground, orchestral wind and low string players might choose to seek this recording out as those roles are accentuated and receive top-quality readings. An emphasis for this recording is on the German town of Baden-Baden and its Festspielhaus, where these recordings were made. A notable location as it is where Brahms spent his summers for a while and completed several major works, including the first two symphonies. The Festspielhaus is also home to the summer festival La Capitale dEte, of which Nezet-Seguin has been the artistic director since 2022. The sound from the hall is pristine, and the Deutsche Grammophon engineers did an exemplary job capturing it. ~ Keith Finke