ドビュッシー: 牧神の午後への前奏曲&ソナタ集＜限定盤＞

イギリスのヴィルトゥオーソ集団「ナッシュ・アンサンブル」は2025年に結成から60周年を迎え、これを記念してハイペリオンから発売されたのがこのドビュッシーのソナタ集と『牧神の午後への前奏曲』です。オリジナル・リリースは、イギリスの「スペシャリスト・クラシック・チャート」で第1位を獲得しました。「ナッシュ・アンサンブルの音楽家たちであれば、彼らがどんなレパートリーを演奏しても決して失敗することはないと、この60年間が私たちに語り続けている」(『ザ・タイムズ』紙)。
※180g重量盤、Gatefold仕様
ユニバーサル・ミュージック/IMS

This release by the durable Nash Ensemble, marking the groups 60th anniversary (with the same artistic director the whole time), opens with an arrangement of the Prelude a lapres-midi dun faune for wind quintet, string quartet, double bass, harp and crotales. One might reasonably ask what is the point of arranging a work whose whole point is its delicate treatment of the orchestra, but give this version by David Walter a try. Many of the works most familiar features are retained. That is the only work on the album on which the entire large Nash Ensemble group appears. The center of the program is the group of three instrumental sonatas by Debussy, one for violin and piano, one for cello and piano, and one for the exquisite combination of flute, viola, and harp. The albums sound, from the All Saints Church in East Finchley, London, may be a bit over-resonant for works that are not religious music, but one can hear what the engineers were going for in this sonata; the incredible range of sounds that issue from the three instruments, including the booming, twanging harp, come through in full color. These three sonatas have a rather severe neoclassical language that has impeded their popularity, but the Nash players set a deliberate and sensuous sound against that, with lovely results. In Debussys sole string quartet, they have more competition, and there is less that is distinctive in their playing. However, for the late sonatas, and perhaps for the Prelude a lapres-midi dune Faune (which is really a matter of taste), this is a highly desirable release; it made classical best-seller lists in early 2025. ~ James Manheim