セゴビアの芸術

DG has put together a fascinating compilation of Segovia's art that reminds us what a protean figure he was. Segovia single-handedly put the instrument on the map by making classical guitar concerts popular events, broadening the instrument's repertory through commissions and transcriptions, and convincing even doubters that it could be a vehicle for serious music. He's heard here in brief pieces recorded between 1952 and 1969. Even in those made when he was well into his 70s, his fingers remain nimble and interpretations lively. Listening straight through, one hears many all-time Segovia favorites as Turina's Sevillana and Albeniz's Asturias and Zambra Granadina and renews appreciation for path-breaking composers like Castelnuovo-Tedesco. He wrote extensively for Segovia and his Capriccio diabolico and Tonadilla are pieces of real substance. Disc two is largely made up transcriptions and it's amazing how well so many of them work on the guitar, at least under Segovia's magic fingers. Thus the transformations of Bach's violin music and even a Chopin Prelude sound idiomatic, and the gorgeous melodies of the Canzonetta from Mendelssohn's Op. 12 String Quartet are irresistible here. An entrancing set. --Dan Davis

   繊細で美しい音色、息詰まる緊張感、あふれる情感。現代を代表するバイオリニスト、ギドン・クレーメルの奏でるピアソラは限りなく美しく、せつない。思い起こせば今日のピアソラ・ブームの火付け役となったのが、クレーメルが1996年に発表したアルバム『ピアソラへのオマージュ』だった。パリで見たピアソラとミルヴァとのステージに触発されて以来、その音楽に魅せられてしまったクレーメル。
   その第3弾となる本作では、『天使のミロンガ』に続き、クレーメルが主宰するバルト3国出身の若手演奏家を集めて結成されたクレメラータ・バルティカとの共演。おしゃれでアヴァンギャルドなクレーメルのピアソラを聴かせてくれる。
   タンゴの革命家への一途な愛と尊敬が伝わってくる、熱くスタイリッシュな1枚。