Chicago Symphonyで指揮者キャンセルを救ったCapucon

Chicago Symphonyは，期待の新音楽監督 Muti がシーズン開幕公演をキャンセルして，その時は Vaiolinist, Anne-Sophie Mutter の弾き振りで助けられたのですが，新年早々，今度はやっと決まった期待のPhiladelphia Orchestraの音楽監督予定者，Yannick Nezet-Seguin の登場で期待されたコンサートが，直前になって，最近にわかに多忙になったSeguin がLondon 公演に支障が生ずる心配があって，Chicago を理由も告げずにキャンセルしたそうです．

かねてSeguin の品定めを予定していた The New York Times のMusic Critic が強引にPhiladelphia Orchestra に理由を問いただした結果，時間がなくなったから，という回答だったといいます．しかし，London 公演は19日からの予定だったのです．

慌てた Chicago Symphony の奔走でやっと見つかった指揮者，スペインのthe middling Basque conductor Juanjo Mena （来シーズンからBBC Symphony of Wales のPrincipal Conductor 就任予定）が，Programは予定通りで引き受けてくれ，Vaiolin Solist, Renaud Capucon も debut concert をMena の指揮で予定通りやることを快諾してくれて，注目度が高くってチケットが売り切れていたコンサートがやっと成立したのだそうです．

Program は， 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Ravel’s orchestral version of his “Valses nobles et sentimentales” 　　　　　　　　Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s D Major Violin Concerto　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　＆Tchaikovsky’s much-played Symphony No. 6, “Pathetique　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　だったようです．　

それが，なんといっても，Chicago debut になった Renaud Capucon が， his former teacher Isaac Stern の使っていた楽器， 1737 Guarneri del Gesu をスイス銀行の好意で貸与されていて，その名器を駆使してたいへんな名演奏を聴かせたことで，1月13日の演奏会は大成功に終わったそうです．Playing Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s 1945 D Major Violin Concerto, premiered and popularized by Jascha Heifetz and revived in our day by Gil Shaham, he brought a refined sensibility to a melody-rich work drawn from popular film scores by the Viennese refugee composer. This is a work one doesn’t need to hear more than once a decade or so, but Capucon is the man to hear it from.

アンコールにはFritz Kreisler’s transcription of the “Melodie” from Gluck’s “Orfeo ed Euridice.” がえんそうされたそうです．

それにしても，この音楽評が，Ravel’s orchestral version of his “Valses nobles et sentimentales” benefits greatly from the control of a Pierre Boulez, and Tchaikovsky’s much-played Symphony No. 6, “Pathetique,” is aided by the depth of a Barenboim or Muti. It’s no insult to Mena to say that he is not on the level of these three megastars, but he did not crash or burn Thursday.　と書いているのは．この時期にあえて代役を引き受けてくれた Juanjo Mena にいかにも失礼な話だと思います．ここでは Renaud Capucon だけがdebut を飾って，Mena の指揮debut は軽視されてしまったようです．

 

 

French violinist rescues CSO program

BY ANDREW PATNER 　　Jan 15, 2011 02:37AM

 

Classical music, like any other form of art and entertainment, has its stars and stars in the making. Charismatic conductors and soloists sell tickets and can produce a genuine and even healthy sense of excitement.

In the case of orchestral music, things are a bit different; as with an ensemble at the level of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the group itself can be the point of attraction. Still, it’s better to have a great music director than an indifferent one, and it’s always interesting to check out a potential Next Big Thing.

Quebecois conductor Yannick Nezet-Seguin is said today to be that NBT. Just 35, he already has been named to be the next head of the esteemed Philadelphia Orchestra. His scheduled CSO debut set for this week was marked on many calendars and triggered a bump in ticket sales. But then the busy maestro-in-the-making canceled with short notice a few weeks ago. He offered no explanation until a New York Times critic pressed Philadelphia’s management (while preparing a review of a Nezet-Seguin concert there): He just had no time for Chicago, it seemed.

CSO management was forced to scramble and found that the middling Basque conductor Juanjo Mena had some time and was willing to pick up the existing program without changes. More significantly, the announced soloist, Nezet-Seguin’s good friend and contemporary Renaud Capucon, said he’d make good on his debut contract.

Thank goodness for that. For the unalloyed success of the concert Thursday night at Orchestra Hall came from Capucon. Small in stature, the French violinist has a beautiful and rich sound, aided, in part, by his having the coveted instrument of his former teacher Isaac Stern at his disposal, thanks to a Swiss bank that purchased the 1737 Guarneri del Gesu as an investment.

Playing Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s 1945 D Major Violin Concerto, premiered and popularized by Jascha Heifetz and revived in our day by Gil Shaham, he brought a refined sensibility to a melody-rich work drawn from popular film scores by the Viennese refugee composer. This is a work one doesn’t need to hear more than once a decade or so, but Capucon is the man to hear it from.

Numerous curtain calls brought an equally personal and non-syrupy encore of Fritz Kreisler’s transcription of the “Melodie” from Gluck’s “Orfeo ed Euridice.” Let’s hope that this was the first of many Chicago appearances by this gifted artist.

Ravel’s own 1915 orchestral version of his “Valses nobles et sentimentales” benefits greatly from the control of a Pierre Boulez, and Tchaikovsky’s much-played Symphony No. 6, “Pathetique,” is aided by the depth of a Barenboim or Muti. It’s no insult to Mena to say that he is not on the level of these three megastars, but he did not crash or burn Thursday. And he’s not yet had chances to lead many major U.S. orchestras. But his fussiness often stood in the way of strong work from the CSO players, including flute Mathieu Dufour, the horn section led by Daniel Gingrich, bassoon William Buchman and in the Tchaikovsky, oboe Eugene Izotov.