フルトヴェングラー: 交響曲第2番

【ネーメ・ヤルヴィ、フルトヴェングラーを振る!】
ドイツ・ロマン派の精神と哲学を色濃く継承していたフルトヴェングラーにとっては、既存の作品を演奏することだけでなく、自ら作曲することが音楽家として必然的なことでした。彼が遺した3つの交響曲のうちスイス亡命中に作曲された第2番が最もよく知られています。ブルックナーやワーグナーといった後期ロマン派の影響を色濃く受けたこの作品は、演奏に70分以上を要する大作で、ドイツ音楽における「運命」や「宿命」のモチーフが重厚なffffや教会オルガンを思わせる響きとして表現され、第3楽章では繊細な木管の音色が印象的に用いられています。第1楽章の主題の下降音形は、全曲を貫く循環主題として構成の柱となっています。
ネーメ・ヤルヴィ指揮、エストニア国立交響楽団によるこのライヴ録音では、比較的速めのテンポが採られ、作品に独特の緊張感と疾走感をもたらしています。重厚な音楽を勢いよく展開していくアプローチが、聴き手に強い印象を残します。
ナクソス・ジャパン

The compositions of conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler, in particular his Symphony No. 2 in E minor, inspire wildly varying reactions, with probably the majority holding that they will bore one to tears. However, theyve had their prominent defenders, including Eugen Jochum and Daniel Barenboim, who recorded an enduring version of the Symphony No. 2 early in the 2000s decade. The list now expands to include Neeme Jarvi, who was approaching 90 when this album appeared in 2025, and who made classical best-seller lists in the early summer of that year for his trouble. He was under no obligation other than that of enthusiasm to record the work with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, the group most equipped to do what he wants, but he did. And lo, he comes up with a persuasive version of the work. He may not convince anyone who doesnt already believe it that the Symphony No. 2 is a post-Brucknerian masterpiece, but he contributes something to the dialogue with a crisp reading that has its own interpretation of the Langsam ("Slow") tempo designation of the finale. The work is so intensely detailed that a conductor may seem to have limited scope for expression other than the tempo, but the tempo is the thing here; Jarvi comes in seven minutes faster than Barenboim. Is it still langsam? Listeners can decide for themselves, but that is a pretty general term, and the result here is arguably that the work seems to go forward to a satisfying conclusion in a way that other readings do not. Listeners will make up their own minds about this, but few will dispute that the album marks an important release for Jarvi, whose list of these during his eighties is longer than that of almost any other conductor. The live sound from the Estonia Concert Hall, all from a single performance, is clear and agreeable. ~ James Manheim