ロンドン公演の批評です。こちらも賞賛されています。
NHK Symphony Orchestra/Paavo Järvi at Royal Festival Hall –Takemitsu Requiem & Mahler 6
Monday, March 06, 2017 Southbank Centre, London – Royal Festival Hall
Reviewed by Colin Anderson
The Tokyo-based NHK Symphony Orchestra can trace its origins to 1926. With a change of name, it has been supported since 1951 by Nippon Hoso Kyokai (the Japan Broadcasting Corporation) and was out in full force for Maher 6 – of the 114 musicians listed all appear to be indigenous – and beforehand it was the strings that introduced Requiem (1957) by Tokyo-born Toru Takemitsu (1930-96).
Short Requiem may be (just under ten minutes), but from the barest of sounds something solemn and emotionally agitated emerges, always exquisitely composed and somewhat Bartókian in expression. Whether refined or when becoming more angular, whatever was required, the NHK players, with chief conductor Paavo Järvi, had every expressive phrase and nuance mastered, not least concertmaster Fuminori Maro Shinozaki, whose solo contributions were ineffably divine (as they would also be in the Mahler).
（中略）Indeed one the hallmarks of this reading was its volatility, an unease that also informed the Andante, harps unusually highlighted and graced by eloquent woodwind and horn solos, and here less of an oasis of contentment and ecstasy and more a sleepless night in search of an unfound paradise; and such an approach made the attachment to the vast Finale all the more inherent.
From the strangeness of the opening measures Järvi then made sure that the hero of Mahler’s music was resolute to succeed, and that equally he didn’t stand a chance against the forces of evil, so that when the hammer-blows arrived (just the two, Mahler excised the third for superstitious reasons) they were of tremendous impact and also mirrored Mahler’s instructions: “Kurzer, mächtig, aber dumpf hallender Schlag von nicht metallischem Charakter” – Short, mighty, but dull in resonance, with a non-metallic character.
There were moments of glorious affirmation along the tortuous journey but the ultimate snuffing-out of valour was made inevitable; “Tragic” indeed. The trombone-dominated threnody was baleful, then the malice of Fate’s domination was hit home with the viciousness and exactness of a guillotine, and the long silence that followed told of musicians and audience collectively caught up in something special.
ガーディアン紙の評点は★★★★
Guardian review of the NHK Symphony Orchestra （最初の部分だけ）。。。そのうち無料で読めるようになったら追加！
The Tokyo orchestra’s swashbuckling performance of Mahler’s sixth was fabulously disciplined, crisp and purposeful, if a little too driven
＜ヨーロッパツアーページへ＞