３月１１日のマーラー

３月１１日（土）ＮＨＫ総合テレビで「３月１１日のマーラー」という番組をやっていました。すでにいろいろなウェブサイトで紹介されていますが、私も一言。番組の主役である新日本フィルは新たにダニエル・ハーディングを指揮者に迎えて、これから都響の最大のライバルになるかも知れません。ハーディングは３０代半ばですが、すでに欧米でもわが国でもかなり有名な人気指揮者です。

３月１１日彼は都心のホテルから、就任した新日本フィルではじめてのコンサートを行うため、本拠地・すみだトリフォニーホールまでタクシーで向かっていました。その途中にあの地震に遭遇するとは、彼は日本とよほど深い縁があるのでしょう。電車で向かっていたらたどりつけなかったでしょうから、タクシーに乗っていたというのも不思議な因縁です。

ともかくたどりついたら、待っていたのは動揺する団員でした。リハーサルは延期され、コンサートをやるかどうか、楽団は難しい決断を迫られていました。しかし楽団は建物をチェックして無事を確認し、お客さんが一人でも来てくれればコンサートを断行するという方針を決めました。

集まったお客さんは１０５人。何時間も歩いて来た人もいたそうです。そして団員の中にも電車で地震に遭遇し、新橋から４０歩走っては４０歩あるくという方法でホールにたどりついた人もいたそうです。本来は１８００人定員のホールだそうで、寂しい客席だったと思います。

曲目はマーラーの交響曲第５番。この曲はトランペットのソロではじまりますが、その演奏を聴いていて、こんなに深い憂愁の響きを聴いたことがあっただろうかと震えました。指揮者は全くタクトを振らず、じっと佇んでいます。全曲聴きたかったのですが、番組の時間の関係で一部しか放映されませんでした。それでも、その一期一会の演奏には胸を打たれました。

終了後、事務局員・団員・指揮者・聴衆で家に帰れなかった多くの人がホールで一夜を過ごしたそうです。その記念写真に顔をぼかした人が何人かみられました。「こんな時にホールで音楽を聴いているなんて不謹慎な」という非難が怖かったのでしょう。しかし私は地球が滅亡する時には、この曲をホールで聴いていたいなと思いました。

新日本フィルはたとえ音質が万全でなくても、この演奏のＤＶＤを出版するべきでしょう。

こんな曲です

第１楽章：　http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsouEMV4Pb8&feature=related

第４楽章：　http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CjoCAemK6Y&feature=related

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On the afternoon of March 11 I was in a car driving across Tokyo for a general rehearsal of Mahler's 5th Symphony with the New Japan Philharmonic. What happened that afternoon, and in the subsequent days, will colour the way I think of this music for ever.

That evening we played a concert together in Sumida Triphony Hall for a tiny audience of those who had made their way to the concert hall, as bewildered and shocked by the events of the day as we were. This was my first concert as Music Partner of NJP. A concert we had all been looking forward to for a long time, a moment for celebration. However, as it turned out, it was a moment touched by unimaginable tragedy and sadness. None of us who were in Japan on that day, and in the following week, will ever forget what we experienced and the horrendous news and images coming to us from the Tohoku region.

I have had the privilege of spending much time in Japan over the last 13 years. Yours is a country I have come to love very deeply and I feel an enormous respect and warmth for the Japanese people. For me to be in Tokyo on March the 11th, and to experience the dignity and bravery of those so deeply affected by the earthquake and tsunami, was a humbling and touching experience. It was with a heavy heart that I left for Europe 5 days later. In the past I have often missed Japan after departing, this time the feeling was more intense.

Our planet is alive. Without the geological activity that causes such tragedy and suffering there would be no life on Earth. This is a mind-numbing paradox and can bring no comfort to those whose lives have been ripped apart. Maybe music, amongst the many great achievements of mankind, can help us to try to comprehend the magnitude and the context of such suffering. Maybe music can also help us, in the smallest way, to begin to heal.

This has been a disaster of unprecedented scale. All over the world now people look to Japan and the extraordinary, almost superhuman, dedication and effort of the Japanese people to rebuild. We are all moved and inspired by this devotion and sacrifice. There is no doubt in any of our minds that Japan will recover even stronger and even greater than before.
As musicians we can try to provide those in need with happiness, emotion, vitality and courage through beautiful and thought-provoking music.

It seems absolutely appropriate to me to play Mahler's 5th on the occasion of this charity concert. It is a great discourse and meditation on Love, Tragedy, Life and Death. In this concert, and indeed every time I again have the privilege of conducting this symphony, I would like to dedicate it to those who lost their lives, their loved ones, their homes or their livelihoods during those days in March.

I would also like to express my deep thanks and gratitude to the organisers of this charity concert and also to the NJP for all of their understanding and gracious cooperation, without which this concert would not have been possible.

Daniel Harding

（写真はウィキペディアより、ハーディングさんのコメントは新日本フィルＨＰから引用しました）