Handel: Organ Concertos opp.4 & 7
Martin Haselböck, Jeremy Joseph (organ)
Martin Haselböck / Orchester Wiener Akademie (Alpha)
(scroll down for English review)
今年一月在維也納黃金廳的錄音，如果不是疫情令音樂會停頓，黃金廳都未必會有這麼多檔期來錄音。兩位以維也納為活動中心的管風琴家，分別負責作品四及七的管風琴協奏曲集（各六首），另加一首《杜鵑與夜鶯》協奏曲。
韓德爾這些協奏曲，本來是他於倫敦上演神劇時的間場，由韓德爾親自彈奏管風琴部分，有時更會被觀眾當成演出的重點。不過由於演出地點是在劇院而不是教堂，採用的管風琴並不是教堂那種巨大樂器。除了作品七的第一首之外，本碟所有協奏曲都不需用到有腳踏鍵盤的管風琴，於是也沒有那些你聽巴哈管風琴作品會有的宏大低音。不過，不喜管風琴的人，可能就是受不了太重炮的聲音，所以韓德爾這些管風琴協奏曲，我相信也適合他們欣賞。
反過來，為甚麼會是管風琴而不是古鍵琴，應該就是因為古鍵琴在劇院的空間，做獨奏樂器又太細聲了。這些作品有不少段落是交由獨奏作即興演奏，除了給韓德爾一展即興的本領，其實也應該是因為他太忙，懶得作才即興了事。
又是Alpha的錄音，所以也沒有YouTube免費試聽，所以我另外附上湯庫曼的錄音，不過他是從作品七先彈，再彈作品四。其實這也不錯，因為我覺得作品七比作品四稍為優勝。原本我覺得湯庫曼指揮的阿姆斯特丹巴洛克樂團，比起這裏的維也納學院樂團，奏得比較豐滿及自然，但聽下去就覺得維也納其實奏得活一點。此外，在黃金廳錄音的確有分別。細微的分別以外，單聽樂曲，我看兩套錄音沒大分別，哪個方便就聽哪個。
Recorded in the Goldener Saal of the Vienna Musikverein this January, this almost complete set of Handel’s organ concertos were made with two Vienna-based organists. Martin Haselböck, who also conducted the orchestra here, played the op.4 concertos, and the op.7 concertos were entrusted to Jeremy Joseph. Without the lockdown I doubt this set would be recorded in this venue at all. The house organ was a Rieger installed in 2011.
These concertos were written to serve as interludes to Handel’s oratorio performances, with Handel taking the organ part. As these were played in a theatre instead of a church, the organ used was of a much smaller size. Apart from op.7 no.1, all the concertos featured here were written for an organ with the pedal keyboard. So no blasting bass notes you’d have expected from Bach or others. Yet many music lovers were put off by the mass of sound from an organ, so these concertos might sound very pleasant to them.
I thought to myself, why the organ, and not the harpsichord? I guess the harpsichord was too soft as a solo instrument in a theatre. Handel left many spaces for improvisations (“ad libitum”). He might have wanted to show off his improvisatory skills, or more probably, he was too busy to compose everything.
There’s another recording by Too Koopman for comparison, or for those who don’t have access to Spotify. At first I thought the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra played with a more pleasing sound, but then the Viennese sounded more lively and flexible to me. Also, the venue acoustics did make a difference.