Medtner: Songs, opp. 36, 37, 45, 46
Sofia Fomina (soprano), Alexander Karpeyev (piano) (Chandos)
(scroll down for English review)
和拉赫曼尼諾夫是好友的梅特納，所作的鋼琴音樂並非一般樂迷常聽的作品，而聽他的藝術歌曲的，往往就是喜歡他的鋼琴作品而聽。這碟收錄的四套歌曲，三套是俄文，一套德文，一共22首，但總長不足一小時。不單和德式藝術歌曲有相當分別，就連和拉赫曼尼諾夫及柴可夫斯基的藝術歌曲都頗大分別。
首先是鋼琴角色很是吃重，鋼琴會在半分鐘內定下每首歌的鮮明印象，在全首歌的伴奏都很密很忙，甚至是過忙。歌唱旋律上，與其說是作一段旋律，再把詩篇的字詞塞進旋律中，不如說是梅特納將旋律貼上字詞上。不只是小冊子作者所說的一個字節一個音，而是很接近朗讀詩篇的速度，之所以平均每首歌較短，就是因為唱完歌詞就唱完。
我覺得不識俄文去聽始終有很大影響，看着譯詞的幫助也只不過是略知歌曲是講甚麼，而不能逐句譯詞跟着音樂去聽。話雖如此，我覺得梅特納的寫法有點接近歌劇詠嘆調，雖不會太講究旋律，但就會善用歌唱的張力去帶出一首歌曲情緒的起伏。未必需要勉強去聽完全碟，選幾首去聽，我會選軌六、七及14，其中六及七有這些歌曲通常沒有的華彩段式歌唱。
Medtner’s piano music belongs to aficionados rather than Rachmaninov’s mass public. And those who venture into Medtner’s songs take them as the extension of his piano music. This album features four sets of songs, a total of 22 songs but less than an hour of playing time. Medtner’s songs aren’t just very different from German lieder and almost of a different world than Tchaikovsky’s or Rachmaninov’s songs.
The piano plays an unbelievably heavy role. It sets a clear picture of each song within the first 30 seconds. And its accompaniments are usually dense, even too much so. As for the vocal line, Medtner seemed to be fitting a melody to the words, rather the more orthodox approach of fitting the words to a melody. The booklet notes said Medtner tended to use one note per syllable or I’ll say it feels very much like a recitation of the poem in musical terms. When the words are through, the song stops, thus the shorter than average duration of each song.
I do feel a reduced enjoyment because I don’t know Russian and that was quite related to Medtner’s approach. Yet I think these songs have a proximity to opera arias. True, the melodies aren’t sophisticated but there is an emphasis in the singing to depict the tension and relaxation of each songs. I won’t ask you to listen to the whole disc. If I must pick three, tracks 6, 7, 14 are worth trying. Tracks 6 and 7 both feature a cadenza-like section.