Mahler: Symphony No.6
Adám Fischer / Düsseldorf Symphony (CAvi Music)
(scroll down for English review)
這個馬勒六的現場錄音，就是亞當費沙在歐洲封城前的最後一場音樂會，亦可能是他和杜塞多夫交響樂團的馬勒全集的最後一集。如果他選擇不去演奏及灌錄《第十》（不管是慢板或全曲），他和樂團都已推出了第一至九，以及《大地之歌》的錄音，足以令他成為第一位同時錄過海頓、莫扎特、貝多芬及馬勒交響曲全集的指揮。
本來想試聽這張《第六》，再決定要否聽他的全集，其實之前都聽過部分《第九》，不過聽了《第六》我還是不會聽下去。也不知是否因為亞當費沙擅長古典派曲目，也連帶他的馬勒也有點古典派傾向，速度偏快而流動，聲部肌理相對透明。不只指揮克制，我也克制着不去開大音量來製造聲音夠力的假象。
稍為特別的，就是費沙在小冊子談及那是封城前他最後一個音樂會後，提到他在終曲選擇補回馬勒刪掉的第三槌。幾十年前的舊錄音，例如伯恩斯坦或蘇提都好像有這麼做，但近代的錄音或現場演奏很少會那樣。這個錄音的第三槌的時間在27:38，樂章都差不多完了，確實都是打不打都沒分別，還會有指揮在文章提到，執槌者在這槌特別難計好時間的問題。我個人來說，馬勒六的終曲最值得聽的，從來都不是那兩槌，而是第二槌後的徒勞掙扎、然後破滅。
If Adám Fischer chose not to record the Tenth Symphony, be it the whole thing or just the adagio, he and Düsseldorf Symphony has now completed their Mahler cycle, with the nine completed symphonies plus Song of the Earth. Thus Fischer became the first conductor with recorded cycles of the symphonies of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Mahler.
I decided not to follow up the other installments after this underpowered Sixth. I don’t know if this has anything to do with his marvelous work on the classical symphony field, but I find his Mahler to have a more classical strain than others. Tempi were on the quick and flowing side; orchestral textures were relatively transparent. Just as Fischer was holding back I found myself holding back in cranking up the volume.
So the special thing of this recording is probably the restored third hammer blow in the finale. Fischer mentioned it in his booklet notes, further illustrating the difficulty of its execution over the first two blows. In some older recordings, such as Bernstein and Solti, we can hear the third hammer blow, but it is hardly done in recent times. To be precise, the third blow on this recording took place at 27:38. By then the movement is almost over and energies were almost spent, making this blow rather superfluous. Personally speaking, the two hammer blows are never the highlights of the finale, but the ferocious but fruitless struggle after the second blow.