Bach: 7 Toccatas BWV 910-916, Toccata and Fugue in D minor
Claire Huangci (piano) (Berlin Classics)
(scroll down for English review)
說起巴哈的觸技曲，我們通常會有「觸技曲及賦格」、急速手指操的印象。巴哈這七首古鍵琴觸技曲，雖然都有他管風琴同類作品中，先急速炫技，然後以賦格作結的必備元素，但其實也像一首首多樂章的小型奏鳴曲，有快板慢板、起承轉合的感覺，比《平均律》「前奏及賦格」更多變化，但又比用不同舞曲構成的多樂章組曲有較強的結構。
黃慈的新錄音集齊七首觸技曲（以鋼琴演奏），外加布梭尼改編的《D小調觸技曲及賦格》。今天的年輕鋼琴家濫彈《哥德堡變奏曲》，不過在鋼琴教育中其實更會用到巴哈觸技曲，只是沒幾多人會在完成老師的功課後，把其餘的都學完，所以黃慈這個錄音，對我來說還是有意義。
不過回到實質演奏，我覺得黃慈太注重要呈現最乾淨、最準繩的演奏，既用不盡鋼琴的音色變化，但忽略了巴哈一如其他巴洛克鍵盤作曲家那樣，在音符的分佈上隱藏了的音量變化，亦即是所謂的「質感」。具體來說，寫一大堆音符，在古鍵琴彈出來就會很吵，但這是作曲家故意的，而又不用在樂譜標明大細聲，如果鋼琴家以為要彈得分明，倒是破壞了作曲家的意圖。黃慈字面上忠於樂譜，但因此表現不到巴哈在這幾首觸技曲，想表現比《平均律》或舞曲組曲更高一級的炫技浮誇感覺。
Bach’s seven toccatas for keyboard might be seen as some sort of miniature sonatas. There’s more to the mandatory finger-exercise at the beginning and the concluding fugue as there are some slower or more melodious sections in between. Thus a higher variety is achieved (in comparison to “prelude and fugue”) plus a higher sense of structure and progress that evade the dance suites.
To me young pianists overwork the Goldberg Variations to death, without bringing something special to it. Piano students are still assigned a Bach toccata or two by their teachers but it’s rare for them to learn the whole set. That’s why I find this new recording of Claire Huangci (played on the piano) to be a fresh breeze to the oversaturated market of generic Goldbergs.
But Huangci’s performance struck me as too obsessed with precision. I wish she could utilize more nuances from the piano but at the same time, Bach’s intended effects were lost with Huangci’s clean and precise approach. Like many baroque composers Bach built in many volume gradations by the use of different textures, so a densely written passage would sound noisy when properly played on the harpsichord. But Huangci overlooked that so she couldn’t produce that effect on the piano. There’s an extra flourish in these toccatas than in WTC or dance suites, but sadly Huangci faithfulness to the printed notes disarmed these pieces of their brilliance.