Saint-Saëns: Symphonic Poems
Pierre Dervaux / Orchestre de Paris (Erato)
(scroll down for English review)
半個月前在蕭邦社美樂聚中，聽了兩場聖桑音樂會，在四首協奏作品以外，還聽了三首交響詩。聖桑一共寫過四首交響詩，最出名的一首就是《骷髏之舞》（軌一），是音樂賞析課程中很容易遇到的樂曲，不過那次我卻是第一次現場聽，以及其餘兩首交響詩。我想，應該是現在以協奏曲加交響曲的節目編排，以及觀眾要不想聽最耳熟能詳，就是最重口味，不敢嘗試其他不夠搶耳但也足夠悅耳的作品吧。
《骷髏之舞》是墳墓骷骨在午夜起舞，最後在日出時消散的情景，一兩個難忘旋律就玩出頗多變化。其餘三首交響詩都是以希臘神話為主題，軌三的《法厄同》及軌四《安法爾的紡車》的長度及寫法和《骷髏之舞》相近，都是將像主題動機的旋律予以變化。《法厄同》是太陽神兒子闖禍的經過，他驅着父親的太陽車四處亂飛，音樂上就是一開聽到的奔馬節奏。《安法爾的紡車》的主題動機也就是紡車轉來轉去。
但那次音樂會沒聽到的《大力士的少年》（軌二）卻是我最喜歡的，它長度比其餘的長幾乎一倍，結構亦較像李斯特交響詩的分成一節一節，較多不同的旋律，而不像其餘三首執意用最少的材料作最大的變化。看聖桑傳記，見到作者對它評價不高，還以為會太長太悶，豈料十來分鐘很快就過，雖說分成一節一節，但仍有柔情及剛烈兩種感情在游轉，反而沒有《法厄同》或《安法爾的紡車》那麼重覆。
Pierre Dervaux’s account of the four Saint-Saëns symphonic poems is made available digitally. With the exception of Dance macabre (track 1) the other three works are rarely played, but even the iconic Dance macabre isn’t much programmed in concert. I recently heard three of these symphonic poems in concert and the exception was Hercules’ Youth (track 2), the longest of the four.
A Saint-Saëns biographer wrote negatively on it but it turned out to be most enjoyable of the four. It takes a different form from the other three and is quite Lisztian in its well-partitioned structure. Each part has its melody or leitmotif but the emotions revolve around tenderness and masculinity. The 17 minutes went like a breeze and I found myself asking for more.
Saint-Saëns seemed to aim at an economy of means in the other three symphonic poems. The Dance macabre doesn’t only have the catchy melodies but Saint-Saëns was able to cast them in different guises without actually transforming them. But the other two works, Phaéton (track 3) and Omphale’s Spinning Wheel (track 4), I found them less satisfying. Phaéton is dominated by a galloping motif, depicting Apollo’s sun cart while the whirling motif of Omphale is obviously the spinning wheel. To me both works are too repetitive and simply run out of gas instead of building towards a satisfying conclusion.