Chopin: Fantaisie, Barcarolle, Berceuse, Polonaise-Fantaisie, 4 Ballades, etc.
Fou Ts’ong (piano) (Sony)
(scroll down for English review)
傅聰死後，最近推出了兩套舊錄音套裝，其中Sony那套是他的1970年代尾打後十年的錄音，從模擬錄音到數碼錄音，都是蕭邦，我選了兩張聽。第一張是《幻想曲》、《船歌》、《幻想波蘭舞曲》，第二張主要是四首敘事曲。
首先第一張是模擬錄音，第二張是數碼錄音，後者的音響其實有點奇怪，相信是早期數碼錄音的問題，但我覺得還是瑕不掩瑜。我雖然也有聽過傅聰的晚年獨奏會，但之前沒有這麼密集地聽他的蕭邦錄音，所以我沒有想過他這種發音下下有力，現在的鋼琴家應該都很難找到人這麼彈。如果他今日去參加蕭邦大賽，感情上我覺得他會大殺四方，但理智上想，隨時頭回合出局。
我覺得他的蕭邦詮釋，可能就是建基於堅實發音之上，當然不是說任何人大力彈就可以，但從傅聰這樣彈，其實已毋須再於造句及搶板上扭盡六壬，音符已能自然歌唱。更重要是把我一直看或聽的廢話推翻，說甚麼中國人含蓄感性啊、東方哲學對西方浪漫之類。
大曲以外，這兩碟都有一些早期作品，除了在全集錄音很少演奏，但傅聰還是用同樣的方法認真彈奏，作品縱使平庸，認真的演奏也絕對花時間去聽。或者有時間再聽他的馬祖卡舞曲，看看那些放逐、鄉愁之類的說法又有幾多誇大成分。
Two box sets followed closely on the death of Fou Ts’ong, one of which is a Sony box set of CBS recordings that covered the late 1970s to early 1980s. It’s all Chopin, but there are both analogue and digital recordings. I picked two discs to sample, the first one (analogue) has the Fantaisie, Barcarolle, Polonaise-Fantaisie; and the second one (digital) featured the four Ballades.
The digital disc did sound a bit quirky and it’s probably the flaw of early digital technology. Fou’s unique tone still came through but the analogue disc of fantasies would definitely represent Fou’s tone more faithfully. Although I experienced Fou in concert but I’ve never listened to his recordings attentively. The labels attached to his artistry seemed to crumble when I listened to the discs for real. “Chinese sentimentality”, “Oriental philosophy” are sheer BS. His articulation is loud and clear, a far cry from the spineless quality of many Chopin pianists today. So much so, I suspect Fou would be out in the first round if he had to enter the competition again.
With such concentration of tone there’s no need for extraordinary phrasing or voicing, the clear tones simply sing on their own. I also admire the lesser pieces that served as fillers to both albums. The works themselves are mediocre, but Fou’s dedication made them quite enjoyable.