Haydn: 33 Symphonies
Neville Marriner / Academy of St. Martin in the Fields (Decca Eloquence)
(scroll down for English review)
Eloquence剛推出了這套15CD的馬連拿海頓交響曲套裝，一共33首交響曲，即是海頓總數大約三分一，錄音年份從1970到1990年，不過絕大部分都是1975-1981這幾年。選奏的初期或中期交響曲大部分都有別名，後期交響曲差一點才齊，但有齊六首巴黎交響曲，以及八首倫敦交響曲（共12首）。
對我來說最吸引還是初期中期的交響曲，雖然沒有全套聽完，仍覺得它們遠勝杜拉提的全套錄音，老實說杜拉提雖然寫下了錄第一套海頓交響曲全集的歷史，但演奏及錄音來說我覺得不算理想。馬連拿和聖馬田室樂團的演奏，齊整的弦樂特別討人歡喜，聽這套海頓更留意到從容不逼的魅力，可能來自清晣結實但不過度用力的運弓，只是在終曲我覺得往往不夠快，或者這和全首交響曲的風格匹配，但就未能釋放樂章的潛力。
我這裏特別挑了《號角》（《第31交響曲》）的試聽，四支圓號固然是此曲的焦點，另外第二樂章也有獨奏小提琴及大提琴。終曲是變奏曲，除了上述的樂器，還有獨奏長笛及低音大提琴擔任個別變奏的主角。
Eloquence did it again: a collection of Marriner’s Haydn symphony recordings with ASMIF. 33 symphonies on 15 CDs with the original LP jackets. The recordings were done between 1970 and 1990 but the bulk of them were from 1976-1981, when Marriner was set to record all the Haydn symphonies with nicknames. That’s why it’s a pity that he only set down 8 of the London symphonies but all 6 Paris symphonies were recorded.
I didn’t listen to the whole set and I concentrated on some of the early and middle symphonies. Frankly the Dorati complete set no longer appeals to me because it’s lacking in audio or playing standards, despite being the first complete set. But what would it be should Marriner complete the whole set! Then that would be a standard for future generations.
The tidy string playing doesn’t age in this era of HIP playing, and we get to feel Haydn’s courtly qualities that are lost in many of today’s hyper HIP ensembles. The bowings were solid but never forceful, Marriner gave us relaxed yet highly disciplined performances. My sole objection is that he usually took it too slow in the finales. Haydn might have led his orchestra that way but I don’t think that did full justice to the music.
Here I picked Symphony No.31 “Horn Signal” for you, it was coupled with the “Hunt” Symphony (No. 73) but the former remains the most memorable one. Not just featuring four horns as one would expect, the second movement has a solo violin and cello serenading. What’s more, the variation finale not just spotlights these instruments but there are variations for solo flute and guess what, solo double bass.