Saint-Saëns, Honegger, Lalo: Cello Concertos
Daniel Müller-Schott (cello)
Alexandre Bloch / DSO Berlin (Orfeo)
(scroll down for English review)
出了幾個月的大提琴協奏曲專輯，但我的關注不是聖桑《第一大提琴協奏曲》（軌一至三），而是穆勒修特把握到聖桑年的契機，把另外兩首現在較少聽到的法國大提琴協奏曲呈上。
拉羅的協奏曲（軌八至十），在黑膠年代是聖桑第一的最佳拍檔，差不多可以說，最好的法國大提琴協奏曲就是這兩首了，但很遺憾這二三十年來，不只音樂會很少聽到，錄音也少了很多，好像大提琴家拉德伏扎克就夠。其實此曲第一樂章頗有歌劇的劇力，第二樂章是輕盈的間奏曲，第三樂章的舞蹈節奏令人興奮。
法國六人組中，浦朗克其實很受音樂家歡迎，我就想，假如奧乃格這首協奏曲（軌五至七），冠的名字是浦朗克，就會有很多大提琴家去奏了。三個樂章也只是15分鐘，就正好是三首歌的時間，有趣在此曲很像蓋希文，尤其是《波吉與貝絲》那些較慢的旋律如《Summertime》，但奧乃格是先作的。
至於穆勒修特，很抱歉說他出道了二十年，總覺得他面目模糊，或者要夥拍其他明星，例如小提琴家慕特才為意到他。聽這碟也發覺他令我印象不深，都要怪他的拉法太過溫文，但溫文都好，發音既欠熱力又欠暖意，拉慢板，或者較高音域還好，但去到較正常的大提琴音域就比較弱了。
As a release in the past Saint-Saëns anniversary it has the finest excuse to include two other French cello concertos, now sadly neglected. The Lalo concerto (tracks 8-10) often went with the Saint-Saëns on LP, and it won’t be off the mark to say that these two are the best French cello concertos around. Unfortunately we almost don’t get to hear it from today’s cellist. Indeed the first movement is full of operatic gestures, the second movement is a breezy intermezzo, and the last movement’s dance rhythm is very energetic.
While listening to the Honegger concerto (tracks 5-7) two names popped into mind. One is fellow Sixer Poulenc, who is better received by musicians than listeners. Shall Poulenc put his name on this work, cellists would flock to it, I think. The other is Gershwin, and many melodies in this Honegger concerto are like earworms from Porgy and Bess, but Honegger’s work was written several years earlier.
His career now in the third decade, Müller-Schott’s personality has long been hazy to me, although he often collaborated with star violinist Mutter. I seem to find out the reason for such haziness, because he tends to play everything gently, but such gentle tone often lacks warmth and intensity. The adagios, or when he plays on higher registers are quite pleasing, but that’s not where a cellist usually does his or her business.