Takemitsu: Requiem for Strings; Nostalghia; How Slow the Wind; Far Calls, Coming, Far!; A Way a Lone II
Akiko Suwanai (violin)
Paavo Järvi / NHK Symphony (Sony)
(scroll down for English review)
已卸任東京NHK交響樂團的P約菲，在他任內指揮過一些武滿徹作品，剛好湊成一張一小時的CD，五首樂曲中，除了《弦樂安魂曲》（軌一）是1957年（27歲）的早期作品，其餘是比較後期的作品，最遲作的一首是P約菲帶團來香港時，為音樂會開場的《風多麼緩慢》（軌三），它於1991年在格拉斯哥首演。
諏訪內晶子是兩首小提琴協奏樂曲《鄉愁—追悼塔可夫斯基》（軌二）及《前往遠處呼喚的彼方》（軌四）的獨奏，前者在武滿徹去世後的四分一世紀以來，漸漸多國際小提琴家演奏，例如慕特，不過後者則較少聽到。《鄉愁》確是較簡單的一首，弦樂襯托着小提琴的悲歌，不過《前往遠處呼喚的彼方》用了較大的樂隊，獨奏也有較大波幅的感情。
恕我不逐首介紹，不過這次聽P約菲以非日本指揮、非前衛專家的身份指揮武滿徹，令我體會到武滿在電影音樂以外的所謂嚴肅作品，其實算不上艱深，旋律性是有，只是在緩慢速度下顯得含蓄，但我覺得約菲就是能保持到旋律的線條，而且不執着於表現過度的弱音，總體聲響不再是模糊一片。他為武滿的音樂在一向的矇矓、神秘之上，大大增添了熱情，正是加大了這個維度，更能表現武滿作品中，以馳張帶動音樂的寫法，就易聽得多，不只一個悶字。
I think it’s really admirable for Paavo Järvi, during his tenure with the NHK Symphony, Tokyo, to have conducted five works of Takemitsu that made their way to this album. Two works are violin concertante works with Akiko Suwanai as the soloist and that might be a draw for some.
Nostalghia – In Memory of Andrei Tarkovsky (track 2) is a relatively frequently played work nowadays, one of its proponents being Anne-Sophie Mutter. On the other hand, Far Calls, Coming, Far! (track 4) has yet to gain a place in the concert circuit. I don’t deny the fact that Nostalghia is rather straight forward in its mournfulness but Far Calls, with its broader range of expression and the use of the full orchestra, is also a worthy work.
Paavo Järvi isn’t exactly an avant garde music specialist but this disc no doubt raised my awareness to Takemitsu’s orchestral music. I think Järvi paid enough attention in sustaining the melodic lines which could easily get obscured in the slow tempi preferred by Takemitsu. Perhaps Japanese conductors tend to follow Takemitsu’s dynamic markings too doggedly, resulting in a sound that is often too muted. In contrast Järvi articulated the music clearly and with enough passion that added a sense of excitement to the music that was already too much influenced by Debussy.