Debussy: Fantaisie, Violin Sonata, Cello Sonata, La Mer
Martha Argerich, Daniel Barenboim (piano)
Michael Barenboim (violin), Kian Soltani (cello)
Daniel Barenboim / Staatskapelle Berlin (DG)
(scroll down for English review)
今天是阿嘉莉殊80大壽，DG推出了這張她和巴倫邦合作的德布西《鋼琴及樂隊幻想曲》，這個錄音和碟中的其他德布西演奏，都是出自巴倫邦在2018年德布西去世一百周年的多個音樂會，巴倫邦那年彈奏或指揮的德布西曲目，應該會有七張CD之多，因為他也有在柏林國立歌劇院指揮《佩利亞斯與梅利桑》。
《幻想曲》（軌一至三）也是阿嘉莉殊沒錄過的曲目，此曲本身很少人彈，但也並非散佚過、未出版之類，而是樂曲本身的質素。它是德布西未寫突破之作《牧神的午後》的作品，他之後也沒有再完成過一首鋼琴協奏曲。如果你初聽，相信印象也不會深刻，德布西可以純樂隊，也可以純鋼琴，兩者一起總是覺得太逼，但又未到對決之境地。如果雙盲測試，我不相信會認得出是阿嘉莉殊，但我會歸咎於錄音，把她的琴音錄得太乾太敲擊，這只是DG從奧地利電台買回來，然後又做一輪remastering，這樣很少有好下場。
接着是巴倫邦為兩首弦樂奏鳴曲伴奏，《小提琴奏鳴曲》（軌四至六）是他兒子米高演奏，《大提琴奏鳴曲》是Soltani，亦即是巴倫邦近年的鋼琴三重奏組合。米高的《小提琴奏鳴曲》味如嚼蠟，聲如乾柴，雖然小提琴和大提琴難以直接相比，但由於這兩曲風格相近，聽Soltani有甚麼好就知米高差了甚麼。Soltani很耐心展露出樂曲的風味，一個音可以潛藏幾多美態，一串音又不只是十幾個音符串連，而是像一個個舞動動作。
最後是巴倫邦指揮柏林國立管弦樂團（國立歌劇院樂團）的《大海》（軌九至十二），這錄音出自和《幻想曲》同一輪的維也納音樂會。我談《幻想曲》是以「非」阿嘉莉殊迷的立場談，這《大海》我卻是以巴倫邦迷去談。我就想，如何看待這演奏真的要視乎你有多喜歡指揮巴倫邦，這演奏有我很欣賞他（近年）追求的可控的失控，尤其是第一樂章中段，但我想會有一些人覺得太亂，他控制不到。不過又是以我的現場經驗，他是很鼓勵樂手不要太拘束，但要認真。而這個演奏，在現場聽應該是不錯的體驗，但在家中總會帶點抽離，多少會覺得有點怪異。
Martha Argerich turns 80 today, to celebrate this occasion DG released her recording of the Debussy Fantaisie conducted by Daniel Barenboim. This and the other items of the disc were from Barenboim’s performances (as conductor and pianist) celebrating the Debussy anniversary of 2018.
Fantaisie (tracks 1-3) is new to the Argerich discography so that might mean a lot to Argerich fans. In this rarely played early work Debussy seemed to show that the piano concerto wasn’t the right format for him, he’d have to choose between the piano and the orchestra. As for Argerich’s performance, I’d blame the engineering that made Argerich sounded too dry and metallic. DG got this recording from Austrian Radio and did some remastering which usually meant a sub-par outcome.
Then came two string sonatas with Barenboim on piano. Michael Barenboim played the Violin Sonata (tracks 4-6) and Soltani did the Cello Sonata (tracks 7-9). I think it’d be enough to pinpoint what’s good with Soltani’s playing and you’ll see what Michael lacked. Soltani patiently unveiled the work’s charms, a long held note was a moment to behold, and a legato phrase with lots of notes was like a dance move.
La Mer (tracks 10-12) was taken from the same Vienna concerts of Fantaisie. I commented on the Fantaisie as a non-Argerich fan and here’s my take on La Mer as a big fan of Barenboim’s live concerts as conductor. If you were used to the controlled spontaneity of Barenboim you’d get what he was aiming for. And if you don’t get it, you’d think he simply lost control, especially in the middle of the first movement. To me, it’d be much better to experience such performance live. At home, when one is somehow detached, it did sound a bit weird.