Brahms: Four Serious Songs, etc.
Janet Baker (mezzo-soprano), André Previn (piano), Cecil Aronowitz (viola) (Warner)
(scroll down for English review)
又在普烈文華納全集找特別東西聽，有這張他彈琴為Janet Baker伴奏的布拉姆斯藝術歌曲集，正好是一張上佳的布拉姆斯藝術歌曲入門。因為原本是一張黑膠，只有48分鐘，不像現在的CD死命要錄夠80分鐘，而其中三分二就是兩套較長，但又非常傑出的作品：《四首嚴肅歌曲》（軌一至四）以及有中提琴伴奏的作品91歌曲（兩首，軌七至八）。
《四首嚴肅歌曲》寫於布拉姆斯晚年，更是他已知自己不久人世，歌詞來自聖經，但不是哈利路亞感謝主，而是充滿苦澀無奈，當是布拉姆斯「晚期風格」一首代表作，由Janet Baker唱出，令我頗有馬勒的聯想。我都知會有點穿鑿附會，但也希望聽得多馬勒、但不重視布拉姆斯的朋友聽聽。
作品91的中提琴獨奏為Cecil Aronowitz，他是當時英國很重要的室樂名家，經常扮演「額外的一支中提琴」的功能，例如在莫扎特或布拉姆斯的弦樂五重奏中拉第二中提琴，其餘四人就是一隊弦樂四重奏。不過他這種發音，在21世紀可能不合時宜，今天的中提琴獨奏家，沒錯是技術進步了不少，但我往往覺得他們拉得太像小提琴或大提琴，反而喪失了中提琴的一些味道。這兩首歌曲，一首寫夕陽令人感懷身世，一首是搖籃曲，布拉姆斯加入了中提琴，要它不斷重覆旋律，令人印象深刻。
其餘八首歌曲都是簡短為主，我不打算逐首介紹，但它們都令我感受到布拉姆斯寫旋律時的精煉，實是通俗與藝術之間的境界。
This rare Previn album has him accompanied Janet Baker in an all-Brahms liederabend. The LP has only 48 minutes of play time, but that’s really enough of an introduction to Brahms’ lieder. Four Serious Songs (tracks 1-4), the two op.91 lieder with obbligato viola (tracks 7-8) made up two-thirds of this album.
Written when Brahms knew he was approaching death, Four Serious Songs took its verses from the Bible. I felt that their elegiac and fatalistic mood sounded quite like Mahler when sung by Baker. I can’t really explain why but I hope Mahler fans should try listening to them.
Cecil Aronowitz provided the viola solos of the op.91 lieder. Today’s star violists might have a more dazzling technique, but quite often their tone sounded too much like a violin or a cello. Aronowitz’s old-fashioned viola playing provided that extra crepuscule flavour of these two songs, one of which depicts a sunset, while the other is a lullaby.
Eight shorter, ungrouped songs made up the rest of the album. I’m not going through them in detail, but they are ample examples of Brahms’ craft. In my opinion, Brahms’ melodies are so compact that they sometimes sound closer to a folk song than to an art song.